through an area, hoping to lose the
pursuing gang of idiots around the
next corner. As long as you can find
a barrel to climb into before the rats
regain their line of sight, you can
activate a quicksave and continue
from there, shuffling your respawn
point a little further towards your
goal each time. It’s a cheap tactic,
and it does spoil the atmosphere a
bit, but all that sneaking can become
repetitive and boring.
Cut a path
Getting to new areas generally
involves finding a key, which could
be hidden in plain sight or attached,
unmarked, to the belt of a guard. Other
times you might have to gather certain
items for a character, with improved
gear and other perks as a reward.
There isn’t a great deal of signposting
to let you know whether the thing
you need is in your current area or
if this is somewhere you’re going
to be returning to later, and it’s not
uncommon to accept a mission from
somebody and complete it instantly
because you’ve been carrying around
the required items for ages.
Ghost Of A Tale is an extremely
good-looking game, with an
expressively animated main character
and beautifully lit environments. The
camera view is very narrow, though,
drawing so close to Tilo at times that
it becomes hard to tell which way
you’re facing – not ideal when you’re
trying to flee from attackers, since
it can mean accidentally running
back towards them or getting stuck
in a corner. Having a somewhat jerky
framerate doesn’t help either.
It does have commendable good
points, not least in having fashioned
a believable medieval fantasy world
out of small mammals. The writing
is decent, and when characters slip
into jargon you can open optional
footnotes explaining some of the
lore. Voice acting would have been
desirable, as the game’s silence is alltoo noticeable, but was likely beyond
the scope of this project. Looking as
polished it does, it’s easy to forget
that Ghost Of A Tale is not just an indie
game but is mostly the work of one
man, albeit a veteran movie animator.
Tilo is a likeable hero, and further
adventures set in his solidly realised
world would certainly be welcome.
The reliance on rudimentary stealth
is likely to wear thin after a while, but
if you can tolerate being chased into
a box a thousand times, it’s a story
worth seeing through to the end. QCOSTUME
DRAMA
Tilo can be upgraded
by collecting different
costumes, which are
broken down into
several pieces and
scattered around the
castle. Individual
pieces might offer
small benefits, but if a
complete set can be
assembled you’ll get
additional perks such
as blending in with
the guards or
providing resistance
to environmental
hazards. Some quests
can only be
completed if you’ve
collected a particular
set of clothing, and
certain characters will
have different
dialogue if you talk to
them while fully
dressed up.“There’s no
combat, since
Tilo is a mouse
and not able to
carry a weapon”
ABOVE Mouse
conspirators,
plotting the day
when they’ll
cast off the
yoke of rat
oppression.
LEFT If the way
forward is
blocked, try
throwing a stick
at something
that looks
like it might be
a switch.OXM VERDICT
Ghost Of A Tale is
repetitive, but
quite endearing in
a rough-edged sort
of way.6
FAR LEFT There’s
a day-night
cycle in the
game’s outdoor
areas, which
looks lovely.More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 087