I love that a genré can be criticised before it even exists (other than in some people's heads).
Personally I only play adventure titles these days, "But why?" I hear you ask. Well, while I always loved adventures (even before I knew the name of the style), I used to enjoy a spot of pixellated rough-and-tumble; a bit of the old ultraviolence. I found it cathartic - and I think a lot of other people do too. In a world where we're constantly having our temporal impotence reinforced, it's nice to be able to go out there and beat up the clearly defined "baddies".
I turned away from these "action" games, however about the time 'Tekken' came out. Don't get me wrong - I'm sure it's a great game. The trouble was, I used to play it at a friend's place who would practice constantly when I wasn't there. 'Tekken' was one of those games where, if you don't know the 32-hit combo and the other guy does, there's no point in playing. Unfortunately, my friend was then less charitable and more competitive than he is today, and would allow me no time to learn the complex moves.
As the years wore on, I grew tired of having my nerves constantly frayed by tense action games, the constant stream of expletives and raised eyebrows of my mother, followed by a query of "Why do you play those things if they get you so riled up?" In the end, I didn't know either.
My point (and don't worry, I do actually have a point) is that maybe the reason adventure gamers are so puritanical is that they, like me, lack the hand-eye co-ordination required to play the fast-paced action games on the market today. Maybe they, like me, are too damn scared to play games like 'Silent Hill 2' for more than 15 minutes with the light out, whatever masterful level of its artistry (hats off to those guys for resurrecting horror!). Maybe adventure gamers resent action gamers for their quick reflexes and stout hearts. Maybe adventure gamers should just all hold hands and say a brief eulogy for all the strained thumbs, blood-blisters and RSI they have suffered in the past at the hands (or controls) of an endless train of platformers, shooters, beat-em-ups and hack'n'slashers.
To those who point to action-adventures as failures (and I know they look to games I enjoyed like 'Omikron: The Nomad Soul' and GK3, not to mention classic SCUMMers like 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'), I think they should just remember the worst scenes in TLJ (and don't worry, they by no means spoiled it - they were just a little thin): the combat scenes involving the Gribbler, the mutant, and Gordon and Adrian. TLJ was a great game, period. It's combat scenes, however, are in serious need of surgery.
We need people like you (and Jane Jensen, and Ron-where did he go?-Gilbert) to push the boundaries; people who are writers and artists, and we can trust. People who should, in the words of the Isley Bros, Public Enemy, Homer Simpson and countless others: "Fight the Power!"
Yours faithfully,
Andrew.Good stuff, Andrew. Don't worry,
TLJ.s won't make your thumbs blister or your wrists swell like some of those
other games out there (you know who you are, and you should be ashamed of yourselves). Quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination worthy of Miyagi-san himself are all well and good for the kids, but they say the noggin is our biggest muscle (or maybe the heart - I can't remember), and the game will have plenty of noggin-action (there's a genre for you), so us old fogies will be all right.
And yup, those "action" sequences - and I mean that in the broadest sense of the word - in the first game were pretty dismal. Seriously, did anyone actually think that the Gribbler would pounce on April? And the less said about the bumbling, slow-witted mutant (also known as Mr. Comic Relief), the better. Sad stuff indeed.
