Undiscovered Gold: Adventure Games on the Playstation
Undiscovered Gold: Adventure Games on the Playstation
Well, you’ve played every adventure game ever made for the computer and you need that next fix until Gabriel Knight 3 or Grim Fandango is released. What to do? Make another desperate attempt to comprehend Riven? Replay Leisure Suit Larry 7 for the umpteenth time trying to find that last condom? How about instead of waiting a month or two for the next adventure game release (and seeing at least ten new Quake or C&C clones hit the shelves in the same span) you look no further than your kid’s (or your!) Sony Playstation. That’s right, that small gray console that plays all of those fighting and sports games also has a handful of adventure games on it that have never been released for the home computer market. There is a wealth of undiscovered adventure games waiting for the dedicated, hardcore PC adventure game player on the PSX (PSX is kid lingo for the Playstation for you old-timers out there), and some of them are actually quite good!
It was not until I was at the E3 in Atlanta this spring and stumbled across a console adventure game called Silent Hill hidden in a shadowy corner away from the cacophony of the 3D shooters and arcade games that it dawned on me that there was presumably numerous computer users who were not aware of this treasure-trove of adventure games available exclusively on the Playstation.
Basically, these console adventure games fall into three different categories: adventure games that were originally released for the computer and crossed over to the PSX, adventure games that originated on the PSX and crossed over to the PC, and adventure games that are exclusive to the Sony Playstation.
The first group are the games that we are probably all familiar with. They first saw life on the home computer and were then converted for the PSX. These games include Alone in the Dark 2, Broken Sword, Chronicles of the Sword, City of Lost Children, Discworld 1 and 2, Fox Hunt, Heart of Darkness (someday?), Psychic Detective, Myst and Riven. A very short list indeed, but given the preponderance of younger players and their “must have blood” mentality and short attention span, it is not surprising that not one of these games has ever appeared on any Playstation top 50 bestseller or rental list. You may have also noticed the absence of the big guns like Sierra and LucasArts titles. The inclusion of quality titles like the Monkey Island series or the King’s Quest series could be the infusion that the PSX needs to attract more adventure game players and more adults. During a conversation I had with Douglas Adams, he mentioned that when the interactive adventure sequel to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is released in the year 2000, he wants it to be released for multiple platforms. Maybe this will be the impetus that the adventure platform desperately requires to appeal to more age groups. Japanese society, adults and children, seem to appreciate the adventure genre more than the Americans as the Japanese have converted many computer games for the Playstation that have never been released in the American marketplace. Little Big Adventure, Return to Zork and the humorous Japanese Welcome House series are just a small sampling of the additional games available to Japanese gamers.
The second and also the smallest group are the adventure games that were first seen on the PSX and then, due to their popularity, found renewed life on the computer. There are, at the moment, only two games in this group, Resident Evil, a classic horror/adventure game that incorporates almost every cliché from any 50s and 60s Hollywood horror film you have ever seen, and D. Resident Evil lets you play as either Leon or Claire as you attempt to discover the truth behind a mansion populated by decaying zombies and other assorted monstrosities. The awful voice acting is the tour de force that puts Resident Evil over the top. Though the adventure elements are not of the brainbuster variety, this is one game I would heartily recommend to any horror/adventure fan. There are some action elements that mainly consisting of using your gun or other weapon to blow off the head of zombies, but they are very manageable with a little practice. The other game is this category, D, is one of the slowest moving, lethargic games I have ever played. It too is a horror/adventure game, but the plot line is as cliched as they come (he is Dracula and he is your father), and the female protagonist moves so slowly that you are easily bored waiting for her to walk from room to room. Though the game does contain some interesting puzzles, any true adventurer can finish this two-disc game easily in less than five hours. This is one that had potential, but instead was quickly and deservedly relegated to the $10 clearance bin. There is a sequel to D called Enemy Zero that came out for the Saturn. I know of no plans, at the moment, to convert it to the PSX or for the home PC market.
The third and last category, adventure games exclusive to the PSX, contains a surprising amount of good games. Blazing Dragons, Clock Tower 1 and 2, Silent Hill, Resident Evil 2, Overblood and Silverload are all just waiting to be discovered by the discerning adventure fan!
The best of the lot is easily Blazing Dragons, a fantasy/adventure with Disneyesque animation and Pythonesque humor. It is set in a medieval kingdom populated by talking dragons voiced by Terry Jones and Cheech Marin. Flicker, the protagonist, wants to win the scaly claw of his true love Princess Flare. To do so, he must first become a knight and then participate in and win the Knight’s Tournament. The subtle humor and twisted puzzles are very similar to the Discworld series. There are a few arcade sequences in the game but they are, like the “Cat”-a-pult, mostly for humorous effect. This game should be a must-play for any adventure game fan.
Clock Tower is probably the most challenging PSX-exclusively adventure game. A young girl is attacked by a man wielding a giant pair of scissors. Is her story imagined or real? You be the judge as you play as one of five different characters. This is a traditional point-and-click adventure with dialogue trees and multiple endings. The 3D graphics are excellent and actually allow you to hide under and behind furniture in order to escape the Scissorman. This is actually one very scary game. Every time Scissorman is near, eerie music plays to let you know of his presence, and this audio warning automatically puts you on the edge of your seat. If you like this game and are disappointed when it ends, a sequel is on the way later this year. In Clock Tower 2, you control a character plagued by split personalities. You must switch between the personalities to stay alive as you battle the undead, knife-wielding children and your own confused disposition as you attempt to solve mind-bending puzzles.
Images from Clock Tower
Speaking of games on the way, Silent Hill is another due to soon be released. This action/adventure thriller has you searching for your missing daughter in the town of Silent Hill. But Silent Hill has an alter ego dreamlike world, and your actions in the real town affect events in the otherwordly dimension. What little I played of this game was genuinely spooky as I wandered through a mysterious, gloomy town where all the inhabitants had vanished. This game is a Resident Evil with brains and may end up being a surprise hit for Konami.
Resident Evil 2 is a two-CD gorefest that has yet to be released for the computer. It follows in the footsteps of the first one, but this time the entire town of Raccoon City is infested with bloodthirsty, decaying mutations that have overwhelmed the populace. In the tradition of all good sequels, there is now a new virus running rampant and more zombies than you can shake a stick at. The adventuring and puzzle aspects of are much improved over the original, but much of the shock value is gone if you have already played the original.
Overblood is a stale adventure game that takes an interesting premise and ruins it with sloppy controls and programming. You awake from a cryogenic state with no memory and discover that you have been infected with a fatal virus. Your goals here are rather obvious. Throw in a cutesy robot named Pipo and some puzzles and you should have had a winner. But the arcade-type action scenes and some of the problems I encountered attempting to manipulate Pipo make the game frustrating at times. Still, in a slim field, this is worth playing after you have tried the rest. A sequel, Overblood 2, is scheduled for release overseas and may find its way to our shores.
Last and certainly least in our PSX only category is the Plan 9 from Outer Space of adventure games, Silverload (Vic Tokai). This game is so bad, and I’m not talking Michael Jackson Bad here, that it is actually fun to play. Fans of B horror films will know what I am talking about. The plot has something to do with vampires and werewolves in an old west town called Silverload. You are the nameless loner whose goal is to find the missing son of two settlers. Have you ever played a game where you sat down with a walkthrough and still could not complete it? Well, this is the mother of all those uncompleted games. Voices move out of sync with the lips, the minimal animation is laughable and the plot inconsistencies are, well, inconsistent. This game was released for the PC in Europe, but in a smart marketing move it was never released to the American market (unlike The Scroll, possibly the worst computer adventure game I have ever attempted to play, but more about that in the Dungeon of Shame). I purchased the European computer version of Silverload at a local computer show and have actually had the misfortune to play this on both systems. Recommended for anyone with a strong heart or a strong tolerance for unsolvable, illogical puzzles.
Okay, so now you’re aware of these games and can’t wait to play them. Though this list may seem very small, it is still eight adventure games to be savored and conquered. The majority of these games can be had cheaply in any used video game store. Some, like Blazing Dragons, can be had new for $19.99 at almost any major chain store, or many of them can be rented at your local video store. Let your budget be your guide as you decide whether to buy new or used or just rent for a few evenings.
Don’t have a Playstation? They retail new for $129, and check around: you can probably find a used one in the $60 to $90 range either a local video game store, in your local newspaper’s “for sale” section, or on the rec.videogames.marketplace newsgroup. Don’t know anything about the system requirements or peripherals? Don’t worry, everything you need for the Playstation is self-contained. All you need is the system and one hand controller.
Finally, you’re all ready to go, games in hand, but you don’t want your kids to see you playing with their PSX or maybe you just don’t like the resolution on the television and would prefer to play on your monitor. No problem. There is now a nifty little gadget called JAM that will let you attach your PSX or other console to your computer monitor get a better resolution. This device was named best new peripheral at the E3.
Whatever your decision, as always, happy gaming.
