Playing Along: Loom (1990) - Finished!

Well that was quick. As soon as I decided to spend an hour or two with Loom, it was all over. They really did make them short and sweet back in those days, but in this particular case they left it with a huge cliffhanger ending. Anyway, to recap...

Head to the forest, or the city. There is nothing to the left, nor is there anything to interact with on this screen.

I had been stuck at a waterspout, which I couldn't get past. I needed to think a little bit more about how the game works, because all it took was clicking the waterspout to get its pattern and then reversing it. Simple really, but enough to confuse me early on when I was still getting to grips with the interface.

The forest! Nothing to do here but annoy shepherds.

Kickstarting: Shadowrun Returns

I backed Shadowrun Returns many moons ago, because it seemed really interesting. I've actually not played it yet, but it has been out for a while now. So why write a post? Well, because of some stuff I got in the post! Yes, the backer swag has arrived, and it looks rather good. If you'd prefer a review of the game, you can either wait months for me to finally get around to playing it, or read further at one of the following websites:

RPG Watch: http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/article?articleid=222

PC Gamer: http://www.pcgamer.com/review/shadowrun-returns-review-2/

Eurogamer: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-07-25-shadowrun-returns-review

So here's a little gallery of what you get if you foolishly pledge far too much money towards an indie RPG (it might be more excusable if I hadn't done this a few times, but at least some great games will be getting made in a small part because of me!).

The box, the book and the t-shirt

Playing along: Loom (1990) - Introduction

Loom is one of the well-loved series of adventure games from Lucasfilm Games/Lucasarts, and one that I had previously disregarded. My early adventure gaming had been dominated by Sierra, and their popularity obscured everything else. It wasn't until The Secret of Monkey Island (or perhaps LeChuck's Revenge, I can't even remember which one I played first!), before I would finally properly play and enjoy a Lucasarts adventure game.

Ask me about LoomTM

Indie Gaming: The Stanley Parable (demo)

Who has time for a demo any more? Who even makes them? They used to be a big deal, a way for developers to push their latest product on an unassuming populace and convince them to part with their hard earned cash. Somewhere, somehow, that idea got lost. It was easier, cheaper, to make a trailer instead. Thirty seconds of scripted events can make a game seem rather fantastic really, and even the most terrible of gaming experiences can surely have a few moments of beauty to dazzle the unsuspecting gaming public into pre-ordering.

The game is released on October 17th 2013. But play the demo first!

The Stanley Parable demo is different. It's not even a demo really... or is it?

Wait here. Or don't. It's just a sign.

You should play it now, before you finish reading this.

Indie Gaming: Thomas Was Alone

thomas was alone

Thomas Was Alone is a brilliant game created by Mike Bithell, beautifully constructed in it's minimalism. You begin as the titular Thomas, who is a red rectangle. Each level begins with a quote, seemingly referring to Thomas, a sentient program that is causing all sorts of problems. You jump, you meet interesting friends, and have adventures in your 2D platforming world. As the levels proceed, Thomas and his friends give their thoughts on the situation at hand, beautifully narrated by Danny Wallace (Yes, that one).

7.1 ...the first act of sentient AI was an act of selflessness.

PC Gaming and Me: Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3 and New Vegas

A little bit of history
My first experience of Fallout was a pirated version of the first game. It was bundled with Diablo and something else that I can't recall, and was missing all of the FMV cut-scenes, voice-acting and so on (I feel I should point out that I was living in a country where there was very little access to legitimate copies of PC games, and PC shops would openly sell pirated copies very cheaply).

Right off the bat, despite missing out on some of the background information due to missing content, I knew I was going to love the game. Nothing I had played to that point had built such a fascinating and alien world. Built from the destruction of a nuclear war, the game is set in post-apocalyptic California and incorporates a mixture of 50s sci-fi technology, Mad Max and more. For an RPG, this was new and exciting for me, as the previous RPGs I'd played were almost all in the "high fantasy" category. You play the Vault Dweller, who had lived a sheltered life in a vast underground hi-tech bunker. A malfunction with the water purifier leads you to be chosen to leave the vault (the first for a very long time) and find a replacement water chip. The adventures you have affect more than yourself, and the decisions you make create different outcomes for the various communities you encounter.

Playing Along: Colonel's Bequest and Final Fantasy Legend

I guess this blog all began back when I discovered the CRPG Addict, which was followed by The Adventure Gamer and latterly the RPG consoler. They're all playing through a long list of games of their respective genres, starting from the earliest they can find. On occasion, I decide to play those same games at the same time. Sometimes it's a game I've played before and love, sometimes it's a game I played but never completed, sometimes it's just something interesting. In the case of the two games in the title, I'd played them both but never completed them (but got so very close).

First up: Colonel's Bequest (1989), currently being played by The Adventure Gamer.

Colonel's Bequest is an adventure game, which brings to mind Agatha Christie and other murder mystery writers of that period. Set in 1925, you take the role of Laura Bow, who is asked to join their friend Lillian on a visit to her uncle's mansion. The mansion is suitably creepy, located within a swamp, and filled with family members and friends who naturally all hate each other.