Some time ago I began working in a new job. After a few conversations with one of my co-workers, he revealed that he was working on writing a novel and that he was a big Terry Pratchett fan. Being a big Pratchett fan myself, I got talking to him about this hobby of his and let slip that I enjoyed writing in the form of computer games. He got interested, being a fan of point and click adventures from the days of old, and so we decided to catch up after work and share ideas.
He went through his novel, I showed him my big projects in gaming (which at the time was mainly a little game called Lode) and we had a pretty darn good time. I'd taken my PC around to show him Lode and also in the hope of a bit of LAN silliness (a hope which died when he revealed that his rather nice computer had no network card), but after a bit of Team Fortress 2 action online, he booted up an oldish adventure game called Sanitarium (yes, like the Metallica song, no I will not make any more notes in brackets for this entry).
If I was to describe this game in a concise manner, I would choose the words "Freakin strange". I think that if I had come into possession of this game, I would have played for 30 minutes, enjoyed looking at the nice graphics and then closed it off, never to try the game again. I didn't find the characters or puzzles very compelling, nor did the atmosphere really impress me.
Strangely enough, we sat up quite late, him playing the game and me sitting on the couch next to him giving him ideas to try with solving the puzzles. Allow me to repeat - this is not a game I would have chosen to play if I was alone. However, I really enjoyed teaming up with someone to solve these puzzles. Could it be that pairing up when playing adventure games makes them more fun? He also commented that he probably would have spent less time on the game if it weren't for our tag teaming. I've had similar experiences with games like Myst IV Revelation and Out Of Order, and it always seems to me that I enjoy playing an adventure style game with or as a 'sidekick'. Perhaps this is a form of multiplayer I've not considered very much before.
Unfortunately, this co-worker recently moved some distance, making repeating the experiment quite difficult until I can find someone local who is interested in adventure games again. Perhaps in the future, technology will mean I can sign in online and connect somewhere with a buddy across the world and we can team up to solve puzzles without ever having to leave the couch?
4 comments:
Ah, how I remember the old days when we were much too young to get the hang of Monkey Island, but we tried nevertheless.
We sat at my friend's Amiga for hours and hours, trying every last item on every single hotspot, repeating every conversation at least ten times and finally figured out how the puzzle worked.
Although I am not a kid anymore (at least that's what I'm told), I still enjoy "teaming up" with somebody to play adventure games, or actually games of any sort. A basically very stupid flight simulator whose manual has long been lost can turn into an evening of unlimited fun, with two people trying horrific amounts of different key combinations only to start and land the plane.
I played DOTT, Sam&Max and that awesomely bad Phantasmagoria "in team" with a friend, and I really understand your feelings here. Teaming up can make the experience a "deeper" one. Oh, and 7th Guest; we tried to come up with all sorts of background stories for the ghosts...
Sanitarium, btw, had our English teacher in tears when we used the words we learned from it ;)
Totally agree with your post. Adventure games are more enjoyable and easier (two brains are better than one!) when you team up with a fellow friend. The experience also seems to be so much more memorable after it is complete.
Although I've never been riding shotgun--I was always in the pilot seat--so I don't know if it works both ways.
Heh, interesting to see that you agree! It must not just be myself that has noticed it. It seems that whether designed as such or not, gaming is best experienced as a social activity!
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