57: Not with a Bang, But a Click

[The Escapist Staff]

"It's a situation we're all likely to face eventually: There's a hooker upstairs, behind a locked door, and she's waiting, willing and ... waiting. Problem? A burly bouncer bars the way. He wants a password before he'll open the door and let you find your own personal nirvana in the arms of the woman-for-hire. But even if you were to somehow find the magic word, he's not likely to step aside and let you ride for free. You're broke, see, and you seem to have left your marketable skills in your - erm - other pants. What to do?" Russ Pitts examines the de-evolution ofthe adventure game genre in "Not with a Bang, But a Click."

Not with a Bang, But a Click

 

[Joe]

Couple of things:

"replay-ability"

Does the Escapist internal style guide say that it must be hyphenated like that? As I would say "replayability" as one rather long word. It's "replayable" isn't it? So the conversion is to "replayability".
"Impossible" "Impossibility".

Fun fact: "replayable [http://m-w.com/dictionary/replayable]" isn't a word, either. As such, enter: hyphenate.

 

[Yadam Siegfried]

Wikiality [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replayability] FTW!

 

[Joe]

Mmm, internet consensus.

Regardless, this isn't the right place to talk editorial style. This is the place to talk about the actual content of the article. Let's keep discussion to that.

 

[Yadam Siegfried]

Wiki-ality [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headshot] FTW again.

On topic response: When I read this article Tuesday morning, I wasn't expecting this gem at the end: Al Lowe's hooker has, in other words, been supplanted by literally thousands more, each accessible with less frustration, interface-wise, and (graphically speaking), far more titillating. But after more than two decades of evolution, the magic formula remains the same.

I laughed pretty hard about that.

 

[Russ Pitts]

I never actually used those guide books, wanderer. Nor, I have to admit, have I ever played a MUD. This is a lapse for which I am sure to be ridiculed and condemned, but it will probably never be rectified.

 

[Russ Pitts]

meh... im finding it difficult to argue my point... because i see where you are coming from and that is clouding what i want to say.

Awesome.

 

[Pantechnician [deprecated]]

Missing: Since January [http://www.adventurecompanygames.com/tac/missing/] should probably be mentioned here, seeing as how it's a proper adventure game that consists mainly of navigating the internet.

I think the timeline here is a bit specious because it neglects important developments within the adventure genre. The arrival of CD-ROM technology had a tremendous impact, but it's just sort of glossed over here. I'd also argue that the rise of id Software had little to do with the eventual decline of the genre. Myst was released in the same year as Doom, and it was arguably the best-selling adventure game ever released. Sam & Max Hit the Road was also released in 1993, as was the first Gabriel Knight game. Full Throttle, Grim Fandango and most of the Monkey Island series came out years later. A significant portion of the adventure games people consider classics were released during and after the rise of the internet, and certainly after the release of Doom.

 

[Goofonian]

Sam & Max Hit the Road was also released in 1993, as was the first Gabriel Knight game. Full Throttle, Grim Fandango and most of the Monkey Island series came out years later.

Oh boy did I love those games. The golden years of Lucasarts, no doubt about it. I still go back and play the monkey island games from time to time.
I just really hope that Telltale manage to make the new sam & max is a great as the old one was!

 

[Russ Pitts]

I think the timeline here is a bit specious because it neglects important developments within the adventure genre. The arrival of CD-ROM technology had a tremendous impact, but it's just sort of glossed over here. I'd also argue that the rise of id Software had little to do with the eventual decline of the genre. Myst was released in the same year as Doom, and it was arguably the best-selling adventure game ever released. Sam & Max Hit the Road was also released in 1993, as was the first Gabriel Knight game. Full Throttle, Grim Fandango and most of the Monkey Island series came out years later. A significant portion of the adventure games people consider classics were released during and after the rise of the internet, and certainly after the release of Doom.

I try to avoid defending my articles against suggestions that they would be improved if I'd only included this or that game, or mentioned a particular developer. Some day, when I set out to write my 10,000-page Brief History of Videogames, I'll be sure to include everything. Until then, you and I must both suffer the pains of discussing such expansive topics in such limited page space.

In regards to your suggestion that post-id adventure games contributed more to the evolution of the genre than I've given them credit for, I must (in spite of my terrible love for anyone who dares use the word "specious") respectfully disagree. Myst did more for adoption of Apple's Quicktime technology than it did for games of any genre, and LucasArts' brilliant, yet commercially disappointing, Grim Fandango and Full Throttle were not brilliant enough to save a dying game genre. The fact that the sequel-happy developer eschewed follow-ups to these games in favor of a host of FPS and 3D action titles based on the Star Wars license alone speaks to that. As for Gabriel Knight, I do not deny the sheer awesomeness of that title, but one cannot argue that it carried adventure gaming, or even Sierra On-Line, to the levels of success enjoyed by id's Doom in particular, and the FPS genre in general.