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Articles
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E3
2002 |
I'm more optimistic than Randy (plus I'm way cuter and have better scars). I don't really believe the adventure genre is about to make its final bow.
First, He Rants
Before I even talk about the kewl stuff I saw at E3, I've got to hop nimbly up on my well-worn soapbox to make the same speech I've been making for years now. Adventure is not dead! But it is certainly evolving.
At the very same time that we've seen the decline in big-budget point-and-click pure adventures, we've seen adventure infect and inform every genre from First-Person Shooters (FPS) to sims to strategy games. Here are some examples:
1. Half-Life. This game revolutionized the FPS market in several ways, including almost invisible level transitions, fully-deformable environments, full interaction in cutscenes. One of its most important innovations, however, was the tightly integrated, highly detailed and deep storyline that added enormously to the richness of the game experience. Other important shooters, such as Max Payne, No One Lives Forever and Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force, have had so much story that they feel like adventure games with guns.
2. Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun. One of the many titles in Westwood Studios enormously popular Real-Time Strategy (RTS) series, the game is about as far from traditional adventure as you can get. Nevertheless, it's got tons of video - starring Michael Biehn and James Earl Jones, for heaven's sake - that pushes forward the very real and compelling story of the game. Later games in the series have even more story elements.
3. Heroes of Might and Magic IV. This is a turn-based strategy game! What does it need with story? I can tell you that the story elements in Heroes IV are significantly beefed up from Heroes III. The campaigns are connected with a very strong sense of narrative, and are even punctuated with events that develop character and plot. Hell, even one of the standalone scenarios is based on (and liberally quotes) "Beowulf"!
My point is that, while pure point-and-click may very well be on the decline, adventure abounds all over the place if you'll just cast your net a bit wider than you may be now.
Next, He Gets A Bit Pretentious and Preachy
When I think about the current state of adventure games, I'm reminded of the final line of Robert Bakker's brilliant 1986 book, "The Dinosaur Heresies." Bakker contends that the dinosaurs haven't all become extinct; some of them evolved into birds. He closes the book with this delightful line, "Look up! The dinosaurs are flying south again!"
It took the dinos about fifty million years to evolve into birds; computer matters move a bit quicker.
Things aren't going to stay the same in the adventure game world, but then, guess what? They aren't going to stay the same for anyone when it comes to computers.
I understand the common argument: "We loved adventure games just the way they were!! Why should the evil game companies change them just to be ornery?!" However, I can think no of other genre whose players demand that developers and publishers stop (or even turn back) the clock. My friends, the clock is running. The train is moving. The ship has sailed.
But that's no reason to despair, I promise you. Adventure is everywhere . . . it's just expressing itself in new and different - and exciting - ways.
Then Finally He Talks About Games at the E3
THE GREAT ESCAPE
For years I've whined to anyone who would listen that I wanted someone to make a game out of my favorite Guy Movie of all time, THE GREAT ESCAPE. Well, Developer Wide Games and Producer/Publisher Codemasters have pretty much done that with their upcoming action/adventure title Prisoner of War.
Here's how Codemasters describes the game's setup:
The player takes on the role of Captain Lewis Stone in 1941 when he is on a top-secret reconnaissance mission for Allied intelligence. Flying high above northern Germany, Stone and his co-pilot Lieutenant James Daly are hit by anti-aircraft fire. Bailing out just in time, Stone parachutes straight into the hands of armed German soldiers. Out numbered and out gunned, Stone is forced to surrender himself to captivity in a POW camp.
On arrival Stone is introduced to life as a prisoner in Germany as well as a variety of interesting characters from around the world. Soon he is reunited with his copilot Daly and the pair devise a cunning escape plan involving the theft of German tools from the German's own living quarters.
Stone's adventure will take him across Germany in a variety of different POW camps, including Stalag Luft and the supposedly 'escape proof' Coldiz Castle. Using his ingenuity and stealth tactics to outwit the German war machine, Stone will find himself crawling through muddy tunnels and over stone walls, using disguises and makeshift equipment to escape and to prevent the destruction of Allied cities around the world.
The cool thing about the game, and what makes it qualify as a game adventure gamers should be interested in, is that your character never gets a gun. You have to sneak around, gather information, and do everything you can to escape and prevent those nasty Nazis from generally messing up the world.
Don't you hate it when this happens?
Now, come on, guys. A lot of us adventure enthusiasts played and loved the Thief games. Prisoner of War appeals to the same dark corner of our gameplaying psyche: the chance to sneak around in a high-stakes environment. What could be a better adventure than attempting to escape from a German prison camp? Shades of Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasance . . . I'm there, baby!
Expect Prisoner of War in June (Xbox) and September (PC).
I DIDN'T EXPECT THE SPANISH INQUISITION
Wanadoo has an upcoming PS2 and PC title that I'm watching closely. It's called Inquisition, and it's an action/adventure set in France in the year 1348. It tells the story of a penniless young man who learns of an amazing treasure from a dying Templar Knight. The Knight has been tortured by you-know-who, and our hero has to avoid their bloody reach and a host of other obstacles before finding his glittering prize.
Would you like death, or cake?
The game will combine adventure, stealth, and fighting and take place in a historically accurate setting. In other words, no monsters, no magic, just very scary Inquisitors!
AND SPEAKING OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH . . .
The talented team at Arxel Tribe are cooking up a new RPG adventure called Mistmare that takes place in an alternate-history world in which the Church has forced society to neglect the sciences and revert to magic. The story of the game will take you to Athens, Paris, London, Antwerp, Avignon, Rome, Krakow and Stockholm, and the complex character development system appears to give this RPG some real depth.
Play Misty for me
http://mistmare.arxeltribe.com
Deus Ex 2: Invisible War
Ion Storm's spectacular 2000 game Deus Ex was a feast for thinking gamers. Though it looked superficially similar to a FPS, the game's adventure and RPG elements made it one of the most engrossing titles of recent years. Virtually every problem had multiple solutions, resulting in a game that truly responded to the player's style. Like sneaking? Maybe there's an unprotected back door to this secure facility you're needing to break into. Like hacking? Maybe you can reprogram the locks. Like shooting? Maybe you're good enough to take those three front-door guards out.
I had a very nice chat with Ricardo Bare, one of the talented designers on the game's sequel, Deus Ex 2: Invisible War (DX2). The team at Ion Storm Austin is hard at work on making the new game's multiple solution virtues even stronger this time around. They're also creating a stunningly realized gameworld in which your player will have to deal with dark conspiracies and malevolent forces. The lighting physics alone are tremendous, and the shadowy underworld of DX2 looks like it could be an extremely intriguing place in which to sneak around.
Pardon me while I foil your foul conspiracy.
We'll have to be patient for Deus Ex 2, it's got a lot of development to go. As the studio head of Ion Storm is game legend Warren Spector, I'll be very surprised if the wait isn't worth it.
P.S. Ion Storm Austin is also currently developing Thief 3.
Naturally I'm interested in the new game from brilliant iconoclast Peter Molyneaux (Black and White, Populous). Called Project Ego, it's an RPG/adventure in which your character actually ages and physically changes as his character develops.
Another very interesting game that's shaping up nicely is Bethesda's Sea Dogs II. The first Sea Dogs was an intriguing strategy game with strong adventure and RPG elements. These elements have been strengthened and deepened in the upcoming sequel.
Like the first game, Sea Dogs II takes place in a fictionalized 17th Century Caribbean during the age of the buccaneer. The player assumes the role of either a dashing male or female adventurer, and the game consists of developing skills as a captain, trader, fighter, pirate, or whatever combination the player fancies.
The game takes place both on land (on various islands which are under the influence of sundry European powers) and at sea.
Like last time, the graphics are gorgeous, as evidenced by these screenshots.
Pete Hines of Bethesda gave us an entertaining demo of the new game. He explained that the main story/quest of Sea Dogs II will be stronger and more accessible than the last time around. Players enjoyed the freedom to explore and express their inner pirate the in the first game, but sometimes felt lost when it came to the main story. This time the freedom will still be there, when whenever the player wants he can hook back on the main story (this dynamic is also evident in their amazing recent release Morrowind).
In the first game not much happened on land except for the recruitment of crew, the purchasing of supplies, and the receiving of quests. In the sequel much more will happen on land, including story, more character interaction, and even combat.
Considering the game is a strategy/RPG/adventure hybrid, the interface has many duties to perform, but it appeared to be smooth, intuitive and helpful. One good example of what this elegant interface does well is a screen which will, at a glance, show you salient facts about each island. Which country runs it? What products does it produce? Which products are contraband on the island (thereby providing smuggling opportunities for the stout of heart).
Sea Dogs II looks to be one of those titles in which there are a whole lot of interesting things to do. Want to be a good guy and fight pirates? Want to be a wily smuggler? Want to be an honest prosperous marine trader? Want to be a bloodthirsty, dastardly, cutlass-wielding privateer? You'll be able to do all that and more in this very promising game.
Bethesda seems to be a software company which seems to truly focus on core ideas of gameplay and fun. This emphasis makes it hard not to be interested in anything they're working on.
But What About Point-and-Click Pure Adventure, Damnit?!
Yes, there are a few traditional adventures coming out, most of which were well-covered in Randy's article last week. DreamCatcher has sequels to The Riddle of the Sphinx and The Cameron Files on the way. The Omega Stone (ROTS2) looks particularly attractive, and includes a good deal of globetrotting, from Easter Island to Central America and beyond.
http://www.dreamcatchergames.com/
HerInteractive's sixth Nancy Drew game, The Secret of the Scarlet Hand, looks to be their best game yet. The graphics are gorgeous, the character models look better than ever, and the game promises to be the biggest (and longest) game yet in their excellent series. Scarlet Hand will be released this summer.
http://www.herinteractive.com/prod/index.shtml
Microids' fall-down-on-the-floor good-looking pure adventure Syberia will also be out soon. I know, I know, there's now a frustrating little delay while DreamCatcher prepares it for its North American release. I played the game this past weekend, and all I can say at this point is, it'll be worth the wait, my friends.
I'm also quite interested in Microids' upcoming Post-Mortem, but it's only 20% complete, so I'm adopting a wait-and-see attitude until we learn more. I can't forget how intrigued we were last year by Arxel's Hitchcock: The Final Cut when we saw it in early development at E3. The basic premise of Post-mortem sounds intriguing and fun, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
And what adventure gamer couldn't be thrilled that LucasArts is making a sequel to their classic Full Throttle?!
Big Finish
With prices dropping, I encourage gamers to consider investing in one of the three big console platforms. Many of the games I've discussed will be released on a combination of the big four: PC, GameCube, X-Box, and Playstation 2.
And of course I'm excited at the prospect of a new 7th Guest sequel. But, as Randy's article pointed out, even that game won't be a pure adventure. Frankly I don't mind.
And, Gentle Reader, I implore you, for the sake of all the great fun you might be missing if you don't, to try not to mind, either. The Great Computer Clock only ticks forward, and it ticks darned fast.
Which brings me back to my paleontologist hero Robert Bakker. As I walked around the E3, dazzled as I always am there, I saw adventure all over the place. I wanted to toss my head back and shout, "Hey, Randy! Look up! The Adventure Games are migrating again!!!"