The Loss of "movie" adventure titles (1 Viewer)

[Chris]

OK, I know, with all the 3D shoot-em up action going on, this genre has basically died. But for those of us who loved the "Phantasmagoria" type games (or, as related to game hardware, how about Sega CD games that were based with tons of video.. Night Trap anyone?)

What is it that has made this genre, which for so long was so hot within the industry, die? Wing Commander IV?

I mean, you'd think with the widespread availability of DVD-ROM drives, and consoles that use DVDROM, the capacity for games with real actors and cut scenes would be growing

 

[JustinCleveland]

Chris,

As near as I can figure, most people want a more intuative game experience, and don't want to be wrenched out by long cut-scenes. Having just played Final Fantasy X, I know I kept getting frustrated by the action being stopped by a scene for a few minutes. Where in the past I would marvel at scenes in games like Phantasmagoria, today I prefer a more integrated story experience. That's just me.

 

[James T]

I haven't played Phantasmagoria, so do you mean cut scenes with live actors that move the story along like in the Wing Commander series or Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight I(and the sequels just extend that title ).
Does Metal Gear Solid count in that tally as well? I know that a big complaint with a lot of people(not me, as I loved the cutscenes) that the cutscenes were too long.

Me, personally, I prefer a game like Half-life where there is no stoppage and if you don't feel like listening to what they have to say, you can walk away or shoot them in the nether regions. But of course, you'll then have to figure out what to do on your own.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

i loved the phantasmagoria games, but my favorite was under a killing moon, with tex murphy. i miss having those types of games, it felt more like i was playing a movie, and for those types of mystery/adventure games, i think it worked well.

CJ

 

[John Chow]

Yeah, the Under a Killing Moon series totally rocked. I only played the first one and the second one (Pandora Directive). Never got around to Overseer.

I used to sit around and play that with a friend and we'd sit around and figure out everything that needed to be done.

 

[Chris]

Yeah, Under a Killing Moon was great stuff.

No, I don't mean just cut scenes. In Phantasmagoria, like UAKM, all you had was live action actors.. so when you'd interact with someone, ask them a question, whatever, a live action actor would respond.

I don't know, liked that genre. Then again, I desperately miss turn-based RPGs ala the "Gold Box" D&D Titles (Curse of the Azure Bonds, etc.) which yes, had crap graphics, but good story.

I'm always reminded tha the first games I ever played that I really loved (on an Apple II+ and then on an AppleIIGS) were games that were insanely text/story driven.. well, except for Leisure Suit Larry. But you had Space Quest, games from a company called "CinemaWare" which had some incredible IIGS & Amiga titles (Defender of the Crown, 3 Stooges, King of Chicago; It Came From the Desert...) I mean, those titles all had a "movie that you played a part in" kind of feel.

I went out last week and picked up a 6800GT card ($400) and a copy of Doom3, and outside of wanting to throw up in about 20 minutes (a lot of these games make me seasick) I didn't find the story very compelling or interesting. Meanwhile, a game like Warcraft III I thought had interesting cut scenes, etc. which made it something that I played all the way through Then again, as a Civ fan, I regretted more then anything the loss of "wonder videos" which were always part of civ but removed in CivIII.

*shrug* I just feel with DVDROMs everywhere, there has to be room for those kind of games

 

[Joe Szott]

These things always run in cycles. Look at RPGs, they were dead 5 years ago. Now there are quite a few novel and new type RPGs hitting stands, everything old is new again. FPSs push the envelope of systems quite well now, so they are the darlings. But someone will come out with a new and unique way of delivering a "video" game and it will come back.

PS - Cinemaware just re-released a new Defender of the Crown game for PC, PS2, and Xbox. Go get it!

 

[Chris Bardon]

Well, I loved old school adventure games, but I found that most of the "live actor" games realy weren't as good as their sprite (or later 3d rendered) counterparts. For example, Gabriel Knight 2 was okay, but nowhere near as good as 1 or 3.

There were some good ones though. UAKM was great, and I still haven't managed to get a copy of the Pandora Directive to follow up on it (I have the first three discs, but the last three got lost in shipment from ebay). Ripper was also a great game, as was Rama.

Phantasmagoria though...just didn't work. An interesting tech demo, but there was much more "game" in King's quest 6.

The best of them all though-the 7th guest and the 11th hour. Both are fantastic games, and the first has to be one of the creepiest games I've ever played. A lot of people talk about being scared by DOOM, but I remember playing this with the lights out and being freaked out more than once (Feeling...lonely?)

 

[John Chow]

I wonder if it has something to do with the budget of these games. If I remember correctly, at the time Wing Commander 4 came out, it was the most expensive game at 12million. Not sure if anything ever surpassed it, not even sure if it even broke even, and too lazy to do the research right now

Yeah, I was really into the Forgotten Realms Gold Box games, those were some of the best.