[07] Going down a rabbit hole...

I was in the middle of writing my latest post, and circumstances happened.  I found myself impulse buying a new computer to replace my 10 year-old desktop (Thanks, Amazon Prime Day!) So I got to thinking about some of my routines, whenever I upgrade hardware.  The last time I upgraded my monitor (to a 28" I still use), the last computer upgrade, the last time I got a larger TV.  How do I test these new things?

For the new TV, I pull out the DVD for my favorite movie, the 1980 sleeper classic Used Cars.  New speakers?  The gunshots near the beginning of Grosse Pointe Blank. For that one, I was introduced the the movie by a friend of a friend, showing off the new subwoofer in his college dorm room.  It's what started this tradition for me.

Hey, Jenny Slater.

For a new computer, it's often one of my favorite games, even if it's something not graphically impressive.  I've played some favorites like the original Police Quest often (and I promise, I will be getting to that game on this blog soon), but this time, the first game I played was a game that forced me to buy a new graphics card for my old desktop.  On this trip down the rabbit hole, we're going down into The Cave.

Ron "Monkey Island" Gilbert in his then software company Double Fine Productions produced a game for Sega.  A side-scrolling platformer of sorts, but with a hint of adventure game elements in it.  

The game is beautiful.  The artwork pristine.  The gameplay?  Okay.  Repetitive.  Supposedly, you can enjoy the game over and over by using different characters for different puzzle solutions in the playth
roughs, but it does kind of fall flat.  There's supposed to be a Faustian-like undertone to the plot, but it doesn't really matter much.  (For a really good implementation, play Faust: 7 Games of the Soul by Arxel Tribe).

But still, this game that I started playing 7 years ago and then abandoned, I wanted to revisit it.  So I redownloaded Steam, and then installed the game I purchased online so many years ago, I had nearly forgotten about it -- until a coworker asked me a question about my old computer, and I suddenly remembered why I had upgraded that video card.  So away we go...

If you want to be unimpressed, realize that the very first thing you see on the screen is "Press Enter". A little anti-climactic.  Considering that I just chose to launch the game, I don't see the need to make sure I'm watching for the intro.  But so be it.

As we start, we have to choose a team of three players from seven.  Wait, has Ron Gilbert ever been involved with a game like that before?  

The only real difference is, the older game forces one of your three to be a useless character named Dave.

And it will turn out in this game that each character has special abilities, just like Maniac Mansion, and that the special abilities will be underused, just like in Maniac Mansion.  This time around though, there were special levels catered to the specific players.  But the special abilities were largely underused (or at least not required) outside of those levels.  Most of the game is simple lever pulling, walking, jumping, and basic inventory item usage.  (Putting water in a bucket, lighting dynamite on a torch).

Looks good, in theory...

As for the abilities -- it would be nice if they worked. On my second playthrough, I tried obvious uses of the Monk's telekinesis and the Scientist's hacking, to no avail.

When you attempt to have her use this PC (which would unlock doors) she simply says "Uh uh!"

So the game is lacking the polish on the puzzles, even though the artwork is extremely polished.  Which, not excusable in any game, it is especially heinous when it’s committed by Ron Gilbert. After all, it would probably be a crime in his eyes.

That said, it's not an unenjoyable game.  It was just made for a simpler audience.  The game was distributed by SEGA, and while it came out on the PC, it was also a console release.  So it was an "adventure" game made simple for use with a controller. Oh, but wait!  Didn't someone already prove you could do it?  Say, some guy named Ron and a game for the NES?

A much more challenging game for a simpler console

And if we are trying to avoid any verb buttons on the screen, Sierra did it as well, on the same system

So, Ron Gilbert wasn't exploring any new territory. This was basically the equivalent of a "lite mode" for a puzzle game.

Instead of "Simpsons Already Did It!" perhaps it should be "Ron Gilbert Already Did It!"

I played the game fully through once, with my first three chosen characters.  Then, after I finished, my status was not saved, so when I started again with three new characters, I had to redo EVERYTHING again, including all the puzzles in the shared sections I had already solved.  Basically, there's about 4 sections that are played with all character combinations, and then the other 3 sections are specific to the characters in your team.  So I lost interest in the second playthrough very quickly.  Maybe I'll come back to it in a few days, or weeks, or maybe it will take 7 years, like it did the last time.  (I honestly had forgotten I "owned" that game until the conversation about graphics cards.  This is why I am not a fan of our digital purchase, no physical copy society now.  Some DVDs I own, I haven't watched in years, but knowing I COULD watch them at no extra charge makes me feel good.  Because maybe my Netflix subscription will give me access today, but next month maybe they won't have that title anymore and I'll need to spend more money somewhere else to watch it.

So this trip down the rabbit hole done, perhaps I'll return to my crimefighting ways next time.  Time will tell.