Date Warp is a unique game that is classified as a visual novel. It’s not really a video game per se, but rather an interactive movie much like the recent Heavy Rain for PS3. As you watch the events unfold in front of you, there are specific moments in the game where you can make decisions and decide what the character should do next.
Date Warp is a “game” that plays very much like this one and has a very interesting and intriguing storyline that will hook players the moment they start playing. She takes on the role of a young college girl named Janet. She is an innocent girl who is in the middle of her first date with her new boyfriend named Bradley. Things don’t go as planned on her first date when her car breaks down in the middle of the road in the pouring rain. The couple decides to seek help at the nearest house where they could have fun.
Upon arrival, they are greeted with a warm welcome. This is the first time the player gets to decide what Janet can do next. You usually have two or three options to choose from about how Janet should react in the situation she got herself into. The first option is that she can choose to apologize, or she can demand the person who answers the door to let her in since her car broke down and she is soaking wet!
Although you have options to choose from in Date Warp, you will still have to win the best option that you would like to choose, as this is not the type of game where you can just point and click. This is done as a puzzle. The puzzle has the option you want in the middle of an electronic circuit board. Your goal is to rearrange the wires so that electricity can flow to the choice you want Janet to make next. It’s not a very difficult task to do and it’s the only real “game” type that players will experience in Date Warp. The rest of the experience lies in reading the dialogue between the characters and trying to immerse yourself in the story.
Once Janet is inside the house, she realizes that the inhabitants are not as friendly as she thought they were. Although this is not a classic horror story, it does have a story that could lead to a classic murder investigation. There are five young people living in the mansion and Janet’s boyfriend has a feeling that they are not as nice as they seem.
I really loved the way the characters were developed in Date Warp. Bradley (Janet’s boyfriend) is not the kind of person she originally thought. Bradley only pretended to be her boyfriend because she wanted to get closer to this mysterious “mansion” since she suspects that the five young men kidnapped and killed her sister five years ago. From there, it’s up to you (as Janet) to find out the truth and see who’s telling the truth. The decision you will have to make only gets more difficult from there.
Graphically, the anime-style characters are excellently drawn. Not only is this, but the story is the real star of the show. If the story and characters were boring, I highly doubt it would be the kind of game players would want to keep playing. The story is as compelling as that seen in PlayStation 3’s Heavy Rain.
Date Warp is a great visual novel. Although the demo is free, if you want to know what’s going on, you’ll have to pay to find out. Not that this is a bad thing, as the story and the game itself should be worth the price of admission.