Current Articles

Inhabited Island: The Earthling

Inhabited Island: The Earthling

Inhabited Island: The Earthling is a PC adventure game based on the popular science fiction novel Prisoners of Power, first published in 1969 by the renowned Soviet authors, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. There had been 2 other PC games released previously related to the same novel—Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power and Inhabited Island: Prisoner of Power. Neither of these earlier adaptations…

preview  Posted by Mervyn Graham.
Gamer's (illusion of) freedom

Gamer’s (illusion of) freedom

The qualities of a computer game that capture a gamer’s attention cannot just be as a simple list of ingredients worthy of inclusion. It is not necessarily that the more you add to a dish, the richer the dish will taste. Adding more of something often means taking away from something else. Many gamers desire for an unattainable mix of conflicting qualities when they imagine a perfect gaming…

feature  Posted by Igor Hardy.
Benoît Sokal

Benoît Sokal

There are few serious fans of the modern adventure genre who will not recognize the name Benoît Sokal. To most fans, he is best known as the celebrated designer and developer of the award winning and highly creative adventure game Syberia. He is also the creator of Amerzone, Paradise, and most recently, Sinking Island. Sokal, a noted comic book artist (Inspecteur Canardo) in his own right,…

interview  Posted by Matt Barton, Philip Jong.
Culpa Innata

Culpa Innata

Cold. If I am to describe Culpa Innata with only a single word, that will be it—cold. Yes, I know, my critics who love this game so much will likely answer back with an immediate retort—hey, it ‘must’ be like that; it ‘must’ be cold. After all, this is a cyberpunk game set in a dystopian future, where everything is cold—most of all, the atmosphere. Okay, but I still do not like this game. I…

review  Posted by Francesco Cordella.
Art of Murder: FBI Confidential

Art of Murder: FBI Confidential

It is always interesting to see seasoned game developers venturing into territories they have not tried before. Such is the case with the designers of Art of Murder: FBI Confidential—a group of Polish game developers from the now defunct studio Detalion, whose past credits include the visually surreal sci-fi and fantasy adventure games Reah: Face the Unknown and Schizm: Mysterious Journey. In…

review  Posted by Igor Hardy.

Past Favorites

Roberta Williams

Roberta Williams

No adventure game designer had ever achieved the level of success as Roberta Heuer Williams (Roberta Williams) had. Born in 1953, she and her husband Ken Williams co-founded On-Line Systems, which later became Sierra On-Line, when she was only 26. Mystery House, which she wrote in 1979, was the first graphic adventure game ever created for the PC. Her portfolio of games, spanning over nearly 20…

interview  Posted by Philip Jong.

A guide to create the ideal adventure game

What is an ideal adventure game? The answer to this question has eluded adventure game designers, developers, and players. Many so-called adventure games of today have blurred the line that, in the past, has so clearly defined the adventure genre of yesteryear. Recently, I have taken an interest in the issue, mostly to see if it is possible to reestablish this missing line. The goal of this…

feature  Posted by David Tanguay.

Random Picks

Santa Fe Mysteries: The Elk Moon Murder

Santa Fe Mysteries: The Elk Moon Murder retro

Far too many gigabytes have been utilized in various media criticizing the use of Full Motion Video in computer games to be repeated again here. Suffice it to say that except for the odd titles have used it competently to enhance the ambiance and propel the storyline, Full Motion Video has never really found favor with hardcore gamers. Primary amongst the reasons is the forced linearity in…

review  Posted by Raja Ghosh.