Previews

E3 2010: Hands on with Professor Layton and the Unwound Future

Twisty tale

E3 2010: Hands on with Professor Layton and the Unwound Future

Previously known as The Last Time Travel, the next Professor Layton game has now be named as The Unwound Future (at least in North America).

As either title highlights, the underlining plot to the many puzzles you'll be tackling this time is time travel, with the E3 demo revealing the opening story, developed once again by series creator Level-5.

In London, a mad scientist Dr Alain Stahngun says he's invented a time machine.

At the launch, lots of important people turn up, including the British prime minister Bill Hawks. Persuaded to help show off the machine, Hawks steps inside, only to vanish along with Stahngun when the machine appears to go wrong and explodes.

Quiz me this

Professor Layton and his trusty sidekick Luke are on hand to work out what's going on.

Indeed, even before the time machine goes wrong, Luke has to solve a simple puzzle to help the security guard find out who's gatecrashed the party. This earns the player 10 picarats, the in-game currency used to unlock bonus content.

The plot then thickens when Luke receives a letter from his future self, warning that London itself is in danger. Also, many of the land's most famous scientists are vanishing.

Cue our intrepid duo for another brain testing adventure, which like the previous Layton games will consists of plenty of puzzles and sub-missions for you to solve, which in turn, will also hook into the overall story.

Of course, these sort of games aren't for everyone. Even this introductory scene is slow and wordy, with long dialogue conversations to tap through, but as compensation the 2D cutscenes and overall graphics are beautifully crafted.

But the millions of the fans of the games will be pleased to hear that Professor Layton and the Unwound Future has a firm release date - at least in North America on September 20.

Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.