I was a PC game-loving kid in the '90s and while I didn't play this game back in '95, I have had it on my radar for the last thirty years. Tim Schafer, is one of my favourite game-makers out there. His follow-up to this game, Grim Fandango, might just be my favourite game of all time. So... why am I disappointed? I think there are two key factors here. The first is the puzzle design and overall gameplay. While I appreciate how Schafer was trying to think out-of-the-box with these puzzles (i.e. Ben Throttle would rather kick a door in than find a sneaky way to enter), I feel like the leaps of logic required here push things into the obtuse. I'd guess I had to consult a guide for roughly 70% of the puzzles (UHS for the win!) I am much more forgiving of the action segments. It's very easy to forget that back in the day, adventure games were seen as "slow". I admire Schafer for trying to try and spice things up - I'd bet the action felt more fun in '95. The final arena in which I was left unimpressed was the storytelling and animation. And this is 1000% an unfair critique. The original PC Gamer review heaps tons of praise on the animation - "It's like you're watching a real cartoon!" That was such a novelty back then. And yet in the intervening years we've seen so much great (2D and 3D) computer animation that rewinding the clock to this 1995 sample just doesn't impress. It's fine. But it's not the entire value proposition of the game, like it once was. While I played the whole thing with the original pixel graphics, I often found myself hitting F1 to see the updated art. The commentary is also fun. If you're returning to this game after decades for a hit of nostalgia, you will find it. And I wish I could tap into what it felt like to play this game back in the day. But if you're coming to it for the first time be warned that its strengths are lessened, and it's weaknesses are heightened, in a modern context... but it's still worth taking for a spin.
I remember seeing this box on the store shelves in the mid '90s. It was a real attention-grabber. That gorgeous, mysterious cover art. The screen shots. The name "Steven Spielberg" (which I recognized, even as a kid). This was a serious story game for adults, I could tell. And I wanted to play it. Only trouble was back in the mid '90s it was very difficult coming up with money for video games, especially PC games, which would often not run properly (or at all), and most of my meager savings went to console games. I've had this game in the back of my mind for the last 25 years as "I'd really love to play this some day..." and now I finally have! I loved it. It had a solid mature story and I loved exploring this desolate alien environment. Of course I needed to use hints (look up Universal Hint System for the *perfect* adventure game guide) and that's fine. I did manage to complete a decent amount of puzzles on my own, and overall I'd say the puzzle difficulty wasn't too obtuse. It's not as streamlined or polished as a modern day adventure game, but if you really think about the scenarios you can usually get a good sense of what you should do next. (And if not, again, google the Universal Hint System website). Near the end there was a bit too much going back and forth, and some of the screens are a pain to slowly trudge through, but it's nothing drastic. I felt the art looked great (especially in context), the voice acting was solid, and the music was fantastic. I loved the intelligent story being told here and I'm sure this game would have blown my mind if I played it in 1995 - I wish I could have! Then again, maybe there's something special to playing it now, as a grown adult, when I can appreciate what was being done with this game and how unique something like this was for its time. Thanks for the great time, GOG!
