WTF is that?

Yeah. Wing Commander isn't even a great example, because a whole lot of it is just candy - we've done some intelligent stuff with the Wing Commander universe, but at heart Wing Commander is an arcade game.

Old adventure games, though, were far more intelligent than anything on the market today.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
Old adventure games, though, were far more intelligent than anything on the market today.
Click to expand...
Eh, only a select few. Most adventure games relied on bizarre puzzles that were difficult not because they were so intelligent, but precisely because they were so stupid and illogical that the most obvious solutions never worked. There's an interesting article out there, where the author claims that adventure games basically killed themselves. And it's pretty much true - though, admittedly, early adventure games were much more common-sensical than the last of the breed, so I suppose your argument still stands.
 
Interesting article indeed. It's a shame really. I would have loved another Monkey Island game too...

Alas, I'll just have to console myself with my flight sims and the occasional sports game.
 
i'd love a sequel to full throttle, i heard it was in the works but lucasarts pulled the plug after seeing it's first beta, it would never be a "worthy"sequel...

it was very logical and intellectually entertaining, i really liked that things like "kick door", "taste asfalt", "use bunny on jet engine" actually worked...

why not port wing commander to the xbox? took some effort to get a descent flightstick for it in holland, but battlestar galactica played very WC-alike(accept for bouncing off asteroids)...
 
Eh, only a select few. Most adventure games relied on bizarre puzzles that were difficult not because they were so intelligent, but precisely because they were so stupid and illogical that the most obvious solutions never worked. There's an interesting article out there, where the author claims that adventure games basically killed themselves. And it's pretty much true - though, admittedly, early adventure games were much more common-sensical than the last of the breed, so I suppose your argument still stands.
Click to expand...

I've been making that very claim since Sierra went to a mouse-drive "non typing" interface for its adventure games. I would say that the last generation of really great year of adventure games was Space Quest III/Kings Quest IV (and I'll bet there's some Infocom fans who'd argue that the genre died even earlier).

I don't think that your article places the blame properly, though. The reason the last generation of adventure was so puzzlishly complex can be traced to a single source: Myst.

Myst managed to convince a whole lot of people (more people than any other game, ever) that it was a brilliant game because its puzzles were pointlessly complex... the people responsible for the dying adventure game genre said "Hey, lets hitch ourselves to that wagon!", and so we got a mess of semi-adventure/mindlessly confusing puzzle games.

Adventure franchises tried to save themselves the same way by blending (when each was popular) FMV, 3D usage and RPG elements (and even now 'hip' gameplay -- look at the new Larry title). None of those things has worked, but it shouldn't make us forget how truly great adventure games once were.

i'd love a sequel to full throttle, i heard it was in the works but lucasarts pulled the plug after seeing it's first beta, it would never be a "worthy"sequel...
Click to expand...

I don't think it got anywhere near a beta -- and it wasn't a quality issue... LucasArts canned a whole string of similar projects (Full Throttle, Sam and Max and several unannounced titles) because they decided they couldn't market such games in this day and age. Attaching Star Wars to whatever the most popular type of gameplay is is more popular and easier.

(I will bet ten million posts that within the next two years we will see a 'Star Wars' version of the Grand Theft Auto gameplay.)
 
Bandit LOAF said:
I don't think that your article places the blame properly, though. The reason the last generation of adventure was so puzzlishly complex can be traced to a single source: Myst.
Click to expand...


Everyone bitched at me when I talked about how crappy Myst was :(

Jesus Christ that game was horrible.
 
Myst was crappy. Now Chuck Yeager's Air Combat that was the best! I may be 16 but I know my old games....Anyone remember Jetfighter?
 
Another factor is technology. Basically, the only way you could tell a story on that age was with Adventure Games. They were the "movie-like" experience. As it became possible to tell stories on different types of game, the appeal of adventure games faded.
 
I grew up on the old text parser adventure games. I sometimes miss a good adventure game... but I take solace in the fact that adventure game elements are finding their way into more mainstream games.

Like Knights of the Old Republic for one. There were tons of (good) puzzles, and problems to solve that took more than a high dexterity stat, or a fast clicking trigger finger. Investigating a murder and defending the accused in court, or trying to seduce the hot female Jedi, solving ancient riddles, etc. Fusing very different but solid gameplay elements together can make for a really really fun game that transcends just shooting, or just puzzle-solving.

On topic section: Are there pictures anywhere of the counterpart Kilrathi transport? I do not remember what it looked like from Armada.
 
I fully agree with you people regarding adventure games. Infocom stuff was about the narrative. A mind forever voyaging was great... Even good later games, like Monkey Island 3 were a bunch of insane senseless puzzles.

But all this "games are crap today" talk is as old as games. Planescape: Torment owes nothing to older games. It's got an awesome story, really good gameplay, uncanny characters whom you care about... Knights of the old republic is also marvelous, and even shooters like Far Cry are excellent.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top