Obligatory Gamercards

Showing posts with label Dear Esther. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dear Esther. Show all posts

Monday, February 27, 2012

A Quick Ramble...

Greetings Ramblees... er, people who read my blog (over a thousand views now by the way)!

Apparently Frictional Games (the geniuses behind the bestest horror title ever, Amnesia) have graciously let thechineseroom (the geniuses behind the bestest art/stroll-taking/tear-jerker of a title ever, Dear Esther) develop the follow-up to Amnesia; and are set to release it into our nightmares before Halloween this year!  If you've played both studios' latest titles you should understand why this is (or isn't, depending on your point of view) such an exciting project.  And if you haven't played both Amnesia and Dear Esther, then you really need to.  Really.  Need.  To.  Seriously.

I for one would like to see more developers do this kind of thing, and perhaps even do some crossovers.  For the heck of it, here are some ideas that will probably never happen.

Naughty Dog and Insomniac -    Clank and Daxter: Smaller is Better,  OR, 
                                                  Ratchet and Jak: Meaner Than They Look

Bethesda Softworks and Nintendo -   The Plumber Scrolls I: Super Mariowind

All FPS developers -   Battle-Cry of Half Resistance: Fear the Halo-Call of HonorZone

*I didn't say they'd be GOOD ideas

Monday, February 13, 2012

My Humble Attempt at Supporting Art.....Buy "Dear Esther"!

...or not.  I mean, you don't have to do anything you don't want to.  But, really, you should support this amazing project.  Please, do read on...

I just booted up my Steam client to find that Dear Esther, originally a Half-Life 2 mod, is now finally to be released this valentine's day - tomorrow.  I'll be honest, I didn't play all the way through the mod solely because I knew a superior treatment was being developed.  In my short time with the mod, however, I was extremely impressed with the lone man's voice-overs and thought the music complemented the eerie setting and morose, but touching dialogue.  Without question, I knew the "official" version would be worth the wait.  And here it is.

For all you gamers out there, Dear Esther is basically an interactive walk through a mysterious island.  By interactive, I basically mean you are able to walk around, and look around...and, well, I suppose that's about it.  The exciting thing about this project isn't the gameplay, though.  Come to Dear Esther looking for this: a dark, ambiguous narrative expertly told, and total immersion thanks to great graphics and a soundtrack that will have you weeping like mom during her "stories".  Come to Dear Esther looking for this, and you won't be disappointed.  Shadow of the Colossus, Flower and others have bore the "games as art" title proudly before - but Dear Esther is undoubtedly the closest I've seen to being more art than game, and this is just fine with me.

Just a note - all of my opinions are based on time with the mod and recent trailers and reviews I've read for Dear Esther.  I haven't played it yet, so this isn't really a review.  But, I think it's safe to say I know what's in store for me when I finally boot it up.  If not, hey, I'll post a complete review and let you all know that I, Ye Old Game Rambler, was wrong.

Here are some links so you can judge for yourself, and perhaps you'll find it in your heart to support brave developers like this by purchasing a copy.

Developer website: Dear Esther
Game Informer review: Dear Esther Review