Blood of the Cybermen

With City of the Daleks, Sumo Digital established a new set of Doctor Who adventure games, attempting to inject the video game side of the franchise with some of the vitality and intrigue of the new TV series. Unfortunately, the first of the Doctor's outings never reached the heights set by the show. The second installment of the episodic set makes a real attempt at correcting the bland puzzles, simple exploration and unresponsive mini-games that plagued the first. This time we find the Doctor in a far more compelling situation than first time around, pulling in the Cybermen to provide a looming nemesis throughout the game. The script stuck to Who staples, but did it well; the traditional humour was there in greater abundance than City of the Daleks and the supporting cast were useful if forgettable.  
 
Sumo's greatest problem in City of the Daleks was the big disconnect between plot and narrative; where the scenario called for a quick and ingenious solution cobbled together, the gameplay always boiled down to a fetch quest that was spelled out for you. This time Sumo made progress with their overarching gameplay. Puzzles and exploration are slightly more complex in nature and a greater variety of tasks have been introduced, ranging from fixing a radio to catching a Cybermat. The general, 'run here and pick thing up' set-up is certainly still present but Blood of the Cybermen changes things up and attempts to create more challenging puzzles whilst retaining ease of access. It also introduces an element of co-operation between the Doctor and Amy Pond, switching between each character in certain sections to work toward a shared goal. These are basic in design but help integrate Amy into the narrative, utilising her well. Sumo have also tried to instill a sense of urgency where it is called for, setting timed sections and using music more effectively than last outing. Despite these small improvements, the game's problems still outweigh any good Sumo have done. The controls have remained the same from City of the Daleks, being clunky and unresponsive, and this critically hinders all gameplay. When frustration with your stationary character is the primary emotion, something has gone badly wrong. 
 
Blood of the Cybermen shows a solid attempt at improving on the formula Sumo established with City of the Daleks, and I really do hope it continues. Their competence with adventure games has been proved previously and I'm certain they can do something interesting with the series from here. If you are a big Who fan then by all means the story and basic gameplay may be absolutely worth the free download, but don't expect anything deeper.