Tom Sparks is a simple and honest engineer who is unwittingly thrust into a wild adventure when a series of unusual earthquakes threaten his subterranean home of “Under Passage”. There are strange happenings deep beneath the planet’s crust, and Tom must journey through mysterious and fantastical worlds in order solve the mystery of the Quakes of Ruin. There are many interesting creatures and civilizations that have settled underground since the surface world froze over, and indeed many of these subterranean inhabitants are compelled by evil to try and halt Tom’s quest! Luckily, our brave protagonist is a skilled technician and a thrifty inventor. He will need those skills in order to build himself an arsenal of weaponry and tools to survive the coming trials.
At its core (no pun intended), ‘Tom Sparks’ features a stunningly beautiful isometric 3D diesel-punk environment sprinkled with a healthy dose of exploration, puzzles and fast-paced firefights using extraordinary weapons. The objective of the game is to keep Tom moving, jumping and dodging to evade enemies. Part of the fun is switching to different weapons and adapting a new strategy to deal with the scarcity of ammunition and the differing combat situations that arise.
As our unsung hero progresses on his quest, he can discover blueprints, which allow him to build new weapons and armor. In order to craft these weapons, Tom must collect scrap metal by smashing crates, boxes, enemies and other bits of the environment. For an engineer, Tom sure does like smashing things! Each new weapon that Tom builds brings new strategies and gameplay styles to the table. If he is to succeed, Tom will need to assemble the most diverse and robust arsenal possible in order to deal with enemies who have varying strengths, weaknesses and attacks. Choosing the right weapon for the situation at hand is critical. Tom will constantly need help to discover ways of getting past challenging obstacles, which in part includes dangerous chasms and even fire pits … and don’t forget the endless number of mind-bending puzzles that needs to be solved!
‘Tom Sparks And The Quakes Of Ruin’ features not only beautifully rendered 3D characters, enemies and environments, but also a huge array of weapons to find, build and upgrade. With its tons of objects and enemies to smash up and its amazing boss-fights, the game is the perfect companion to fans of the genre, and any gamer with an adventurous spirit.