Posted May 01, 2011
As most of you probably know, Germany is something of the last bastion of adventure games. Some internationally well-known titles have been developed here, like the last entries in the Simon the Sorcerer series or Jane Jensen’s new game.
Obviously, there are many German franchises too. These often have moderate budgets, because the adventure genre is very much commercially viable in these parts. There's also a lot of ambition evident, and the games are covering a wide spectrum of scenarios. Want to investigate the Tunguska incident? How about playing an Allied Spy during World War 2? Or fighting a futuristic Orwellian state?
All this sounds great on paper, but it has to be said that there is a common theme of rather forced maturity. This is typical of a wider trend in pop culture, really. I'm sure you're all aware how expressions like “mature”, “morally ambiguous” or “gray characters with flaws” have become buzzwords when games, Fantasy novels or TV shows are advertised. This kind of thinking lends itself to superficial treatments of generalized issues. The point is often the idea of being mature, and not the desire, or even ability, to investigate any deep realities. Also, it does say something about you and your work when you have to make a conscious effort to be mature, doesn't it?
There are other issues with these Euro adventures, too. The puzzle design is often iffy. I've said the same thing in another thread: if you're setting your adventure game in the real world, then you better make sure that real world logic applies, too. As for the Lucas Arts style stuff, well, it's just not funny. German humor, eh?
Anyway, I've played a bunch of these German adventure games during the last years, and since they seem to be little known internationally, and a lot of GoGers like their point-and-click adventures, I thought it might be worthwhile to someone if I wrote a bit about these games.
I have to say that I've played the local versions, so I can't vouch for the translation and voice acting.
Secret Files: Tunguska
From 2006. You're a young woman from Berlin investigating the disappearance of her father and the famous Tunguska incident.
This is a prime example for what's wrong with adventure games (and with a lot of other things, too, since it got very good ratings and apparently sold well). It's almost like a parody. The puzzles are ridiculous, the solutions incredibly counter intuitive and specific, and worst of all is the kleptomania of the player character, who, there is no other word for it, steals everything that isn't bolted down. A soggy slice of food, huge metal bars, obvious property of other people, everything gets picked up “because it might come in handy in the future”. It's absolutely ridiculous and makes any kind of the good old suspension of disbelief utterly impossible.
The plot is perfunctory and there seems to be a clumsy attempt to establish a love story. It's also one of those games that has not enough faith in its story and characters and feels the need to add a few supernatural proceedings into the mix.
Remember, how in Fahrenheit, David Cage not quite realized that he is a fucking hack, but somehow seemed to sense that his disturbingly bland copies of copies of copies of banal movie clichés aren't able to stand on their own and so smothered them in one of the most ridiculous, overblown Fantasy plots ever created? Or more likely, he was just so condescending that he thought gamers are too stupid to appreciate his grand vision without it.
Well, Secret Files isn't like that. But it did remind me of Fahrenheit, which I hate. It's just dumb, not dumb and hateful like Fahrenheit, but that's not much of a recommendation.
Graphics are realistic, but lacking character.
Perry Rhodan
From 2008. You are the immortal hero of future mankind and out there doing some space opera stuff.
Much better. An offshoot of an ancient Science Fiction novel franchise, and apparently written by professional authors of the series, this offers a passable story and the kind of detailed fictional universe you get after 50 years of weakly publications. The graphics are genuinely beautiful, with animated, imaginative backgrounds.
The puzzles are mostly fine and make good use of SciFi gadgetry, like a scanner that lets you scan your surroundings for hot spots. No more pixel hunting.
That said, the setting is a decidedly acquired taste. It's neither hard Science Fiction nor the campy fun of Star Wars or Star Trek. It's classic, mid 20th century pulp space opera. Imaginative, but neither particularly funny nor full with pathos, I can imagine that many people will find it too silly.
Goin' Downtown
From 2008. You're basically the main character from Blade Runner, only cel-shaded. You're out there investigating the death of a whore, which leads to a greater conspiracy of the rich and powerful.
This is fine, too. The setting is interesting (it really is Blade Runner), the comic graphics style appealing and the story, which has a genuinely chilling conclusion, fine. Puzzles are standard fare, mostly easy, with a few neat touches. There is a day and night cycle, which lets you switch between the times of day at will and has obvious uses as a starting point for adventure puzzling. There's also some kind of VR environment which the main character can enter to access past scenarios and find clues. Plot hole time.
The problem, and that really is the case with all the games I'm talking about, is that the writing is functional, but not interesting in itself. This is always disappointing, but genuinely obstructive when it comes to characterization. In this case, the developers were shooting for some kind of disillusioned, tough future Noir hero, but the player character comes across as uninteresting and a bit whiny. Not likable, is my point.
Still, this is genuinely interesting and has probably the best plot of all the games discussed here.
A New Beginning
2010. You're an elderly biologist, and also a time traveling young woman.
From the same developer as the better known The Whispered Word, apparently. Very buggy originally, but I had no problems with the patched version.
Beautifully hand-drawn, but very static background graphics. The animations betray a low budget, as do the cut scenes, which make use of some comic panel story telling.
This has a very unusual story. The biologist you play has developed some kind of algae and the time traveling woman visits him from the future, because she thinks his work is the only thing that can save humanity from a catastrophic case of global warming.
There's a lot of hippy-dippy environmentalist stuff, which is incredibly naive but also very agreeable. I mean, we all hate corrupt energy companies, don't we. It also has explosions and action, so it's all a bit like in a Roland Emmerich blockbuster, but on a much smaller scale.
The puzzles aren't very imaginative, but easy enough, and the whole thing is just there, likable, and worthy of a playthrough.
Ankh
From 2005. You're some young boy from mythic ancient Egypt, having adventures.
I've only played very little of this. You know these children shows that are just charming and funny enough for adults? Well, this isn't like that. It's the kind of game where you're sitting there, watching the intro and thinking, god, I'm in my mid twenties, what am I doing here?
Graphics are colorful and technically accomplished, the setting is fresh and it's apparently appealing enough to have spawned two sequels, but come on.
Obviously, there are many German franchises too. These often have moderate budgets, because the adventure genre is very much commercially viable in these parts. There's also a lot of ambition evident, and the games are covering a wide spectrum of scenarios. Want to investigate the Tunguska incident? How about playing an Allied Spy during World War 2? Or fighting a futuristic Orwellian state?
All this sounds great on paper, but it has to be said that there is a common theme of rather forced maturity. This is typical of a wider trend in pop culture, really. I'm sure you're all aware how expressions like “mature”, “morally ambiguous” or “gray characters with flaws” have become buzzwords when games, Fantasy novels or TV shows are advertised. This kind of thinking lends itself to superficial treatments of generalized issues. The point is often the idea of being mature, and not the desire, or even ability, to investigate any deep realities. Also, it does say something about you and your work when you have to make a conscious effort to be mature, doesn't it?
There are other issues with these Euro adventures, too. The puzzle design is often iffy. I've said the same thing in another thread: if you're setting your adventure game in the real world, then you better make sure that real world logic applies, too. As for the Lucas Arts style stuff, well, it's just not funny. German humor, eh?
Anyway, I've played a bunch of these German adventure games during the last years, and since they seem to be little known internationally, and a lot of GoGers like their point-and-click adventures, I thought it might be worthwhile to someone if I wrote a bit about these games.
I have to say that I've played the local versions, so I can't vouch for the translation and voice acting.
Secret Files: Tunguska
From 2006. You're a young woman from Berlin investigating the disappearance of her father and the famous Tunguska incident.
This is a prime example for what's wrong with adventure games (and with a lot of other things, too, since it got very good ratings and apparently sold well). It's almost like a parody. The puzzles are ridiculous, the solutions incredibly counter intuitive and specific, and worst of all is the kleptomania of the player character, who, there is no other word for it, steals everything that isn't bolted down. A soggy slice of food, huge metal bars, obvious property of other people, everything gets picked up “because it might come in handy in the future”. It's absolutely ridiculous and makes any kind of the good old suspension of disbelief utterly impossible.
The plot is perfunctory and there seems to be a clumsy attempt to establish a love story. It's also one of those games that has not enough faith in its story and characters and feels the need to add a few supernatural proceedings into the mix.
Remember, how in Fahrenheit, David Cage not quite realized that he is a fucking hack, but somehow seemed to sense that his disturbingly bland copies of copies of copies of banal movie clichés aren't able to stand on their own and so smothered them in one of the most ridiculous, overblown Fantasy plots ever created? Or more likely, he was just so condescending that he thought gamers are too stupid to appreciate his grand vision without it.
Well, Secret Files isn't like that. But it did remind me of Fahrenheit, which I hate. It's just dumb, not dumb and hateful like Fahrenheit, but that's not much of a recommendation.
Graphics are realistic, but lacking character.
Perry Rhodan
From 2008. You are the immortal hero of future mankind and out there doing some space opera stuff.
Much better. An offshoot of an ancient Science Fiction novel franchise, and apparently written by professional authors of the series, this offers a passable story and the kind of detailed fictional universe you get after 50 years of weakly publications. The graphics are genuinely beautiful, with animated, imaginative backgrounds.
The puzzles are mostly fine and make good use of SciFi gadgetry, like a scanner that lets you scan your surroundings for hot spots. No more pixel hunting.
That said, the setting is a decidedly acquired taste. It's neither hard Science Fiction nor the campy fun of Star Wars or Star Trek. It's classic, mid 20th century pulp space opera. Imaginative, but neither particularly funny nor full with pathos, I can imagine that many people will find it too silly.
Goin' Downtown
From 2008. You're basically the main character from Blade Runner, only cel-shaded. You're out there investigating the death of a whore, which leads to a greater conspiracy of the rich and powerful.
This is fine, too. The setting is interesting (it really is Blade Runner), the comic graphics style appealing and the story, which has a genuinely chilling conclusion, fine. Puzzles are standard fare, mostly easy, with a few neat touches. There is a day and night cycle, which lets you switch between the times of day at will and has obvious uses as a starting point for adventure puzzling. There's also some kind of VR environment which the main character can enter to access past scenarios and find clues. Plot hole time.
The problem, and that really is the case with all the games I'm talking about, is that the writing is functional, but not interesting in itself. This is always disappointing, but genuinely obstructive when it comes to characterization. In this case, the developers were shooting for some kind of disillusioned, tough future Noir hero, but the player character comes across as uninteresting and a bit whiny. Not likable, is my point.
Still, this is genuinely interesting and has probably the best plot of all the games discussed here.
A New Beginning
2010. You're an elderly biologist, and also a time traveling young woman.
From the same developer as the better known The Whispered Word, apparently. Very buggy originally, but I had no problems with the patched version.
Beautifully hand-drawn, but very static background graphics. The animations betray a low budget, as do the cut scenes, which make use of some comic panel story telling.
This has a very unusual story. The biologist you play has developed some kind of algae and the time traveling woman visits him from the future, because she thinks his work is the only thing that can save humanity from a catastrophic case of global warming.
There's a lot of hippy-dippy environmentalist stuff, which is incredibly naive but also very agreeable. I mean, we all hate corrupt energy companies, don't we. It also has explosions and action, so it's all a bit like in a Roland Emmerich blockbuster, but on a much smaller scale.
The puzzles aren't very imaginative, but easy enough, and the whole thing is just there, likable, and worthy of a playthrough.
Ankh
From 2005. You're some young boy from mythic ancient Egypt, having adventures.
I've only played very little of this. You know these children shows that are just charming and funny enough for adults? Well, this isn't like that. It's the kind of game where you're sitting there, watching the intro and thinking, god, I'm in my mid twenties, what am I doing here?
Graphics are colorful and technically accomplished, the setting is fresh and it's apparently appealing enough to have spawned two sequels, but come on.