Posts Tagged ‘ Sands of Time ’

Tomb Raider Underworld – “Welcome Home, Dear Lara”

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The road was long and arduous, filled with unexpected traps and murky terrains, but today, Lara is finally back. Most of you won’t recognize her, for the long road has left many scars and broken ribs, and her face is not as it once was. You’ll probably even dismiss her for being old or unappealing for the XXIst century, but she was the first love of an entire generation that hasn’t forgotten her, and that generation can now finally rejoice. Welcome home, dear Lara. Time has flown by, as she went from explorer to action seductress, constantly misinterpreted by her fans and authors, desperately seeking to keep up with her unexpected pop-icon status. She became hollow and shallow, her figure reduced to that of her own hyper-sexual body, her mind a female replica of a noble Indiana Jones. Her curse lasted several years, and with each passing incarnation robbing her of one more relic, each interpretation became another stab at the core of her inner sanctuary. But all that changed when she went back to her origins, returning to that same place which made her Lara, the tombs.

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There was a sprout of hope in the future of “Legend”, a welcome sense of nostalgia over the forgotten path in “Anniversary” and in “Underworld”, future meets past, and Lara is once again a real “Tomb Raider”. No more action movie stunts, spy movie thrills or sightseeing in Venice, London, or Tokyo; Lara is back at doing what she does best: exploring tombs in the far reaches of the world. Venturing into the cavernous depths of the past is once again the treasure which drives the player, as Lara delves into large ruins of ancient civilizations in search of ancient secrets. Gently paced by the somber and melancholic ambiance, you’ll delve into the monuments of yore, sinking in the idyllic landscape that serves as background for these gorgeous tombs, gazing at the sumptuous architectonic details, crafted with such artistic and historic merit that they could belong to a real museum. Exploring them is like entering a misty realm of fiction and fantasy; your eyes transformed into a dim flashlight uncovering the darkness which laid such wondrous secrets unfettered by men. A sense of exploration overwhelms you, trumped only by the amazement at the aesthetic beauty that feasts your senses. Silence encompasses everything, arresting your thoughts in a reflexive state of mind, punctuated only by the glorious moments of archeological discovery, their tingling sound transformed into delectable orchestral compositions by Troels Brun Folmann and Colin O’Malley (“Legend” and “Anniversary”).

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“Underworld” is darker, moodier, and in almost everything similar to the first “Tomb Raider” and its remake. And yet, it isn’t quite like its original, minimalist outing, as it tries, without compromising its conceptual nature, to incorporate the history of that which has passed in the 12 years that have gone by. There’s a little bit of the action tempos of “Legend”, the gunfights of “Uncharted” and the cartoony animations of “Sands of Time” in “Underworld”. Lara is easier to control, slicker, more agile and realistic, and it helps the game feel more fluid and entertaining. The level design, as always, makes exploration a true delight. By leading and rewarding the player in subtle ways, mostly through the smart layout of tombs’ architecture, the player is engaged to feel like an amazing explorer, without any obtuse thought process. Simply sinking in the environment, through careful observation and reflection, leads to the solution of all puzzles and contraptions. The awe-inspiring scale and complexity of each environment guarantees the notion of a great deed when you get to crack a puzzle, while the stunning level design thoroughly hints at the solutions, unconsciously leading you into the fulfillment of an apparently glorious achievement.

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Also in keeping with times, Lara’s more often provoked into using her guns, and though none of this actually helps the game, because it betrays its true focus, it does keep things more dynamic for less patient players. But in all honesty, this particular Lara will never win their hearts, for the more cerebral, introspective component of the experience will shun them, and Lara never was, and never will be, a Nathan Drake. Gunplay is obnoxiously flashy and too straightforward, action sequences are dull and seem like an afterthought of the exploration scenes, and when it comes to narrative, Lara’s story is still a worn-out cliche filled with pseudo archaeological babble, written by an imaginative teenager at heart (Toby Gard). Of all the elements that serve to build up tension, only the substitute for QTE’s is worthy of note. Instead of flashing buttons on screen for you to press as a mindless drone, delivering some stylish cutscene in the process, the game opts to let you discover what Lara should do in moments of crisis. Let’s say a giant blade approaches Lara, should she jump or duck? The game poses these options by slowing down time, and giving you chance for one single action, selected by a press of the same button that corresponds to the action during normal play. It’s simple, more dynamic and much more rewarding than QTE’s, and it accomplishes the same goal: a thrilling, cinematic experience, that heightens your reflexes and gives a proper climax to action sequences.

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But this is not an action epic, and despite the odd attempts at capturing modern audiences, more favorable to mindless action games, Lara is still the old, intelligent and charming woman that captured our hearts so many years ago. But as in all great personalities, it comes with a price. She definitely won’t garner any new fans, mostly because of the old-school nature of the game, with all its inherent design quirks (let’s just say you’ll see Lara die a couple of times). The technical implementation could also need some more work, coming from such a high production as this, expect glitchy animations (the transitions are still a mess) and some awkward bugs. But those are small details, and Lara is finally back, so who cares? She’s aged, but she’s also matured and is all the more sexy for it. If you remember the wondrous times spent exploring the mysterious realms of the original “Tomb Raider” (or it’s stunning remake), then “Underworld” will be a captivating experience down some truly wonderful vistas. Welcome back, Lara.

Overall: 4/5

2008
12/04
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The Last Express – “A Journey through Space and Time in the Orient Express”

The stage is the Orient Express in 1914 (just before the 1st World War outbreak), a clear reference to the iconic background made famous worldwide by Agatha Christie’s crime novel masterpiece, “Murder on the Orient Express”. This unapologetic homage takes center stage as one of the game’s driving forces, a classic whodunit play where the player takes on the role of the investigator. And though this is one of the most common themes in adventure games, leading into predictable alleys of narrative development and linear gameplay, “Last Express” manages to avoid most cliches with a superbly written plot, penned by Jordan Mechner himself (who also directs the game). Like its contemporary, “Broken Sword”, the initial events are but a fuse that sets into motion larger events. However, unlike “Broken Sword”, “Last Express” avoids a fictional background, and uses historical events as a backdrop for the action. By intertwining factual occurrences with fictional characters, the game manages to come out as more realistic set piece, and it feeds on it to propose pertinent moral, political and existential dilemmas that enrich the game’s narrative.

But the way in which the action unfolds also presents a unique approach to interaction and exploration. The idea here, was to replace a mostly event driven time flow (present in most videogames) and replace it for a real-time dynamic. Imagine, if you will, you’re on a train, people swerving around, talking to each other, going about their routines, living their lives, whether you care or not to observe – your presence closer to that of a spectator than that of a “player”. You can interact by choosing which conversations to listen in, what cabins to explore, which characters you try and engage conversation with, etc. This notion that events do occur, whether or not you’re present as they unfold is not only immersive, as it boasts a real life quality mostly alien to videogames. In this regard, “Last Express” behaves more like a post-modern play, where the spectator is on stage with the actors, voyeuristically observing the dramatic unfolding, but able to intervene, to some extent, by addressing actors/characters, triggering dialogues and slightly affecting narrative.

Perhaps the only letdown in “Last Express”, is that it sometimes behaves like a normal game, more so, a classic adventure game. In specific plot points you’re obliged to meet some criteria in order to move the action forward, and if you fail to comply, you’ll get a premature ending. This becomes unnerving because certain puzzle like activities aren’t always obvious, and some border the nonsensical. Visually cluttered screens sometimes have near invisible clues (with no visual cues to help you find it), scenarios have areas which are magically opened during some events (with more or less logic), some unpredictable events happen only at certain times, forcing you to explore the train constantly in order to observe them, and some puzzles are the object of strange reasoning (or lack thereof). The game is much more enjoyable and interesting when it allows the free exploration of the train throughout time, than when it wants you to do task A or complete puzzle B, just for the sake of the plot moving along.

There are also action sequences coupled with quick time events, where you’re pushed into pressing the mouse with specific timing and placement in order to survive. Though these do spice up the exploration bits of the game, creating rising moments of tension, their simple design (press this or die) is flawed and doesn’t always result in an enjoyable experience. Thankfully, when you end the game prematurely, you can still rewind the action to a suitable place in time that allows you to alter your destiny (in similar fashion to the later “Sands of Time”). This technique is ingenious and works well, and also allowed the designers to block any possibility of a save feature. This means the end of the save/load routine, which considerably improves player’s immersion, without compromising enjoyment when he fails.

To further enhance the sense of a breathing, living world, the game presents beautiful art nouveau decoration in the interiors of the train and some stunning character animation (this is no doubt, in great part thanks to the use of rotoscoping, a technique that helps design 2d images out of live action pictures). The way characters are modeled is simply astounding, with small details like eye-movement, clothes and hair fluttering as characters walk, all portrayed with unprecedented accuracy. The art style used for the coloration of characters, gives it a nice finish, effectively transforming the wonderful 2D animations into minimalist moving paintings. nfortunately, these techniques involved a lot work and money (as it was needed to shoot live action first and then color everything up), which made it impossible to produce crisp twenty three frame animations. As a consequence, the animations resemble a slide shows, running at about one or two frames per second. Even so, the game was still budgeted at around 6 million dollars, which is really, really high for a 1997 game. It’s not that it needed more frames, but the high-quality of the imagery almost begs a fully fledged animation – it just wasn’t possible at the time.

The soundtrack is as carefully wrought as the visuals are. The train produces exactly the sounds you expect it to as it travels: the blowing of the locomotives horn’s, the rhythmic sound of steel hitting the tracks, the wind fiercely blowing outside, all recorded and reproduced with meticulous care. Voice recordings are also downright perfect, as each character’s lines are spoken with the acting quality you’ve come to expect from a feature film. The score by Elia Cmiral, composed out of synthesizer melodies, enhances some of the emotional moods in the game, providing an eerie accompaniment to the mystery unfolding and enticing action in the game’s quick time events, as well as providing some well placed auditive cues that inform the player of a specific clue or object that is needed to inspect. The climax of the soundtrack comes in the form of a marvelous piano/violin concerto – “Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major” by César Franck, which is fully enacted in the game.

“The Last Express” is an artistic gem to behold and a narrative experience like no other in videogames. Jordan Mechner (the seminal creator of “Prince of Persia”) not only produced a convincing piece of art and story, as he did so by harvesting some of the most interesting qualities of videogames: the exploration and immersion in realistic virtual environments. Sadly, at times it becomes hard to distinguish “The Last Express” from classic adventure games, but the revolutionary nature of the game’s concepts clearly compensate the fact. It is also a shame that the game wasn’t appreciated by audiences when it came out, selling few copies despite its critical acclaim, thus becoming one of the greatest commercial failures of gaming history. Because of that sad fact, Jordan Mechner would only get to work again 6 years later in “Prince of Persia, The Sands of Time”. Still, despite of the failure, it remains as one of those rare videogames where cumbersome ludic dogmas are backstaged by a heartfelt desire to translate narrative through the use of interactive space, image, sound, and above all… time. And that is exactly what “The Last Express” is, an absolute masterpiece that will be remembered throughout time.

Overall: 5/5

 

2008
09/25
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Braid

“Each moment has its sickle, emulous
Of Time’s enormous scythe, whose ample sweep
Strikes empires from the root.”

Edward Young

The princess is gone… taken away into a castle in a far away land. Tim needs her, longs for her… he cannot fathom life without her. Thus, he embarks on a journey to find her, delving into this mystical land, drafted out of memories and dreams, hand painted with the colors of a man’s life, desperately in search of his lost princess, through time and space. To try and describe “Braid” any further would be a mistake, no, a bitter insult to its author and his work. Yes, because unlike many in the industry, and pardon the cliché, Jonathan Blow, the designer, actually created a work of art that brims with ambiguity and meaning. As Dieubussy once told me – to accurately describe it, one must be a poet, something which I clearly am not (my English prose being as bad as it is, you can imagine my poetry). “Braid” feels like Art, plays like Art, and bloody hell IS Art. And it attains that statute in a way far more evolved than most videogames that attempt the same feat (as the recent “Bioshock”, for example), as for once, gameplay is also a meaningful part of the game’s conceptual themes, motifs and story.

Curiously enough, though it remains an artsy fare, on an interaction level, the game admittedly draws inspiration on other videogames, most notably “Super Mario Bros.”, from where it derives the basic mechanics of platforming, and to some extent, the game’s structure (split into “worlds”), level design (each scene is shaped as 2d sidescrolling panel, much like in Mario) and even some of its quirks (the obvious one being the placement of a castle at the end of each world, where every single time, a dinosaur informs you that the princess isn’t there after all). But there’s a twist, and therein lies “Braid’s” uniqueness. As in “Sands of Time” or “Blinx”, you can spin time backwards, but in “Braid”, each game world makes the time disrupting behave in a different way. For instance, in World 4, after rewinding, Tim leaves a shadow that carries out his actions from the previous time line, thus allowing him to be, literally, in two places at the same time. These powerful new time mechanics are the core of the gameplay, much more so than the platforming roots the game shows at first glance. And fortunately, level design feeds on this factor for intellectual purposes, and instead of turning “Braid” into a “Super Mario Bros.” with time mechanics (which isn’t too far off from “Sands of Time”), it turns “Braid” into the new Time-Bending “Portal”. Yes, that’s right, expect the game’s focus to be centered around tortuous mind bending puzzles that will make your head ache every single time. But even “Portal” can pale in comparison, as “Braid” goes much further in its intellectual stimuli, its puzzles being challenging to the point of making you think all the time about their solution. For example, one of the later puzzles had a solution I only envisioned while reading a book, hours after playing, because in the back of my mind, I was still trying to fit its logic into perspective. But don’t fret; though hard, these puzzles transpire elegance, their logic so perfect and sublime, that you’ll feel an enormous sense of compensation when you actually crack them. And very rarely will you feel frustrated, because the solution is always there, staring at you in the face, and when you finally do find it, you’ll understand that the puzzle wasn’t a cheap trick the developer pulled of his hat; it had a clever solution that relied on a rationally coherent deduction, which will make you think “How did I miss that?!” It’s extremely hard to find such care given to level design, and you’ll never stop admiring the designer’s creativity and sheer genius in the concoction of these brilliant pieces of intellectual madness.

Not only do these work as valid and thought-provoking pieces of gameplay, but these puzzles are also interesting allegories that translate the inner journey of its main character. Blow has placed a number of iconic images and simple phrases that resonate with the gameplay mechanics and levels, adding them another layer of interpretation that transcends their face-value, expressing abstract and symbolic meanings, otherwise inaccessible to the player. This use of gameplay as a meaningful metaphor for the authors’ statements is becoming increasingly common in indie games and Jonathan Blow has himself referenced the works of Jason Rohrer and Rod Humble in his presentations. They’re obvious influences; that he now incorporates their spirit into a commercial game is not only welcome, as it is provocative… almost visionary. Not that I feel this is the first time it is done, quite on the contrary, for since the genesis of games that creators have imposed meaning to the player’s actions, most of which aren’t as obvious as would otherwise seem, but, as Blow also states, the new paradigm in videogaming rarely accepts this notion, opting instead for deriving meaning from non-interactive elements, such as cinematic cutscenes, leaving interactions as straightforward mappings of simple, real-life actions (shoot, punch, jump, etc). Blow believes that breaking away this dogmatic philosophy is essential for games to move forward towards their “Golden Age” and he’s doing his part, and in my opinion, he deserves applause for it.

To flesh out the allegorical nuances present in the gameplay, each world has a number of books the player can read. These provide a more solid, less abstract narrative medium, that fits perfectly with the hazy imagery. Though I can agree that the writing is not as “poetic” or “evocative” as it could be (as Michael Abbott from “BrainyGamer” states), lacking a lyrical poise that would further enhance the dreamlike nature of the game’s setting, it seems the author’s choice was to give it a more realistic tone, which would better connect with the real world, instead of the dreamy one. Such a choice is important, no, decisive in the understanding of the story. Jonathan Blow has said that his favorite movie is Lynch’s “Mulholland Dr.” (also one of my personal favorites), and in a way, there’s a very Lynchian feel to his narrative… at least in my interpretation of the tale. Because, though it is firmed on reality (the game is located in an otherworldly place, but Tim’s writings clearly refer to “our” world), it stands open to interpretation, requiring the player to weave the missing fabric in these fragmented, dreamy textures, and no one thread can quite explain everything or make all pieces come neatly into place in this metaphysical puzzle; which coincidentally, is one of David Lynch’s more recognizable features. This is also a subjective tale, a story told from the perspective of one character, a rare feat, which adds depth to its characterization and the inherent metaphors. One of the high points of the game lies in one of the later puzzles, where it is required of you to hide Tim as you read his memories, and as you do so, the text suddenly changes, and new perspective on the same events merges in the text – brilliant. The depth of Jonathan Blow’s imaginary world is awe inspiring, and he translates it without resorting to cutscenes (there’s just one pseudo-cutscene near the end), lengthy dialogues or an absurd amount of text. He merely uses a few sparse elements: small pieces of written text, some hand painted images, and, last but not least, the game’s environments, their interactive elements, their art and music – for this is the true language of videogames.

And not only is Jonathan Blow aware of this more powerful semiotic language, that takes into account all of videogame’s disciplines to translate a vision, as he does this with an added sense of beauty. The game’s art, by David Hellman (author of the webcomic “A lesson is learned but the Damage is Irreversible“), has a picturesque, hand painted quality, of expressionist influence, that further enhances the dreamlike qualities of “Braid’s” universe. Each landscape is crafted out of numerous layers of delicate images, fused together in a constant motion, giving the illusion of time, perspective and depth of field to what is an otherwise bidimensional background. These resonate perfectly with the score (which you can explore here), a balanced and astonishingly coherent selection of string compositions by Jami Sieber, Shira Kammen, Swan and Cheryl Ann Fulton. The game opens up with in a dark street, dimly lit in yellowish tones [title image], “Maenam”, by Jami Sieber caressing your hears, the perfect overture: a slow, steady crescendo of cellos in a mellow tone, coming into full force with a sad harmony that delivers Tim’s anguish perfectly – you can almost hear the cellos sing that he longs for the Princess to be with him. Following it, as you delve in the first game world, a place of bright colors and lush flora [see above], you’re greeted with “Downstream”, by Shira Kammen, a light bucolic fantasy piece for violin, of mild Celtic inspiration, that can almost make you soar high as in a dream due to its upbeat tempo and gentle, happy melody. And these are just the first few minutes of the game, the remaining also continue this perfect blend of musical harmony and visual style, effectively connecting on an emotional level with the player. Not only is “Braid” thoughtful and inspiring, it’s also touching on an sentimental level, a perfect piece of art in its purest, more emotional state.

What more can one say about “Braid”? It’s intelligent, inspiring, beautiful and touching. I simply lack the adjectives that could make the game justice (I wonder if they exist, really…). Is it perfect? Nothing is: minor flaws abide. But do they matter in the grand scheme of the game? No, not by a mile. I still think there’s a lot of work to be done in order to further develop videogame’s true language, and specially, the way in which interactions can become meaningful metaphors; “Braid” is simply one step forward in the long road that lies ahead. Surely, this is the best game to come out since “Shadow of the Colossus”. That I even dare and place in the same sentence, both this simple, downloadable game and one of Ueda’s glorious masterpieces (that I believe uphold Jonathan’s Blows core philosophy, and to some extent, even further it) is in itself a statement on how big an achievement “Braid” really is. The future of gaming lies here.

Overall: 5/5

2008
08/21
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