Unofficial Tex Murphy

since there is not a great selection of games out there except hidden object games, I thought it was only just okay but certainly the reviews where somewhat far fetched. Playing it was something like a myst game without puzzles, however the myst games had the scenery & you did feel like you were travelling in the game.

Another game I have played that you are searching a house is ...scratches .... now this game is pretty good . I was attracted to it as I love jonathan boakes .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64lHWOCLn70

I wonder if I'd like this game based on the last few comments. Story in games is so lacking in quality (emotionally, interest, and coherency) that even moderately ok stories get rave reviews from critics, so I'm not surprised. Video game critics will also talk crap about a game and then give it a 7/10. I'm convinced most don't understand that's a pretty average score.

Having had time to look at it properly now I can only say I totally agree, it is tear jerkingly boring and has no poignancy whatsoever. Not even in the attic.

Adventure game? A cheap rip off of one (and not so cheap neither).

Tuco wrote:I don't want to ruin it for anybody who wants to "play" it, but I'll say that the rave reviews from big mainstream sights are most likely due to the game's storyline which is, let's say, politically correct to a fault.

I think this is total bullshit, and it's a criticism that seems to belie some sort of discomfort with that subject matter. The mere existence of a gay character hardly seems to be "politically correct to a fault." Gay people exist, get over it.

Narratively, I thought that detail helped draw together the daughter's plot and conflict with the parents in an elegant way that avoided romeo and juliet cliches, but I thought that what made the story work, was simply the way the game managed to instill concern for the unseen characters and their fates.

It's true that it's not a game in the traditional sense, in that it isn't about "beating the game." It's more of a virtual world in which you piece together a story retroactively, and your enjoyment is going to come from how well you're able to immerse yourself in that. There are a LOT of story details you can easily miss if you're rushing through, and the game isn't as effective if you do that. For instance, SPOILER did you pick up on why the house was called the psycho house? Did you realize what happened to the uncle, and why he chose to leave the house to his nephew? Did you figure out where the parents really were? And what ultimately happened between the mother and her "friend" from work? I resent the people that refer to this as something of a visual novel, because it really requires your active participation to "get" all of the story.

It's also an intentionally misleading game. SPOILER: It pretends to be a horror/mystery, but in fact it's just the story of a family. I thought this was a brilliant work, because the creepy horror angle helps to get you worried about these characters and invested in their fates, when, in fact, the story itself is simple, human, and realistic and in fact nothing dire has happened. When I went to the attic, I was worried to death I'd find a body there, and when it swerved the other way with happy ending, I thought it was really poignant and emotionally resonant. If you didn't "fall" for this work, then it wouldn't have the same impact.

I really thought it was a brilliant game, but I also totally get why it's polarizing, because the whole thing depends on it being a bit of a trick on the player.

Oh, please.

An awful game was injected with a provocative theme (same sex romance) with the hope that its limitations would be ignored. And so far, it seems to have been a good move because any criticism of the game is countered with finger pointing and implications of homophobia (which is EXACTLY what the folks who put this half-assed thing together wanted.)

If the girl in the game was heterosexual, it wouldn't even have registered on the radar and definitely wouldn't have made it to Steam. Do you really think the New York Times would have reviewed this thing otherwise?

I posted a few comments and was quickly and not-so-subtly accused of homophobia.

I couldn't stand the game because it was a piece of crap and even with a full cast of heterosexuals it STILL would have been a piece of crap.

Well, anyway, I guess if Chris and company want to make the Tesla Effect "critic proof" and get a blurb in the New York Times they can add an angst-ridden Bisexual Tex into the next game. Maybe Tex and Clint can tie the knot at the end at the Brew and Stew. What? Don't like that ending? Homophobe!!

Tuco wrote:Oh, please.

An awful game was injected with a provocative theme (same sex romance) with the hope that its limitations would be ignored. And so far, it seems to have been a good move because any criticism of the game is countered with finger pointing and implications of homophobia (which is EXACTLY what the folks who put this half-assed thing together wanted.)

If the girl in the game was heterosexual, it wouldn't even have registered on the radar and definitely wouldn't have made it to Steam. Do you really think the New York Times would have reviewed this thing otherwise?

I liked the game because I found it emotionally impactful. I was concerned for the characters. I actually got watery eyed at the end, and no game's ever done that for me before. I'm a straight male with no particular connection to that subject matter, and I liked it because it was well written and, using some non-traditional devices, instilled a connection to the characters. I'm quite sure I'd have felt the same if the story was different, but told just as well.

I posted a few comments and was quickly and not-so-subtly accused of homophobia.

It does at least it make it seem as though you have more difficulty connecting to a gay, female character than one like yourself, where other people might not suffer that same lack of imagination. That might not be homophobia, but it's very obvious that there's something about it that I could connect to that you couldn't.

Gone Home is an interesting exercise in interactive storytelling. The story it tells is fairly down-to-earth, even mundane in the end, but the way it tells it was very effective to me.

Wow. I really loved Gone Home. I agree with everything Frogacuda says. It didn't try to be more than it was - it's a story about regular people and regular lives, not dramatic characters and big arching storylines and puzzles that exist for the sake of puzzles. Maybe it's because I grew up in the 90's but the setting and characters really resonated with me. I saw myself in the younger sister - so much of what she wrote made me laugh or well up with emotion and I worried for her. I was terrified of what I would find and when I pieced it together, my relief was palpable. Then I felt a bit silly for being so worried and tearing the house apart so I tidied it all up again for when everyone got back. I found it a great experience.

LizEdwards wrote:Wow. I really loved Gone Home. I agree with everything Frogacuda says. It didn't try to be more than it was - it's a story about regular people and regular lives, not dramatic characters and big arching storylines and puzzles that exist for the sake of puzzles.

Right. I think it's a real example of ludonarrative harmony -- gameplay that exists to service the story.

And the story is not merely Sam's. The father is very interesting too; a creatively frustrated has-been writer, missing his father's approval, abused by his uncle. Overqualified for his job, but struggling to find the confidence to return to his real love. And the mother, taken further and further away from home, with a wandering heart that ultimately just ends in heartbreak. It really does a great job of tying together this whole family's story.

All of these stories resonate precisely BECAUSE they are the kind of thing that happens every day. Some people would probably prefer the 9000th game with some awful ghost story phony ass bullshit. This game uses those expectations against you and instead hits you with some real life drama, and it's great.

Stuff like Scratches and 7th Guest are fun on a game level, but they're emotionless and the stories are bad. I think game critics liked Gone Home, because they're the ones who are most burnt out on the typical bad game stories about phony, unrelatable things.

Maybe it's because I grew up in the 90's but the setting and characters really resonated with me. I saw myself in the younger sister - so much of what she wrote made me laugh or well up with emotion and I worried for her. I was terrified of what I would find and when I pieced it together, my relief was palpable.

Yeah, that was really it. I was so afraid for her, that the ending was this huge emotional release.

Had this been told in a more linear, book or movie-like fashion, the story wouldn't have had that effect. In a world where interactivity is often seen as a hindrance to story, and where games have to balance narrative and gameplay, I thought this was a great study in how those two elements can actually work together.