Articles
|
by Ray Ivey |
E3 |
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!!!”
