Another game has been cast down from my Hall of Shame - Thomas Was Alone!
Well this was an oddity and half: On one hand we have a simple platforming game and on the other there is actually a compelling story conveyed in a rather engaging way.
Funny thing is, this game sounds downright awful on paper: Guiding shapes in a platforming game? Wow, I can imagine the investors scrambling for that one. Indeed, there isn't much, gameplay wise, about this game to write home about: The levels are short and the puzzles aren't really that difficult. So one may just as well ask why does this game even exist?
Simple: Because of the story and how it's presented.
Unlike a lot of big budget titles, this game succeeds on the characterization: These characters are presented with personality, they go through a character arc, and they come out the other side wiser and irrevocably changed - and considering the characters in question are all quadrilaterals this is saying a lot. The much-touted narration of Danny Wallace helps considerably and in retrospect it's impossible to imagine Thomas Was Alone succeeding without him.
Having said all that, this game is indeed strange with it's emphasis on story and presentation over gameplay. Normally, any other game would be crucified with it's emphasis on story and neglectful approach to gameplay but here it works. It works enough for gamers, being the harsh bastards we are, to turn a blind eye as opposed to resorting to the tried and tested criticisms of the past. And if that is the case then a) it must've been adman good story or b) it must've been told in a good way. Guess if you deliver enough in one area, us gamers will be willing to forget anything.
Anywho I enjoyed Thomas Was Alone - it was well-written, inventive and lot's of fun. I just hope with it's handling of the narrative aspect that other game developers sit up and take notice.
This is how you do it folks!
Recently I sat down and watched all the StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty cutscenes on youtube. Yeah I know that’s cheating when compared to actually playing the game but fuck it: I’ve got a laundry of list of games to play, and subsequently beat, so any time saved is worth it (or something). Besides I’m only in it for the story – all gameplay is probably best left to the nation of Korea.
So what did I think of the Wings of Liberty story? Well to begin with the characters: The StarCraft universe has certainly had its fair share of fascinating characters and here the roster is expanded. I liked Dr Ariel Hanson (why didn’t you stick with her Raynor?!), Nova was cool and I also enjoyed Matt Horner. Matt in particular is of note for I’d heard people think of him as whiny bitch but that didn’t seem to be the case – just as well as he didn’t for he WAS the PC character in the first Terran campaign in StarCraft 1. Tychus was fun with his constant hulking presence but one gets the feeling he had a story that didn’t (or has yet to be) told. Gabriel Tosh too made for an interesting presence – although what is it with Blizzard and Rastafarians? The UNN news crew, Kate and Donny, were also fun to watch.
It’s just a shame that many of the familiar faces don’t seem be handled properly: Arcturus is a far cry from the political sliminess he exhibited in the first game being reduced with little to do. Kerrigan doesn't fare better doing nothing more than sneering as if it’s the only thing she can really do. Even Raynor seems nowhere near the depressed drunk he was originally made out to be. Indeed, one gets the feeling that the Blizzard writing staff have taken these characters as far as they could in the first game – therefore is there anything left for them to do now?
Still this is but the first installment of a trilogy. Considering Blizzard’s love for producing unpredictable narratives, it would be interesting to see how this would pan out. It is possible that some faces may reappear and some questions may be resolved – but then again they said the same thing about the Star Wars prequel trilogy and look how well that turned out.
But again the question: Is there anything left for these characters to do? Granted Duran has yet to reappear, there’s the possibility that Earth may make another move following the failure of the UED (to not do so wouldn’t make a lot of sense) and it be interesting to see the balance of power shift away from the Zerg (the victors at the end of Brood War). But somehow playing WoL there is a sense that the stakes have already peaked. If anything StarCraft 1 had its dinner and the members of the StarCraft 2 trilogy are left to fight over the table scraps.
Throughout the original StarCraft there was the underlying theme that the conflict between the three factions, Terran, Zerg and Protoss, is meaningless and the only way either of them will get anywhere is through the assistance of the one of the others. I can see traces of it in the WoL narrative but Kerrigan doesn’t strike me as someone who’d willing help – she’d rather force someone to help her.
Ultimately though, this is the first part of a trilogy – two more are, of course, on their way. Only time will tell how things will end up……
As you all may have heard by now, something terrible has happened: LucasArts has been closed by parent company Disney due to disappointments with not much happening. Sad news to be sure. Okay true LucasArts haven't really done anything of note in recent years but for a moment there, these guys were at the top of their game, delivering games that were lot's of fun and have stood strong against the march of time.
The LucasArts I knew were makers of superb adventure games. They were both real written and imaginative in their premises. They boasted puzzles that actually made sense and had a sense of humor that worked even when humor in gaming tends to fall flat on its face all too easily. These games had brilliant graphics complimented with gloriously rendered backgrounds and presented wonderfully realized worlds. And these games were designed by people who truly loved their craft and knew exactly what made a great game. Finally, LucasArts took chances with new IP - most of them paid off in dividends. They fostered talent and proved they were bursting at the seams with genuine creativity.
I spent this summer playing a lot of LucasArts adventures - namely Day of the Tentacle, the Dig, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Sam and Max Hit the Road and, of course, Monkey Island 1,2 and 3. Some of these I played for the very first time. From the perspective of twenty years, these games still hold up remarkably well and they certainly are impressive - even to someone who spent the early nineties as a one-eyed console devotee. What worked originally still works very well and it's a testament to building games that are well-designed. Indeed, these games were made by people who are genuinely passionate about what they do and it shows.
And whilst the LucasArts adventures may have been a mainstay of PC gaming twenty years ago, even if I wasn't aware of it at the time, it's hard to imagine PC gaming without the Midas Touch LucasArts has provided.
So here's to LucasArts and the adventure games they made. We've never seen anything like them and we probably never will again.
This week’s episode of Good Game was an analysis between the three great gaming generations: 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. So inspired by this, may I offer my two cents:
My favorite gaming generation out of the afore-mentioned three? The 1990’s without question. If the 1980s were represented by building ideas from practically out of nothing and the 2000s were defined by breaking down whatever restrictions were left standing, then the 1990’s seem to combine the best of the two: technology was advancing, admittedly at an alarming rate, but the limitations of the era encouraged developers to be smart in conveying what they were trying to get across.
One could argue that the first time is always the best time – and in such a case, those who champion the generation they got into gaming as the first time. Indeed I can imagine the kids playing the PS3 will, ten/twenty years from now, maintain that it was the best generation of the lot.
But that isn’t the case here: As previously established I started with the Commodore 64 and was already into gaming well before I set my young and impressionable mind first set eyes on a Sega Megadrive. That being said, the nineties may not have been the beginning but it certainly was the key to the Promised Land (or whatever you want to call it).
So what makes the nineties so special? Well then:
• I recall declaring loyalty to Sega while so many others swore devotion to Nintendo – and hey, of people are forming tribes around something then you must be doing something right.
• I recall going to friend’s places and having a bash on the console – true that could be done before and since but to me the nineties was where it happened to me first. Indeed, there something satisfying to have a friend or cousin who liked the same stuff you liked.
• I recall hanging around people who liked gaming and talking about them with barely restrained enthusiasm.
• I recall the first time a gamer specific store opened up in Hobart and I thought it was the best thing ever
• I recall watching the Zone religiously on a Saturday morning and thinking it was ace to see a show for people who spoke my language
• I recall reading the various magazines of the day and being impressed with both gaming developments and the latest games (even if most of the games featured were beyond the capabilities of my (t)rusty Commodore 64)
• I recall the excitement of a LAN. Indeed was something special sneaking into a computer lab at school with some friends and using up one’s lunch hour blowing each other away in Doom.
• I recall going into arcade game parlors and salivating like a Pavlovian dog at all the wonders around me. Okay sure some may lament the evolution of such parlors from seedy/dark places to family-friendly-environments but I tell you, there was no greater thrill than blowing so much change in a wide variety of games.
Looking back at what I’ve written it seems there is a common thread between these points: If anything the nineties proved to me that there truly was a world of gamers beyond what I’d previously experienced in my basement with my Commodore 64. Suddenly I realized there were people who liked what I liked and I wasn’t as alone as I originally thought I was. Whether it was visiting friends to play games, setting up LANs or reading various gaming publications; all of these indicated that there was a world of gaming that I was a part of and my interest were to be celebrated. Thus, whilst the eighties may have established the niche, the nineties saw the niche expand – to where it is today well beyond its original niche limitations.
And I don’t believe that this sense of belonging has been replicated. How? Well people nowadays may go on about how online gaming is great with being able to play against people from all corners of the globe and having games & DLC readily available to download. Yes that may be true but at what expense? Sure it may be easier to find people who like what you like online but it’s nowhere near as satisfying as meeting a similar someone in the flesh. You may reach more people online but it’s hardly a substitute for going to a friend’s place, hijacking their couch and duke it out in a fighting game.
So here's to the nineties. And what finer way then to conclude this post with some music from that glorious decade?
All together now:
"Gonna get the girl
Gonna kill the baddies
And save the entire planet!
Gonna get the girl
Gonna kill the baddies
And save the entire planet!"
Here's something that caught my eye: A new MMORPGer called Scarlet Blade. The hook for this one is that it is set in a world entirely populated by women.
Okay that's not a bad idea for a set up but the execution seems to suggest a lot of pandering to teenaged boys who have one hand on their mouses and the other between their legs.
Take a look at these and draw your own conclusions:
Seriously, it's as if they're daring Anita Sarkeesian to tear this game a new one....
