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Awesome computer games of yore
Oct. 9th, 2010 10:27 amEvery time for the last few years that I've seen people talk about old computer games being rereleased I've gone "Oooh, do they have..." and they didn't. But this time they did!
So, at long last, about a decade after first hearing about it and thinking "Wow, that sound like just my sort of thing, I should play that." I can buy a copy of Planescape Torment.
I haven't done it yet since I am waaaay too sleepy today after a very tiring but awesome day hanging with friends yesterday, but I have Plans.
From the same site, there are the Gabriel Knight games. I LOVED these games when I played them back around 1999-2001. I mean loved. Interesting, well written plot and characters! Well researched fantasy/horror ideas with a solid grasp of history and mythology! Clever puzzles that made you think and read up about stuff and felt integrated into the mystery! The graphics were distractingly bad even then (as you can see from the screenshots) but I loved feeling like I was actually in a supernatural story solving a well written mystery, plus that "I am actually learning real history and using it to win at games" feeling I loved from "Where in the world is Carmen Sandiago?". I can't say how well they'd hold up today, these reviews are based on my 20-ish year old self's opinions.
Gabriel Knight 1: Mysterious deaths in New Orleans. Plus: the writer obviously loves New Orleans and there's a great sense of place and character. Minus: Goes to the same racist place as every other "Mysterious deaths in New Orleans" story, though with some attempt at nuance.
Gabriel Knight 2: Wolves, castles, and homoeroticism in Germany. Has a very effective air of melancholy and historical depth. Has a bit of a gay=doomed subtext as I recall.
Gabriel Knight 3: French churches and art history and The Secrets Of The Knights Templar. The most complex and interesting, though the graphics do take some getting used to. Plus, ah...certain aspects of the plot probably seem less original now than they did in 1999.
So, at long last, about a decade after first hearing about it and thinking "Wow, that sound like just my sort of thing, I should play that." I can buy a copy of Planescape Torment.
I haven't done it yet since I am waaaay too sleepy today after a very tiring but awesome day hanging with friends yesterday, but I have Plans.
From the same site, there are the Gabriel Knight games. I LOVED these games when I played them back around 1999-2001. I mean loved. Interesting, well written plot and characters! Well researched fantasy/horror ideas with a solid grasp of history and mythology! Clever puzzles that made you think and read up about stuff and felt integrated into the mystery! The graphics were distractingly bad even then (as you can see from the screenshots) but I loved feeling like I was actually in a supernatural story solving a well written mystery, plus that "I am actually learning real history and using it to win at games" feeling I loved from "Where in the world is Carmen Sandiago?". I can't say how well they'd hold up today, these reviews are based on my 20-ish year old self's opinions.
Gabriel Knight 1: Mysterious deaths in New Orleans. Plus: the writer obviously loves New Orleans and there's a great sense of place and character. Minus: Goes to the same racist place as every other "Mysterious deaths in New Orleans" story, though with some attempt at nuance.
Gabriel Knight 2: Wolves, castles, and homoeroticism in Germany. Has a very effective air of melancholy and historical depth. Has a bit of a gay=doomed subtext as I recall.
Gabriel Knight 3: French churches and art history and The Secrets Of The Knights Templar. The most complex and interesting, though the graphics do take some getting used to. Plus, ah...certain aspects of the plot probably seem less original now than they did in 1999.
