Lucasarts and similar games

[phanboy_iv]

Starship Titanic

Heard bad things about this one, was I misinformed?

The Space Bar

Ooh, never heard of this one. And by Meretzky too. Have to look this one up!

 

[Kizmiaz]

Starship Titanic

Heard bad things about this one, was I misinformed?

Not really, it's impossible without a walktrough, but if you're an Adams fan you'll put up.

 

[asper]

A Vampyre story (new adventure game made by ex ppl from Lucas Arts, so you can't go wrong)

Actually, this has been bashed on the Codex and elsewhere; the LucasArts spark of genius seems to be missing, and replaced by a very annoying voice of the main character, and not-so-memorable writing. Only played the demo though.

Oh, and definitely try KGB, I discovered it thanks to the Codex, and it's an awesome adventure game. Just don't read the thread about it so as not to be spoiled Also, the new Sam & Max games might be worth looking into.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Darkseed 1 is pretty interesting, though one of those obscenely frustrating games that need walkthroughs, as it's almost by-the-minute timing type of game. The graphical design by Giger is fantastic, of course.

 

[Smarts]

Cruise for a Corpse. Point'n'click Agatha Christie-style murder mystery. You'll need DosBox. And your brain in gear.

And a notebook and pencil wouldn't hurt, either.

http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/285/C ... orpse.html

 

[SCO]

Cruise for a corpse is a great game, but it gives of the idea that it is timing based like darkseed or the last express. It's not.

There is also some obscene pixel hunting in it, especially because the gameworld changes (some item only appear later).

Oh and very few people seem to have played the Last Express.

This is a grievous error.

If you can tolerate frustration, i'd recommend Gabriel Knight 2, 3 and the lost files of Sherlock Holmes too.

 

[onemananadhisdroid]

Unluckily there's very few games that can compete with Lucas Arts at its very best. Mostly it's not the actual adventure bits or the puzzling that makes them this superior. It's the handling of the characters, the visuals, the music, the out-of-that-friggin'-lazy-box-thinking that is all over the place, present in numerous interface jokes (check: Guybrush and the hole in the wall in the governor's mansion), and so on. It's the combination of all the little things, be it the invention of the iMUSE technology that allowed for pieces of music to fluidly flow into each other according to what was going on on the screen. Or be it the structure of the narrative, how villains were portrayed as viable threats via clever use of cut scenes, even if they were hardly ever really coming to get you. With games like these, it's really the little things that count.

Tim Schafer is one of the selected few people working on games that can write a line of dialogue without making themselves embarassed, Michael Land and Peter McConell are brill musicians, and the art of Peter Chan and Bill Tiller is hard to beat. LA at its best was a hotspot for just very very talented people, a gathering point of bright minds like there's hardly ever been any other, and this shows.

But Broken Sword is very, very nice indeed.

 

[made]

Blade Runner (great atmosphere, good story, even decent C&C)

I feel like Blade Runner deserves special mention here. It's really an amazing game, although very different from the LA style.

A detective story at its core, it revolves around gathering clues to piece together a larger puzzle. There are multiple ways to get a clue, and often multiple ways to handle a situation. Most notably, the way you treat NPCs affects their disposition towards you and may alter the course of the story lateron. Talk about C&C. There's something like 12 different endings, not all of which are reachable in the same playthrough due to an element of randomness.

Highly recommended to any adventure fan, even if it doesn't quite fit the topic title.

 

[Zhuangzi]

Blade Runner (great atmosphere, good story, even decent C&C)

I feel like Blade Runner deserves special mention here. It's really an amazing game, although very different from the LA style.

A detective story at its core, it revolves around gathering clues to piece together a larger puzzle. There are multiple ways to get a clue, and often multiple ways to handle a situation. Most notably, the way you treat NPCs affects their disposition towards you and may alter the course of the story lateron. Talk about C&C. There's something like 12 different endings, not all of which are reachable in the same playthrough due to an element of randomness.

Highly recommended to any adventure fan, even if it doesn't quite fit the topic title.

I really want to play this game, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Ideas?

 

[made]

Amazon has it, for example. Or just get a free review copy. Westwood is dead, EA deserves no money.