As of today, adventure gamers no longer need a Kansas twister to get to Oz anymore, as Dave Gilbert's Emerald City Confidential has now been released for purchase and download.

The new game presents a much different version of Oz than movie fans are used to. As Gilbert describes it, it's "Oz meets Raymond Chandler" in a noir-themed mystery that casts players in the role of a private eye named Petra. Accepting what appears to be a simple missing persons job from the mysterious Dee Gale, Petra quickly finds herself caught up in a case that takes her "deep into the seedy underbelly of the Emerald City's criminal underground and beyond" where she will "encounter many characters both familiar and new, learn several magic spells, and uncover the answer to a dark secret that has haunted Petra all her life."

Emerald City Confidential marks the first game from Gilbert's Wadjet Eye Games to be launched by an external publisher, so to purchase the game, head on over to the PlayFirst website. The game is available for $19.95 as a download only, but a back-up CD version is also available for an additional $7.95. For those who prefer to sample the game first, a free one-hour timed demo is offered as well.

Adventure Gamers will have full review coverage of Emerald City Confidential soon enough, but in the meantime, be sure to check out our recent developer interview.