Behold, for sanity has entered Adventure Gamers Forums!

[Wormsie]

...but I never thought it'd be by two PC Gamer staff members. (Read from post 155 onwards.)

I think that the magazine has changed over time. Back in the day, they gave editors choice awards to both The Longest Journey and Grim Fandango. I think their staff has changed around, or the guy who reviewed MOS for them needs to be sacked or put on serious editorial probation. Maybe somebody should write a letter to the editor or something.

It could have more to do with the fact that Grim Fandango and The Longest Journey were great games, and that Moment of Silence is a pile of shit [edit: no, that's not fair. It's better than that. It's just not a great game]. It's either that, or some elaborate editorial conspiracy... Hmmm, which could it be?

Moment of Silence was so poorly constructed they didn't even bother to have exit indicators. It was as if someone had distilled all cliche into one pure block of tedium. Aliens?! In the future?! A conspiracy?! Missing people?! Corrupt police?! How did they think of it all! The writing was horrible. "Look at my Future-Telescreen! I'd better hop on my space-jet and go to the Mega-Newspaper stand. Gosh, everything's very futuristic today." The voice acting was hopeless, the story dreadful, the whole thing dated and bugged to crap.

Gab Knight 3 was also hideous. "Use the syrup on the hole and squirt the cat with the plant spray stolen from the priest to get the fur to make the moustache to make a disguise to match a passport to hire a motorbike." But not in a fun, LucasArts way, oh no. In a deathly serious, when do the bloody vampires start appearing, way.

As someone pointed out, Syberia gets good mentions in both the US and UK mag. Dreamfall has been getting lots of attention. Why? Because they're good games. Not bad ones. (Unlike the worthless Syberia 2).

Sparsity does not make the games better. That adventure games are few and far between is not a reason to deny reality and pretend to like the drivel that pours out. A Moment of Silence is an embarrassing heap when put alongside any of the genre classics. And the genre averages.

I cannot speak for Gamer US, but as the regular adventure reviewer for Gamer UK I can speak with some conviction that claims made in this thread are untrue. I adore adventure games. They are the reason I'm a gamer. But I am not prepared, and never will be, to pretend that the awful rubbish that dominates the genre today is any good, just because it's thin on the ground.

There is no conspiracy, or jaded attitude. Just critical faculties.

John Walker

PC Gamer UK

Well, he still thinks that Syberia was good, but this is an improvement. I feel strangely refreshened and righteous.

[JoeX111]

Damn, that turned into one great thread.

Sucks about some idiot spamming John, though.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

And also he's wrong about Syberia. It had no redeeming qualities. You CANNOT DISAGREE BECAUSE I HAVE A PHD IN OPINION.

Really? I thought you had a BS.

j/k

Anyway, yeah. I loved that John Walker just came in and talked shit like it really is. Here's what I posted there:

brotherer and Richard, thanks for lending your ears and participation to this. I applaud your maverick forge though all this bullshit myth of how adventure games should be treated with a kind of respect and delicacy*. Outside the 'charmed' circle of the genre, adventure games are no more special than games of other genres, and as such it's only fair that they should be subjected to the same strict, rigid, criteria as other games, no matter what genre. I would agree with many of your point, brotherer, on your angle on TMoS, but I haven't yet played the entire game myself. I did, however, play the demo, and the voice acting (and writing) was laughable. But it's also great to see Martin and wael here taking notes and taking things constructively in respect to their next game projects.

*Believe me, when you've moved around in the society of hardcore adventure gamers for years it can be standard protocol.

[Lechimp]

Yeah, those posts are incredible. They're basically saying why I've thought that the adventure genre isn't growing at all. But I'd still like to see the guy from PC Gamer USA justify his review, because there's no way you could.

[netmonkey]

The genre hasn't grown since Grim Fandango, and it actually seems to be getting worse. I mean, all the games are just derivative darkish style set around some kind of murder and perhaps in the future.

Booooriiiinnnnnggggg!

[Redwall]

I think the Adventure Company pumps out a lot more Myst clones that Orwellian conspiracy games. But I suppose it doesn't really matter what rut the genre's stuck in.

p.s. I can't wait for Dreamfall. Man, if only it could get marketed like Psychonauts has. And even then it probably wouldn't sell well.

[MrHoatzin]

Every time I see Dreamfall written somewhere, I read it Dahmmerfall...

I kinda like the ring of the latter more than the former.