Emerald City Confidential

About

Emerald City Confidential is a single player action game. It was developed by Wadjet Eye Games and was released on August 12, 2009. It received very positive reviews from players.

Work with the world's most cunning detective in the shadowy underbelly of the Emerald City of Oz! As Petra, you'll be lured deep into mysteries involving new foes and familiar faces; Scarecrow, Lion, and Toto included. This is Oz as you've never seen it before! Solve your detective's quest and unravel a conspiracy of magic and intrigue! Follow a case through five chapters full of puzzles, witnesse…

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Single-Player

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95%

Audience ScoreBased on 158 reviews

story48 positive mentions

optimization2 negative mentions

Emerald City Confidential offers a unique and engaging film noir take on the Wizard of Oz, featuring well-developed characters and a compelling story that resonates with fans of the original books.
The game features excellent voice acting, a charming art style, and a helpful hint system that ensures players can progress without getting stuck.
Despite its short length, the game is filled with humor, clever dialogue, and nostalgic references that make it enjoyable for both new players and those who grew up with the original.

The game is relatively short, typically taking around 5-7 hours to complete, which may leave some players wanting more content or side quests.
Puzzles are often too easy and straightforward, lacking the challenge that seasoned adventure game fans might expect, leading to a more casual gaming experience.
Technical issues, such as optimization problems on modern systems and a lack of fullscreen mode, can detract from the overall experience.

story
118 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
56%
3%
The game's story is a fresh and engaging take on the Wizard of Oz universe, blending elements of noir with a detective narrative that explores the darker side of the Emerald City. Players appreciate the well-developed characters, clever twists, and immersive world-building, although some find the pacing uneven and the main plot occasionally anticlimactic. Overall, the storytelling is compelling enough to keep players invested, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of narrative-driven games.
- “In addition to staying accurate to the Wizard of Oz books, this game also goes ahead and gives a fresh new take on the Emerald City in terms of a noir story that has you going all over the Emerald City as well as other outside lands helping characters from the books solve cases.”
- “I'm recommending this game because it has intriguing characters, a wonderfully fleshed-out world, and a solid story.”
- “The storyline is great, full of drama and plot twists, while voice acting and dialogues are superb.”
- “Occasionally the writing felt like it was giving off sort of a juvenile worldview (especially when it came to the university), but this never really interfered with the story.”
- “The overall plot is a bit marred in the middle by the introduction of your standard fantasy quest for two powerful artifacts, and the animations are very simple, but otherwise the game is rock solid (if on the easy side).”
- “Would have liked to have dealt with all four witches and would have preferred a better resolution with the revelation on who Cutter really is (even though you can guess at it so early on in the story that it's not really a big surprise).”
graphics
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
41%
14%
The game's graphics are described as having a charming indie aesthetic, with beautiful artwork and impressive attention to detail, reminiscent of classic graphic adventures. While some players noted graphical bugs and a dated feel, the overall visuals were considered appealing and well-suited to the game's whimsical tone. The art style contributes positively to the immersive experience, despite some critiques regarding the game's target audience and character design.
- “The art style was beautiful.”
- “Environment: the art style and attention to detail is amazing.”
- “It's got a very good & engrossing story, decent music, good visuals, etc. Characters are pretty bizarre and outlandish which adds to the charm.”
- “In addition, this game has a very indie look in terms of its art style.”
- “The interesting thing about that is that the whole production has a sort of 'a graphic adventure designed for Windows 98' feel while Wadjet Eye's other games have a more timeless quality.”
- “First impressions were that this point-and-click adventure has an annoying protagonist, and judging by the difficulty and graphics, it is aimed for 6-year-olds.”
gameplay
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
45%
15%
The gameplay is characterized as flowy and straightforward, resembling classic LucasArts adventures with a focus on inventory and conversation-based puzzles. While the puzzles are generally easy and forgiving, with a helpful hint system, there are occasional moments of challenge that can be enjoyable. Overall, the game offers a solid and immersive experience, though some players feel that more challenging puzzles would enhance the enjoyment.
- “The mechanics of gameplay are nicely woven to where the player is never at a loss as to what they must do, thanks to a hint system that provides as much or as little assistance as the player likes.”
- “Overall, it's a solid detective adventure with unique mechanics and puzzles that make you think, but I wouldn't go so far as to say they're difficult.”
- “Sometimes, I just think to myself that it would be fun to fire it up and play it some more just because of how enjoyable the gameplay is and how immersive the story is.”
- “Overall, the game has a very minimalistic attitude to the way it approaches gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is simple and extremely forgiving.”
- “As far as gameplay goes, it's all very straightforward and you won't likely find yourself getting lost often or for very long.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music and voice acting in the game are highly praised, contributing to its unique atmosphere and charm. Players appreciate the engaging soundtrack alongside the bizarre and outlandish characters, enhancing the overall experience of this point-and-click adventure. Collecting hidden buttons to unlock conceptual art further enriches the game's artistic appeal.
- “Great point and click adventure with unique atmosphere and great music.”
- “It's got a very good and engrossing story, decent music, good visuals, etc. Characters are pretty bizarre and outlandish, which adds to the charm.”
- “Although the music and voice acting are top notch, it was also fun to collect the hidden buttons that were in the many zones, allowing you to see conceptual art for the characters in the game when you turned the buttons into the patchwork girl.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game suffers from poor optimization by modern standards, making fullscreen mode unplayable for many users. Additionally, the new company has ceased support for older titles, resulting in a lack of updates or optimizations for those games.
- “The game is not very optimized by modern computer standards, meaning you probably won't be able to play this game in fullscreen mode.”
- “The new company stopped supporting the older PC games that the old PlayFirst made, and thus their games were not optimized anymore.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its unique atmosphere and excellent music, contributing to an engaging point-and-click adventure experience.
- “Great point and click adventure with a unique atmosphere and great music.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is consistently praised as excellent, indicating that it effectively engages players and enhances the overall experience.
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is generally stable, running well on Windows 10, particularly in windowed mode; however, users report frequent mouse cursor glitches when playing in full screen.
- “The game is stable, but the mouse cursor glitches frequently in full screen. It runs fine on Windows 10 if you play it in windowed mode.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers minimal replayability due to the absence of branching paths, leading to a largely linear experience.
- “There are no branching paths, so there is little to no replayability.”

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Frequently Asked Questions

Emerald City Confidential is a action game.

Emerald City Confidential is available on PC and Windows.

Emerald City Confidential was released on August 12, 2009.

Emerald City Confidential was developed by Wadjet Eye Games.

Emerald City Confidential has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its optimization.

Emerald City Confidential is a single player game.

Similar games include The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav, Anna's Quest, The Book of Unwritten Tales, Unavowed, Primordia and others.

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