Brillig
05-03-2006, 05:49 PM
Ah, the adventure game, last of a dying breed. Fewer and fewer adventure games are being made, it seems, the field being taken over by action/rpg games, and perhaps for good reason. With the entire gaming industry being taken over by "Freedom Fever"(tm), the idea of a game that is completely linear and only moderately interactive is like something out of a prior decade. Or century. Sid Meier once described a game as a "series of interesting choices." If there are no choices, is there really a game? Perhaps.
Once upon a time
There once was a little game called The Longest Journey. Produced by a tiny Scandinavian company called Funcom, it immediately caused a sensation among fans of the adventure genre, with an award winning mix of creative storytelling and classic (and occasionally head-banging) puzzles. This company then went on to create the rather more troubled, yet still successful MMORPG Anarchy Online. Now they've returned to their roots to give us Dreamfall, or as the box has it, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.
Haven't we been here before?
Make no mistake, Dreamfall is a sequel. In fact, it is the middle segment of a planned trilogy, so be forewarned that things may be wrapped up as tightly as one would like at the end of the game. Furthermore, there are many references during the game to events, persons and places from the first game, so anyone who hasn't played the first game may feel a little lost. (Of course, if you're interested in adventure games, then you probably played the first game. If you haven't you should probably play that first.)
This doesn't mean that Dreamfall is just "more of the same" though. Technology has advanced a tad in the six years since the first installment of the series. And while the game engine will not blow anyone away in terms of visual effects, it isn't anything Funcom needs to be ashamed of, and is fully capable of relaying the story of Dreamfall.
Is there a game in there?
"Relaying the story" - charged words indeed. One of the most serious criticisms about Dreamfall regards the gameplay (or lack thereof) in the game. While adventure games are all fairly linear beasts, Dreamfall has been stripped down almost to the bones - while a small amount of freedom exists, overall, the sensation is more akin to being able to choose which side of a train to look out of as it hurtles down the tracks. Traditional adventure elements such as puzzles have been limited to the most intuitive possible, and it's unlikely that even novice players would be stumped at any point during the game.
The most freedom and flexibility are to be found in the conversations between characters, and even there, it's somewhat limited and illusory. Choices appear to have little consequence in outcomes, and if you're easily bored by expositional dialogue, you may soon find yourself turning on the TV while waiting for the next part of the game...
All this may lead you to think that this is a bad game, which it's not. It is, however, something that may require a different mind-set to fully appreciate. Dreamfall is about as far removed from the currently popular computer games as I can imagine - instead, it is in many ways the realization of another antiquated term - the "interactive movie." Dreamfall delivers solid entertainment, but just like watching a movie, that entertainment is largely passive - you'll spend time guiding the characters through the game, but the reward for doing so is learning their story rather than telling it.
So, what's your story?
Considering that, it's a good thing that the story elements are solid. The Longest Journey had, at the time, an exceptional story to tell, and Dreamfall does not fail to live up to it. In order to keep this spoiler free, I won't tell you too much about the story, save to note that it's time to save the world(s) again. Once again the primary character is a young woman way out of her depth, caught in a situation beyond her comprehension. This time around, the world (and story) is a little darker than it was in The Longest Journey, also suiting the mood of a middle movement of a trilogy.
Character development gets high marks in Dreamfall, like its predecessor. The main characters (with one minor exception) feel realistic, and even the minor characters are well detailed, beyond the one-dimensional NPC's that populate, say, Oblivion ("I saw a mud-crab the other day...") Voice acting, always a difficult needle to thread, is handled professionally, with excellent performances giving additional feeling to the characters' journeys. (Again, with a minor exception or two amongst lesser characters.)
The music also deserves a note. While most game music is an afterthought that succeeds mostly by being unobtrusive, Dreamfall's music exceeds the standard by not only in the background but in carrying the mood evocatively through many of the game's transitions.
To be continued...
In the end, one of the most common complaints is about the game's ending. While the game does have an ending, there are a number of unresolved threads left strewn rather untidily about, and while there is a third volume in the series promised, that's small consolation to those who want to know what happened next!? About all I can say is, if the cliff-hanger ending didn't work so well, people wouldn't use it. And if you really, really, really want to know what happened next, then the designers of the game succeeded in their goal: to entertain you.
P.S. glop.org lists Dreamfall as having Starforce protection. I believe that this is true for some European releases, however, the US releaseby Aspyr definitely does not have Starforce.
Once upon a time
There once was a little game called The Longest Journey. Produced by a tiny Scandinavian company called Funcom, it immediately caused a sensation among fans of the adventure genre, with an award winning mix of creative storytelling and classic (and occasionally head-banging) puzzles. This company then went on to create the rather more troubled, yet still successful MMORPG Anarchy Online. Now they've returned to their roots to give us Dreamfall, or as the box has it, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.
Haven't we been here before?
Make no mistake, Dreamfall is a sequel. In fact, it is the middle segment of a planned trilogy, so be forewarned that things may be wrapped up as tightly as one would like at the end of the game. Furthermore, there are many references during the game to events, persons and places from the first game, so anyone who hasn't played the first game may feel a little lost. (Of course, if you're interested in adventure games, then you probably played the first game. If you haven't you should probably play that first.)
This doesn't mean that Dreamfall is just "more of the same" though. Technology has advanced a tad in the six years since the first installment of the series. And while the game engine will not blow anyone away in terms of visual effects, it isn't anything Funcom needs to be ashamed of, and is fully capable of relaying the story of Dreamfall.
Is there a game in there?
"Relaying the story" - charged words indeed. One of the most serious criticisms about Dreamfall regards the gameplay (or lack thereof) in the game. While adventure games are all fairly linear beasts, Dreamfall has been stripped down almost to the bones - while a small amount of freedom exists, overall, the sensation is more akin to being able to choose which side of a train to look out of as it hurtles down the tracks. Traditional adventure elements such as puzzles have been limited to the most intuitive possible, and it's unlikely that even novice players would be stumped at any point during the game.
The most freedom and flexibility are to be found in the conversations between characters, and even there, it's somewhat limited and illusory. Choices appear to have little consequence in outcomes, and if you're easily bored by expositional dialogue, you may soon find yourself turning on the TV while waiting for the next part of the game...
All this may lead you to think that this is a bad game, which it's not. It is, however, something that may require a different mind-set to fully appreciate. Dreamfall is about as far removed from the currently popular computer games as I can imagine - instead, it is in many ways the realization of another antiquated term - the "interactive movie." Dreamfall delivers solid entertainment, but just like watching a movie, that entertainment is largely passive - you'll spend time guiding the characters through the game, but the reward for doing so is learning their story rather than telling it.
So, what's your story?
Considering that, it's a good thing that the story elements are solid. The Longest Journey had, at the time, an exceptional story to tell, and Dreamfall does not fail to live up to it. In order to keep this spoiler free, I won't tell you too much about the story, save to note that it's time to save the world(s) again. Once again the primary character is a young woman way out of her depth, caught in a situation beyond her comprehension. This time around, the world (and story) is a little darker than it was in The Longest Journey, also suiting the mood of a middle movement of a trilogy.
Character development gets high marks in Dreamfall, like its predecessor. The main characters (with one minor exception) feel realistic, and even the minor characters are well detailed, beyond the one-dimensional NPC's that populate, say, Oblivion ("I saw a mud-crab the other day...") Voice acting, always a difficult needle to thread, is handled professionally, with excellent performances giving additional feeling to the characters' journeys. (Again, with a minor exception or two amongst lesser characters.)
The music also deserves a note. While most game music is an afterthought that succeeds mostly by being unobtrusive, Dreamfall's music exceeds the standard by not only in the background but in carrying the mood evocatively through many of the game's transitions.
To be continued...
In the end, one of the most common complaints is about the game's ending. While the game does have an ending, there are a number of unresolved threads left strewn rather untidily about, and while there is a third volume in the series promised, that's small consolation to those who want to know what happened next!? About all I can say is, if the cliff-hanger ending didn't work so well, people wouldn't use it. And if you really, really, really want to know what happened next, then the designers of the game succeeded in their goal: to entertain you.
P.S. glop.org lists Dreamfall as having Starforce protection. I believe that this is true for some European releases, however, the US releaseby Aspyr definitely does not have Starforce.