Runaway: A Road Adventure

2001 video game

Runaway: A Road Adventure is a 2001 graphic adventure game developed by the Spanish company Pendulo Studios and published by Dinamic Multimedia. It follows the story of Brian Basco, an American college student on the run after he unwittingly saves a murder witness named Gina Timmins from assassination by the New York Mafia. Searching for clues about a mysterious crucifix linked to the murder, Brian and Gina embark on a cross country journey through the United States while pursued by two Mafia hitmen. The player assumes the role of Brian and explores the game world while collecting items, solving puzzles and conversing with non player characters. Inspired by the road movie genre and films such as Pulp Fiction and Raising Arizona, Pendulo Studios began Runaway in 1998. The team abandoned the nonlinear and parodical nature of its previous title, Hollywood Monsters, in favor of a more straightforward and adult oriented approach that blended humor with drama. Runaway initially featured hand drawn 2D graphics; production problems necessitated a switch, one year into development, to pre rendered 3D characters with toon shading. The change caused major delays, exacerbated by a shortage of qualified character animators in Spain: the country's recovering game industry had a limited talent pool. Runaways small core team of nine members was supported by part timers and freelancers during development. Runaway was highly anticipated in Spain, and it won awards and positive reviews upon its July 2001 release. Early domestic sales were strong, but Runaways distribution and international debut were scuttled when Dinamic Multimedia closed that September. Forced to downsize in response, Pendulo fought for roughly one year to buy back Runaways rights; the developer finally secured global publishing deals during 2002 and 2003. DTP Entertainment and Focus Home Interactive had significant success with Runaway in Germany and France, respectively, and the game sold 600,000 units across Europe by 2006. Runaway was well received by German publications such as PC Games, and a panel of journalists and industry figures in France named it one of 2003's best titles. Reviews in the United States were mixed. As Pendulo's first international hit, Runaway financially revitalized its developer. Pendulo built on the game's design and visual style in future projects, and became Spain's longest running game developer by 2019. Although adventure games were in decline before Runaways global release, publications in Germany, France and Spain reported that the game helped to reenergize its genre. Runaway has been named one of the best Spanish games and best adventure games of all time, but also cited as a polarizing title; in Germany, it inspired the popular term "Runaway Syndrome" to denote poor adventure game design. The game spawned two sequels—Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle (2006) and Runaway: A Twist of Fate (2009)—and formed a series that sold over 1.5 million units worldwide by 2010. Hidden Runaway, a spin off, followed in 2012.

Runaway: A Road Adventure is a graphic adventure game controlled with a point and click interface, in a style that has been compared to LucasArts adventure games. Using a mouse, the player navigates the player character through the game world and interacts with hotspots, such as items and non player characters. Interaction with hotspots is context sensitive. For example, if the cursor transforms into a magnifying glass while hovering over a hotspot, The player must occasionally combine items in the inventory to solve puzzles. As a result, the player must solve many puzzles in a specific order. the developer started to create a sequel to the game. The first installment had been a commercial hit in Spain, Pendulo's home country. However, Kai Fiebig of Hollywood Monsters publisher, Dinamic Multimedia, explained that Pendulo soon revamped its project. At a meeting to assess the sequel, one of Pendulo's leads suggested a change in direction because of a thriller film he had recently seen, and the core concept for Runaway was born. the team sought to give Runaway a balance of humor and drama. and she underwent several redesigns before her model sheet was finalized. Pendulo's staff self described as a group of "movie fanatics", Despite the impact of Pulp Fiction and Raising Arizona on the script, Hernáez noted that the two films were not among his personal favorites. He compensated by including allusions to The Apartment, The Quiet Man and the work of Woody Allen—particularly Manhattan Murder Mystery, which supplied the conceit for the game's ending. According to Hernáez, the team added few personal references to Runaway beyond the names of two hackers mentioned by Sushi, who were named after Hernáez's nieces. Pendulo's co founders. Both LucasArts adventure games and the early work of Sierra On Line influenced the game. and Gerard Masnou wrote that it "was the most ambitious graphic adventure ever developed in Spain" at the time. The game's funding was derived entirely from Spanish investments. He sought to give each of Runaways areas a unique theme suited to its environs, while ensuring that the tracks "had some connection to each other, whether of harmony, melody or rhythmic drums". García Morales later said that this balance of unity and difference was difficult. was used to alter the soundtrack based on in game events. In addition to the game's background music, Pendulo decided "from the very outset" to give Runaway a signature theme song, according to Latiegui. Like Hollywood Monsters and Pendulo's earlier Igor: Objective Uikokahonia, Runaway began development with completely 2D graphics. The game maintained this style for a full year and to a "very advanced" stage of production, according to the Spanish press. Most of the 2D artwork was created by outside contractors under Pendulo's supervision. Micromanía reported that the game looked like an "authentic animated film". One of that magazine's columnists called the game's 2D visuals ready to "compete, side by side, with the greatest successes of LucasArts." Although Pendulo completed the entire first chapter of Runaway in 2D, Pendulo pre rendered the 3D character models to create sprites and then added more effects on top, The finished first chapter was then remade in the new style. Pascual wrote that Pendulo "used the same procedure" employed by then recent animated properties, such as The Iron Giant and Futurama, that similarly blended 2D and 3D artwork. Runaways graphical overhaul did not require a rewrite of the existing game engine, Originally due in early 2000, the game proceeded to miss its planned December 2000 launch. Adventure Gamers' Eivind Hagerup wrote that Pendulo "didn't want to rush the game before Christmas, because this would lower the quality of the game." the game encountered another string of delays through the first half of 2001, In his column for GameLive PC, Masnou wrote at the time that Runaways lengthy development and numerous delays were worrying signs, and warned the creators to "release this game before we get tired of waiting and we just forget about it." Hernáez noted that the team was unhappy with the slow pace of development, as it increased costs and devalued the final product. By early March, rumors had spread that Dinamic was in danger of closing. The company responded that only its online division was being shuttered, and that Runaway and its other traditional games were not in jeopardy. and Dinamic entered receivership and cut 39 jobs in late March. Dinamic owed a significant debt of 1.5 billion pesetas to multiple creditors by this time. In response to these issues, Dinamic pushed Pendulo to rush Runaways release "because it needed money to stay afloat", according to Pinilla. He noted that the last months of the game's development were difficult, and he complained that Dinamic "did not provide the necessary funds for a sufficient number of people" to complete the project. its final version contained serious bugs that required several patches. Pendulo reported that most of these bugs occurred for users with 15 bit video cards, and took steps to address this issue. Shipped on three CD ROMs and at Dinamic's standard list price of 3,995 pesetas, It claimed 22nd on the charts the following month. However, the game soon encountered problems. Although certain commentators had speculated that Runaways sales would save the publisher, it was ultimately Dinamic's last published title. At the time, VNUNet reported Dinamic's closure as "bad news for the battered Spanish game software industry". A writer for MarcaPlayer later called it "probably the most traumatic event that the Spanish video game industry has experienced in history". This situation hurt Runaways distribution and commercial performance in Spain. By GfK's measurements, Dinamic's release of Runaway totaled 8,980 units sold domestically. According to Felipe Gómez Pinilla, Spanish adventure game developers relied on international sales to reach profitability, as the domestic market was too small to cover their costs. None of Pendulo's earlier titles had achieved international success, and Masnou called it a rarity for any Spanish adventure game, but the team felt that Runaway might break the trend. while Italian and German releases were inked for fall 2001. However, Dinamic's downfall cast doubt on the future of Runaway outside Spain. Latiegui remarked after Dinamic's closure that, unless a deal to repurchase the game's rights emerged "very quickly", Pendulo could follow its publisher into bankruptcy. By mid October 2001, all international versions of Runaway were placed on hold. Dubbing had not yet begun for the German edition by that time. Pendulo proceeded to undertake lawsuits and engage the publisher in a legal battle for the rights, a process that lasted roughly one year. Adventure Gamers Marek Bronstring wrote that the game was "caught in limbo" during this time; Pendulo struggled to stay solvent. Latiegui later called the period an extreme challenge, and the company had to lay off the majority of its staff to make payroll. By November 2001, negotiations to release the game in Germany were ongoing and a fan petition to save Runaway had begun.

Pendulo Studios finally secured the rights to Runaway in July 2002. Later that month, Pendulo announced that the German language edition of Runaway had been revived. Its publisher was revealed as DTP Entertainment in early September, by which time the game was set for a November launch across the German market: Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The German translation had been completed and its dubbing work started by mid September. Retailer pre orders in the German market quickly surpassed DTP's forecasts. For the Czech edition, Pendulo signed with TOP Distributor, The Czech translation took four months; dubbing was completed in October. Runaways German and Czech versions both went gold in November, and releases followed on November 18 and in early December, respectively. DTP Entertainment supported Runaway in Germany with a heavy marketing campaign that characterized the game as "the return of the classic adventure", according to the publisher's Chris Kellner. Runaway debuted at #9 on GfK's weekly computer game sales charts for the German market, and spent five consecutive months in Media Control's top 30. The game's sales in the German market surpassed 50,000 units within a year, ultimately climbing to 60,000. Kellner declared it "a huge success" for the publisher. Following Runaways debut in Germany, Pendulo landed deals in December 2002 to release the game in three more countries: France, with Focus Home Interactive; Poland, with TopWare Interactive; and the United Kingdom, with GMX Media. All three were slated for spring 2003. The company's Cédric Lagarrigue later said that his team had "a huge desire to revive" the genre, and that they believed Runaway could do so. Runaways worldwide spread continued throughout the early part of 2003. Agreements emerged in March to localize Runaway in the Netherlands, Belgium and North America—the third through Tri Synergy. which included the French voice actors for Cameron Diaz, Tom Cruise and Will Smith. Words of Magic finished the localization within two months, in the process adding jokes and references specific to France, alongside new hints for certain puzzles. Initial sales were strong: the game reached #3 on GfK's French charts, and it remained in the top 20 through July. Runaway ultimately maintained a six month streak on GfK's list. Similarly, Fnac reported Runaway as its third best selling game across all platforms during April's first half, and it continued to chart in the store's top 30 through the end of May. In August, Lagarrigue called Runaway a major hit for his company. In early 2002, the two companies had collaborated on a re release of Hollywood Monsters. Changes to the remastered Runaway included a new box cover by Luis Royo, increased video quality, added hints for difficult puzzles, a new voice over for Gina—redubbed by the actress who voiced Angelina Jolie in Spain—and other updates. Pendulo and FX announced the remastered version in January 2003. Latiegui stated that the new edition's "most important" function was to solve Runaways ongoing supply shortage in Spain, caused by Dinamic's closure. games that the newspaper included with its Sunday edition as optional purchases for €5 each. Runaways MVM edition became a hit and sold 100,000 units over the weekend. FX Interactive chose to reissue it as part of the publisher's "Premium" budget line in mid 2003. The company followed this SKU later in 2003 with the "Multiadventure" bundle, which paired Runaway with the titles Traitors Gate and The Longest Journey. FX brought Runaway to Italy in May; Latiegui characterized its early performance in the country as a "great success". Pendulo also revealed a deal that month to localize the title in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Later in the year, Focus Home announced a French relaunch of Runaway in a Collector's Edition bundle, supported by a renewed marketing campaign. Despite Runaways popularity in continental Europe, the title's English edition struggled to reach shelves. Evan Dickens of Adventure Gamers wrote that "the game stubbornly refused to find its way to an English translation". and it ultimately failed to materialize. Tri Synergy's North American version remained without a scheduled release date by the middle of that year. By January 2004, Runaway had become an international commercial hit. At the time, MCVs Frank Mischkowski wrote that its sales totaled 400,000 units at full price and in Europe alone. Ramón Hernáez noted that the game's "sales are not explosive, [but] they add up" over time. Runaways largest markets were France and Germany, according to Latiegui. He added that it had not "done badly at all" in the United States by February 2004, where its lifetime sales at brick and mortar retailers reached 12,928 units by the end of the month. Conversely, Richard Moss of Ars Technica later wrote that Runaway was one of many adventure games that "barely made a mark in the US but sold well in Europe" during the late 1990s and the 2000s. Runaway accrued roughly 500,000 global sales by March 2004, and remained DTP's best selling adventure game by that September. In May 2006, GamesRadar+ reported that Runaway had totaled 600,000 sales in Europe. The game and its sequel, Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle, together had sold one million copies by April 2009. Of these sales, France accounted for 250,000 units.