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Saturday, 24 March 2012

Weekly Poll Discussion

Another week flies by and another poll has run its course. Last week’s question was “What’s your favourite classic Sierra adventure series?” and as expected there were a lot of votes and a fair bit of discussion. As I commented earlier, I purposely left the Gabriel Knight series off the list as that didn’t start until the nineties, but the Laura Bow series was unfortunately an oversight. Apology’s to anyone who would have liked to vote for that series although I think I can safely assume it wouldn’t have topped the list. Here are the results in ranked order:

Quest For Glory (Hero’s Quest)   31 (39%)
Leisure Suit Larry                       16 (20%)
Space Quest                             12 (15%)
King’s Quest                             11 (14%)
Manhunter                                 4 (5%)
Police Quest                              4 (5%)


The glory just keeps on coming it seems!

I have to say that I’m a little surprised by the result, as I thought Space Quest might have done better and that Leisure Suit Larry might not have scored so well (that little underdog never fails to score!). That being said, I’m stoked to see Quest For Glory topping the poll as that’s my personal favourite and a series I’m very much looking forward to playing through again. Given how much I enjoyed Police Quest, the fact that it came in equal last really shows how solid the Sierra adventure games are overall. Once I get through the majority of them, it will be interesting to average out the scores of each series and see how they compare, although King’s Quest is certainly disadvantaged by being the first to launch the technology.

Time for another question and I’ve given this one quite a bit of consideration. Looking through games lists, it’s obvious that certain movie franchises transition very well into various video game genres, and many developers have tried to tap into existing fanbases over the years with varied success. When it comes to adventure games, the most notable movie series to make the transition are Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Sherlock Holmes and Star Trek, but others such as Jurassic Park, Batman and James Bond have been attempted as well. This week’s question is "Which movie series would you like to see made into an adventure game?” Your choice might be due to which would transition the best, or perhaps just which one you’d love to see, it’s totally up to you.


I’ve chosen some of the bigger movie franchises out there, all of which have been made into video games, but none of which have been made into adventure games. I've also tried to have a good mix of settings too, such as sci-fi, fantasy, gangster etc. Before anyone says it, I know there were adventure games based on Lord of the Rings back in the day, but they were interactive fiction rather than graphic adventure games. I’ve also taken the liberty of not including The Matrix because let’s face it, that would be shit! Feel free to raise any you others in the comments that you think would be great.
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22 comments:

  1. The Trickster24 March 2012 at 15:32

    I just noticed the original Alone in the Dark trilogy on sale at GOG for $2.99. You gotta love those guys!

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    1. Andy_Panthro24 March 2012 at 23:12

      The first Alone in the Dark is an absolute classic. The other two... well, the second is generally okay, but I never really liked the third one. I actually have the big box trilogy on my shelf, but got them on GOG for convenience.

      Delete
  2. Larry P.24 March 2012 at 16:40

    In this week's poll i am missing the option "none of those" :-)

    I am sorry, but as the stories of all of those movies are so well known (and as there have been already a lot of video games i.e. in the Star Wars or Lord of the Rings universe) I don't think i would really enjoy an adventure game of one of those movie franchises...

    Just my 2 €-cent...

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  3. Alfred n the Fettuc24 March 2012 at 17:04

    I'll go for the Star Wars choice. It may seem kinda obvious but the reason for this is simple : A few months ago, I stumbled upon a screenshot for a fan-made game called "Han Solo Adventures". The blog for this game is now dead since july 2011, and fan-made games are really rarely worth it (with a few notable exceptions, like the Chzo Mythos or the Ben There Dan That series).

    But the screenshot has to make you drool and imagine if this game would have made it out of Lucasarts magic factory during the golden age :

    http://www.hansoloadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/HanSolo_07.jpg

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    1. Antonakis24 March 2012 at 20:49

      I think all three of the top row would make great adventures (/series). If I had to pick one it would probably be something in the LotR universe simply because I'm afraid that the other two might be targeted at younger gamers. So there's my vote though I would not mind playing a good adventure in any of the series mentioned above.
      And on an unrelated note, Alfred that was a trully drooling screenshot!!!

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    2. Andy_Panthro24 March 2012 at 23:17

      Awesome picture - shame there doesn't seem to be any recent progress (and the forums are filled with spam). Plenty of potential with Han Solo pre-episode 4.

      Also wanted to chip in and say to anyone reading - go play the Chzo/Trilby games, they're pretty good. 'Ben There, Dan That' is also a great game, and it's sequel 'Time Gentlemen Please' is worth a look.

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    3. Alfred n the Fettuc25 March 2012 at 03:45

      Yep. Chzo rules! I strongly agree with that!

      Delete
  4. Andy_Panthro24 March 2012 at 23:29

    I went for Planet of the Apes.

    I've seen all the films (the classic ones, the poor Tim Burton one and the most recent, which I thought was surprisingly good), and I think there's enough potential there for an adventure game series. There are loads of time-periods, settings, potential characters and events that you could set the games around. You could either follow the films in some way, or set them parallel or just have an unrelated plot.

    I did consider X-men, but only for one reason. There is the potential to swap out different characters to approach puzzles in a different way. Unfortunately, I don't think the characters lend themselves to that sort of game, especially if you included any of the more powerful mutants. You'd have to come up with reasons why they couldn't use their powers, or make the character a weak side-character. Might make a better RPG though.

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    1. Amy K.25 March 2012 at 08:52

      I've been wanting an X-Men RPG for so long, preferably a tactical one, but that's really pushing it. All anyone seems to want to do with that license is fighting games. :/

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  5. Ilmari Jauhiainen25 March 2012 at 07:44

    About LoTR adventure games - what about Interplay's two titles? I know they are usually classified as RPGs, but I've heard that the RPG elements are rather light.

    While all of the movies listed might make good adventure games, I was into something novel. There are loads of fantasy and scifi adventures, but I've yet to see a mafia adventure so Godfather it must be.

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  6. Arkadesh25 March 2012 at 09:59

    IMHO Pirates in the Caribbean are almost covered by Monkey Island. The theme, mood, setting - all is already in place. Change some names and voila!

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  7. Canageek26 March 2012 at 01:11

    Weekly sale news, last day:
    Dragonsphere: http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/dragonsphere
    Outcast: http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/outcast
    The Journyman Project: http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/journeyman_project_3


    Free:
    http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/treasure_adventure_game

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    1. The Trickster26 March 2012 at 10:00

      Dragonsphere is always free by the way.

      In fact, for anyone wanting to play some free adventure games, all of the following games are free on GOG.

      Beneath a Steel Sky
      Dragonsphere
      Lure of the Temptress
      Teenagent
      Treasure Adventure Game

      Has anyone played Treasure Adventure Game? There aren't too many side scrolling platform games that are considered adventure games (Below the Root is one of course). This one looks like it fits the bill.

      Delete
  8. Amy K.26 March 2012 at 10:54

    I've played the first three (as Let's Plays), and I can say they are definitely worth checking out. That Treasure game must be a new addition to GOG.

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  9. Canageek26 March 2012 at 12:30

    Sorry, I should have put that first: yes, it is always free, but it is also new to the site. You can get Beneath a Steel Sky and Lure of the Temptress from GoG, but there seem to be better versions of them on the SCUMMVM website, that have undergone more upgrades. Also on the SCUMMVM website are upgraded music for the two games.

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  10. Alfred n the Fettuc26 March 2012 at 20:22

    I think Lure of the Temptress is the first game that make me want to kill the sidekick every five minutes (and I was 8 at the time...)

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  11. The Trickster26 March 2012 at 21:58

    I have fond memories of it actually. They mustn't be very accurate memories however as I can't remember a sidekick.

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    1. Amy K.27 March 2012 at 01:00

      What? Who could forget Ratpouch? lol :)

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    2. Charles27 March 2012 at 02:52

      Haha. I actually played LotT a couple of months ago, and I completely share Alfred's opinion. Looking forward to your take Trickster...

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    3. Alfred n the Fettuc27 March 2012 at 06:14

      The best thing about Ratpoutch is that you could actually kill him right at the beginning of the game.

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    4. Andy_Panthro27 March 2012 at 07:08

      The only thing I recall about LotT is being stuck in the jail cell, which might be right at the start. Can't even remember if I got past that bit.

      Might have a look at it again, maybe I just didn't appreciate it when I was younger.

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    5. Amy K.27 March 2012 at 09:33

      Alfred, you can kill him? Is that when he's in that torture device? I never tried doing that to him! ;)

      Andy, yes... you start the game in a jail cell. It's a bit tricky to get out.

      Delete

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