Revival of the Adventure Genre?

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2007-04-29 02:21pm

A few years back it seemed that the point and click style adventure seemed to be going out of fashion, observe that blasted piece of crap known as Broken Sword:The Sleeping Dragon, where there was more emphasis on reaction style moves and box shifting.

Recently there seems to have been more games in the traditional vein.

Observe, we had Broken Sword:The Angel of Death. Not a perfect game, but pretty decent.

Browsing Amazon the other day brought me across a game called Secret Files:Tunguska,

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/749/749086p1.html

This game is a pretty damned decent point and click. The graphics are nice, the production values overall are pretty good, though some of the puzzles are a bit screwy but nothing too bad. Also,I was recommended a game called Runaway which is just being released in the UK but is onto it's second instalment in the US, and another game called Barrow Hill. While the last few years had seen some point and click a fair number had been small european developers which isn't a problem in itself but the games had all the production values of a Trabant and the excitement of cabbage soup.

I think one type of game that has helped introduce the genre a bit is the CSI/Law and Order games. While they're not adventures as such, in some ways they're pretty close and with the popularity of both franchises, I suppose some people might be interested in a game that is more cerebral.

Opinions?

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2007-04-29 02:45pm

The genre is going through a renaissance on the DS, with the Phoenix Wright franchise, Trace Memory (poor as that game was) and recently Hotel Dusk. The genre's perfectly suited for the console (save and restore at any point, stylus controls, double screens for room view/detail view) and I expect quite a few more games to be released.

On the PC, I don't think the genre is really going to get back to it's former glory. Adventure games are hard to make - since the story, puzzles and art are the focus rather than the number of polygons, combined with their niche market, I doubt many developers will want to sink more money into them.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2007-04-29 02:49pm

On the PC, I don't think the genre is really going to get back to it's former glory. Adventure games are hard to make - since the story, puzzles and art are the focus rather than the number of polygons, combined with their niche market, I doubt many developers will want to sink more money into them.

SAm & Max are doing apprently pretty good buisness, releasing new episodes every three months.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2007-04-29 02:52pm

Ace Pace wrote:

On the PC, I don't think the genre is really going to get back to it's former glory. Adventure games are hard to make - since the story, puzzles and art are the focus rather than the number of polygons, combined with their niche market, I doubt many developers will want to sink more money into them.

SAm & Max are doing apprently pretty good buisness, releasing new episodes every three months.

Sam & Max are also an established brand, with a cult following. I have no doubt that good, properly marketed adventure games can be profitable, don't get me wrong; but it will always be easier to invest in an FPS than an adventure game. The days of Case of the Rose Tattoo won't be coming back anytime soon.

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2007-04-29 03:03pm

Bounty wrote:Sam & Max are also an established brand, with a cult following. I have no doubt that good, properly marketed adventure games can be profitable, don't get me wrong; but it will always be easier to invest in an FPS than an adventure game. The days of Case of the Rose Tattoo won't be coming back anytime soon.

God...ROse Tattoo, I loved that game but my copy won't work. It plays up until you read the inn with the bodyguard outside you have to talk to. Every time you try to talk to him it crashes to desktop. Works great prior to that though.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2007-04-29 04:22pm

Ace Pace wrote:SAm & Max are doing apprently pretty good buisness, releasing new episodes every three months.

They're also doing it for low entry prices for each episode and easy digital distribution, full price in the shops would be a different matter.

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2007-04-29 04:32pm

Tunguska was well worth trying as a risk though, considering it cost me £5.95.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2007-04-29 04:41pm

Jade Falcon wrote:Tunguska was well worth trying as a risk though, considering it cost me £5.95.

That's precisely the problem. Who, apart from people who are familiar with the genre, are going to play £50 for what is essentially a computerised book with puzzles? That may have been an attractive proposition back when computer action games were unable to render realistic 3D environments, but today it's perceived as a hopelessly anachronistic relic from the DOS days. Your adventure game can be a true masterpiece, but it won't sell to a modern public.

I mean, Last Express anyone?

Post by **weemadando** » 2007-04-29 04:42pm

I've recently gone on a HUGE adventure bender. I found copies of Blade Runner and The Last Express, I'm subscribed to Sam and Max season 1 and have been picking up all of the LucasArts classic DVD case games as I find them (so far have Sam and Max Hit the Road, Full Throttle and The Dig).

Adventure games are one of the best "gateway" games. I got my fiance into gaming by starting her off with Monkey Island...

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-04-29 04:47pm

Holy shit, you found a copy of Blade Runner? That game is damn hard to get.

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2007-04-29 05:09pm

Blade Runner, still got it and only had about 8-9 of the proper endings.

Bounty, I think the adventure games are coming back, maybe not to the extent they were. I have to admit having no great fondness for the puzzle style adventure game, the type like Myst where there is a variety of odd, often illogical puzzles and nothing else. Games like the Broken Sword series hold more appeal for me.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2007-04-29 05:13pm

Jade Falcon wrote:Blade Runner, still got it and only had about 8-9 of the proper endings.

I think I got at least all the major ones, though not some of the variations.

Annoyingly, more of the game is random, rather than determined by player action, than it initially appears. (I remember the ending with Crystal being a particular shit to get).

Bounty, I think the adventure games are coming back, maybe not to the extent they were.

I don't think adventures will come back in the form they were previously in any great way. They won't get back into the mainstream of PC gaming again, but they will live on in the indie/digital distribution sphere, on the DS, and also possibly on the Wii. (The DS is particularly suited to the form, and it will be nice to see what Gyakuten Saiban 4 does, as that will be the first DS specific game in the series, barring the extra case in Phoenix Wright 1)

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2007-04-29 05:21pm

Well with the latest Broken Sword game being a PC exclusive, and apparently there is meant to be a sequel to Tunguska, you may never know. Or perhaps the smaller studios are upping their production values. If you look at the Tunguska link I put up I would imagine you'll agree that as a game it looks nice.

I didn't even realise the Sam and Max episodes were out, I'd heard that it was going to be a more action style game.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2007-04-29 06:36pm

You're still looking at two or three medium profile games a year though, rather than the vast deluge of rubbish FPS games that come out.

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2007-04-29 08:57pm

Vendetta wrote:You're still looking at two or three medium profile games a year though, rather than the vast deluge of rubbish FPS games that come out.

To be honest though, the adventure game genre even at it's peak wasn't pushing out hundreds at a time. Lucasarts generally kept a low output of adventures, Sierra was a bit more prolific, but they had a number of titles lines like the Kings Quest, Police Quest, Larry games and so on. Anyway, I'd rather have a few good games than a ton of horse manure.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2007-04-29 09:23pm

Vendetta wrote:You're still looking at two or three medium profile games a year though, rather than the vast deluge of rubbish FPS games that come out.

FPS games are hilariously easy to slam together, even moreso now than ever before thanks to the availability of open source engines. Just hire some entry-level dudes to make some textures and models and maps, license some generic sound effects, and you're more or less done.

Plus, you ought to know by now that 90% of anything is garbage.

NeoGoomba · Post by **NeoGoomba** » 2007-04-29 10:19pm

For some reason, I still love Shadowgate and Deja Vu for the old NES. I don't know if they're exactly "adventure" games in the truest sense of the word regarding their PC counterparts, but damn if they weren't wicked fun at my young age.

Big Phil · Post by **Big Phil** » 2007-04-30 03:03pm

The Secret Files: Tunguska, was a fun game, but (like most adventure games) you can't really replay it. Not a bad game, overall, and I would recommend it.

If you liked the old Sierra adventure games, you might want to try Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine.

http://www.himalayastudios.com/alemmo/

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2007-04-30 03:38pm

Uraniun235 wrote:FPS games are hilariously easy to slam together, even moreso now than ever before thanks to the availability of open source engines. Just hire some entry-level dudes to make some textures and models and maps, license some generic sound effects, and you're more or less done.

Given the number of cookie cutter wanky adventures that used to come out for the PC 12-15 years ago they can't be that hard either. You need some background artists, some basic point and click interface, and some Soup Cans

Plus, you ought to know by now that 90% of anything is garbage.

Very true, however, the quantity of drek is usually a reasonable indicator of how popular a given genre or medium is (with a 6-12 month delay), because it represents the number of people trying to cash in on that popularity.

You'll know when the adventure game is back, because all of a sudden there will be a festering sea of shit adventure games as well as the good ones.

The Secret Files: Tunguska, was a fun game, but (like most adventure games) you can't really replay it. Not a bad game, overall, and I would recommend it.

Adventure games can be replayable, but it depends on the quality of the writing. A game with great puzzles and a shitty script won't be so good the second time, because you solved the puzzles first time. A game with good writing and acceptable puzzles will last several plays.

Netko · Post by **Netko** » 2007-05-03 02:45pm

I've recently got the new Broken Sword game, and, while I like what I saw, at least so far, after the initial push that got me to the salami factory, I stopped and couldn't play it any more because this issue was making me insane. The issue? The fact that the conversations seem to be unskippable. It's driving me insane - they are just too damn wordy, all style over substance. While its cute some of the time, when it misfires it utterly annoying and wasteful to not be able to skip them. Unless someone knows a way? Please? Pretty please?