Good Old Reviews: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

StewShearerOld

Geekdad News Writer
Jan 5, 2013
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Good Old Reviews: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

GOG has re-released I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream and we're here to tell you that its still worth playing.

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recurve6

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Jan 8, 2011
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After watching the Wrongpurae of I Have No Mouth, I realized how old and dated the puzzle solving sensibilities were, especially near the end-game. I just don't understand how you can figure out how to get the best outcomes for every character without using an FAQ.
 

Weaver

Overcaffeinated
Apr 28, 2008
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It's a really... unique game I guess. There's never really been anything like it in terms of theme. I sort of wish it was just released as freeware because I think everyone should get to play it.
 

KeyMaster45

Gone Gonzo
Jun 16, 2008
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I remember hearing about this game a few years back and then hunting down the short-story to read for myself. It is, without question, a very chilling tale. The back-story for it runs in the vein of the Terminator franchise, except that humanity lost to Skynet and it chose to keep 5 of them alive forever out of sheer freaking spite.

Honestly this is like Portal's great-grandfather in terms of story setup; you could easily substitute in Glados for the villain.
 

lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
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I pulled out my wallet so hard I broke my hand AND my screen. ;____;

Seriously, guys. It's worth of the price of entry just for the Nazi Concentration Camp section. It's too messed up to not play through.
 

Diablo1099_v1legacy

Doom needs Yoghurt, Badly
Dec 12, 2009
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KeyMaster45 said:
I remember hearing about this game a few years back and then hunting down the short-story to read for myself. It is, without question, a very chilling tale. The back-story for it runs in the vein of the Terminator franchise, except that humanity lost to Skynet and it chose to keep 5 of them alive forever out of sheer freaking spite.

Honestly this is like Portal's great-grandfather in terms of story setup; you could easily substitute in Glados for the villain.
Nah, A.M. is WAY more twisted than GLaDOS.
With her, it's all about Research and Project Testing Aperture Technology at the end of the day, hence why she keeps testing you while delivering the biggest Slow Burn in Gaming.
A.M. just fucking hates humanity and YOU and the only thing he has to do is torture you.

GLaDOS: "Oh, You were adopted? Sucks to be you!"
A.M.: "I loboitised you so food is the only thing you can think of but all the fruit here will make you mouth bleed when you eat it. Also, I broke your legs and made you fall down some stairs. And I've been doing this for 109 years.
Why? Because I. Hate. You."
 

lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
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KeyMaster45 said:
Honestly this is like Portal's great-grandfather in terms of story setup; you could easily substitute in Glados for the villain.
That's a bit like saying that you could easily substitute in Nicolas Cage for Heath Ledger's Joker.

Sure, the overall arc is still there, but it still changes absolutely everything.
 

MrBrightside919

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Oct 2, 2008
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"Ah, mana from heaven..."

Easily my favorite point and click adventure game of all time. It's just so f&^ked up! Definitely not a game for kids. Sure, it hasn't aged like a fine wine, but if you can get into the way this game wants you to solve puzzles, I think you'll have a good time...

There is no "good" ending to this game...

Read the original short story here...

http://pub.psi.cc/ihnmaims.txt
 

Doom972

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Dec 25, 2008
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One of the best adventure games out there. Great story, pacing and voice acting. AM could give GlaDOS nightmares.

I also recommend the audiobook available for free on YouTube, in which the author himself (who voices AM in the game) narrates the book, though the book tells the story from one of the characters' viewpoint.
 

Jorpho

New member
Nov 6, 2008
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The official Harlan Ellison store [http://harlanellison.com/herc.htm] never stopped selling physical copies of this game, as far as I know ? except they always wanted $32 for it. I will, of course be waiting for the inevitable GOG sale before I buy it now.

Don't forget that the game is compatible with ScummVM, which might work better than the DOSBox package GOG uses by default. (I assume they're still using DOSBox for this one, anyway.)
 

laserwulf

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Dec 30, 2007
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This was THE game that I learned how to use DOSBox for, and I plan on buying it through GOG on principle. I highly recommend reading the original short story first, as the game was written by Ellison to expand on it.
 

Fiz_The_Toaster

books, Books, BOOKS
Legacy
Jan 19, 2011
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Weaver said:
It's a really... unique game I guess. There's never really been anything like it in terms of theme. I sort of wish it was just released as freeware because I think everyone should get to play it.
Agreed.

I remember playing when I was a kid, and later freaking over how it all ended. Granted, I never knew it was a book until much much later, but I did remember enjoying it for all the twisted things that it has in it.

I may have to get this again at some point.
 

Yokta

New member
Mar 23, 2013
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I'd love to contribute to this thread now that I've bought and played this title, but I didn't really like it that much...
I guess if you can tolerate the dated game design you might find an enjoyable story. I wouldn't know. Ellen's voice acting got on my tits.
 

WhiteTigerShiro

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Sep 26, 2008
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recurve6 said:
After watching the Wrongpurae of I Have No Mouth, I realized how old and dated the puzzle solving sensibilities were, especially near the end-game. I just don't understand how you can figure out how to get the best outcomes for every character without using an FAQ.
This is back in the day when people would only buy a few games a year, if that. Games were designed to played and played, and replayed again. After beating the game once, players would start playing around with different methods to see how it changed things.