Tim wrote this review so we get the view of someone who found out about this classic way after everybody else decided that it did indeed count as the 4th Indiana Jones movie. So here’s why the 1992 point and click adventure game is the definitive Indiana Jones experience outside of the original trilogy. When LucasArts combined their SCUMM adventure game engine with the Indiana Jones licence they produced something truly remarkable. Fate of Atlantis…
From the mind of Carl here (primarily because Timothy insists on ranting about how modern narrative games like Life is Strange invented emotional storytelling whilst Joe quietly mumbles that adventure games died with LucasArts) but both of them are wrong and The Longest Journey is precisely why. This 1999 masterpiece by Ragnar Tørnquist both proved adventure games weren’t dead and that they could be something much deeper than expected. Adventure games were “dead” by 1999.…
I am John, and I need to make a statement prior to this review. Whilst the rest of my teammates are arguing ad nauseum over whether Monkey Island or Day of the Tentacle represented LucasArts at its zenith, they are all forgetting the true masterpiece. Sam and Max Hit the Road didn’t simply perfect the adventure game format. It demonstrated that American developers could create something with a true subversive edge, whilst still producing content…
John’s working on that one so we won’t have to deal with Sam ranting again about how point-and-clicks died because they never implemented save states correctly. Gabriel Knight is not simply another old point-and-click adventure title sitting in Sierra’s archives. It proves that the way the Amiga treated story and atmosphere would utterly destroy console gaming if done right. In 1993 (Wikipedia), Jensen produced her magnum opus, reminding everyone that computer gaming was far superior…
RIGHT, LET’S GET THIS ONE RIGHT FROM THE START. Tim thinks modern adventure games can’t understand how to make puzzles and whilst he’s right, he’s missing the point as to why the classics worked. Beneath a Steel Sky is not just another point-and-click adventure from the 1990s. Beneath a Steel Sky is the cyberpunk adventure that proved you could merge serious topics with accessible gameplay. Whilst developed in Australia in 1994 (Wikipedia), Beneath a Steel…
Day of the Tentacle Review: A Space Shooter That Made Pac-Man Look Easy My name is Marcus. Whilst the rest of the world is debating if modern adventure games can compete with the classics, I’m diving into the source code of Day of the Tentacle Remastered to find out exactly what made the original so innovative in terms of both creativity and engineering. The original Day of the Tentacle was released back in 1993 (according…
Myst Review: The Puzzle Game That Brought More PC Sales Than Any Marketing Campaign I’m reviewing Myst now because the rest of my crew spent three hours debating whether Myst is a “real” game or simply an interactive screensaver. Joe is adamant that Myst is merely nice pictures with obscure puzzles that don’t form coherent narratives. Samuel claims that the puzzle design is ingenious and revolutionary. John continues to drone on about how Amiga produced…
I’m Elena, and there is a major omission in what gaming historians say when discussing the ‘golden age’ of point-and-click adventure games. They always reference the American classics — the LucasArts comedies, the King’s Quest series from Sierra, possibly even the Myst series from Cyan if they’re feeling generous. What they always miss is that during the 1990s, some of the greatest adventure games ever made were developed by European companies who knew a few…
Right, let me tell you about Full Throttle, because this one’s been sitting in my cabinet for years and I still can’t work out whether Tim Schafer was a genius or completely mad when he made it. The team’s been arguing about this one for months. Joe reckons it’s the best LucasArts adventure game after Monkey Island. Tim thinks it’s overrated nonsense that wastes Roy Conrad’s brilliant voice work. I’m somewhere in the middle, but…
Grim Fandango Review: The Noir Adventure Game That Demonstrated Games Can Be Art Okay, I need to post this review before Carl starts telling me again how “games as cultural artifacts” and Tim starts telling me all about how modern adventure games have “progressed” beyond Grim Fandango. Let’s be honest – they’ve really gone nowhere. Tim’s as wrong as he usually is, and I’m going to demonstrate why this 1998 masterpiece is the pinnacle of…