Imagine if history took a sharp turn in the Victorian era with the creation of a miraculous energy device that gave humans limitless power and the ability to navigate space with ease. Would this change history as we know it? You bet it would. Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World rockets you into such a world – literally – a world that has amazing technology coupled with 19th century lo-tech sensibilities. From advanced space drives to wooden ships, amazing ray guns to penny arcade space navigation devices, this is an alternate reality based around humans arriving a little early into the modern age. Set within this Brawe new world is an impressive comic adventure that feels like a welcome blend of old school classic and modern day cartoon that should please any adventurer, though it’s sometimes eerily quiet in space.

Predictably, mankind’s premature progress into the realms of space has brought with it all of the political interests and problems of our own little planet, including piracy, which has become an increasingly popular profession in this age of intergalactic industry. One such band of pirates known as the Kribbs (hmm, sounds familiar...) are a bloodthirsty bunch determined to loot and pillage the universe. To combat the Kribbs, the Space Police were formed to thwart the pirates at every possible turn. Kaptain Brawe is one such policeman: a proud and patriotic man who looks to protect space travellers and follow the law (almost to the letter) whenever he can. Sometimes a little naive and always gung-ho, Brawe strives to be the hero and often goes into situations without thinking or even back-up. Commanding the patrol ship SPS Mazslow, he prides himself on his ability to keep his lone crew member upbeat (which he fails miserably at doing) and bringing glory to the Space Union. With only his navigator, the often-exasperated ensign Kralek, to assist him, Brawe usually finds himself on solo missions, which completely agrees with his sense of adventure and duty.

The first such mission occurs when the Mazslow receives a distress call from a crashed spaceship, calling for assistance. After solving a few tutorial-like puzzles on board, Brawe sets off to the planet Jama Spacea, where the vessel has crash landed. Initially it appears to be a quick rescue, but the Kribbs soon make an appearance and start searching the planet for potential survivors and cargo. As the story evolves, Kaptain Brawe's adventure expands across three core planets: one tropical, another a remote ice planet, and an Earth-like world which the Kribbs call home. As each of the three main chapters open, the narrative reveals more about the survivors from the crash. This group of scientists appears to be the focus of a conspiracy, which involves capturing them and controlling a revolutionary invention that could threaten the existence of the Space Union and the political stability of the entire galaxy. Throw into this mix a mysterious assassin called SHE, plenty of political corruption and a very unfriendly boss, and you have the makings of an altogether quirky and unusual adventure.

There's something of a mock Eastern European theme that runs through the game (which isn’t surprising given its Croatian origins), attempting to give an amusing Communist / Cold War flavour to many of the characters. The game delivers plenty of quips and clever dialogue, often poking fun at speech differences and pronunciations, and Brawe himself is a hopelessly inept speller, a fact that even (purposely) carries over to his subtitles. Some of the most amusing comedic moments come from the interactions between Brawe and Kralek, who clearly has little respect for his superior and subtly tries to undermine him as often as possible. Rather than being laugh-out-loud funny, much of the game’s humour is pleasantly subdued, drawing out the gags and puns that will frequently bring a smile.

In terms of gameplay, Kaptain Brawe follows a very traditional point-and-click adventure style, challenging you to guide the protagonist through a variety of trials and tribulations by overcoming puzzles, finding items and quizzing the characters you meet. You'll have the aid of a trusty wooden robot named Rowboat, who follows you throughout the game. Rowboat not only stores your inventory in his chest, you can use him as an item to interact with the environment as well. Most of the game is spent controlling Brawe, but at times you are given the option to use other characters and switch between them with a simple button press, though they may be unavailable if they are trapped or not part of the current story scene. There are three playable characters in total: along with Brawe, you’ll also control the lovely Agent Zero, a member of the Space Police Internal Affairs, and Danny, an ex-member of the Kribbs. All three characters must work together to overcome obstacles, each offering something the other cannot, whether it’s strength, the trust of other characters, or even just simple availability. At times only the teamwork of all three players will trigger events that could not happen with one character alone.

There are two difficulty settings to choose from in Kaptain Brawe, a casual and hardcore mode. Both versions are almost identical with little alteration to gameplay, the main differences being the means of interaction, the level of hotspot detail offered, and the types of hints available. In casual mode, when your cursor falls over an object of interest, it immediately defaults to the appropriate type of interaction you need to perform, whereas the hardcore mode will make you click on it and then decide whether to examine or use the object. This can impact the type of information you’re able to learn. In casual mode, you are often not given the option to simply look at items, which means you will miss some history or the odd bit of amusing dialogue here and there, but it does streamline the process for those who simply want to get on with the adventure. The casual mode also gives you the option of extended clues available in the log book, which states your goals for each scene. Each objective offers the ability to click on it for increasingly direct hints on how to achieve it, though it won’t ever provide you with the solution outright. The clue option is completely removed in the hardcore setting, allowing you only to view your tasks at hand.