Since then i can happily say we've come a long way.Some notable mentions along the way would include Galactix(a space-based shooter - this one had exactly 100 levels as i recall - but it wasn't much of a challenge though), Raptor,Dangerous Dave(i wonder why he was named "Dangerous"..this puny guy was anything but), Prince of Persia and the Commandos series(probably the most free-thinking strategic games of its time).
My computer's configuration at that time was the then "lightning fast" 32MB RAM,2GB HDD and a clock speed of 667MHz.In today's world that would mean literally zilch. Nothing runs that slow anymore.
Fast forward to the year 2009.Things have certainly changed for the better. Or have they? Crysis was released last year to thunderous applause from the gaming community - "Unparalleled visuals",""Packed with intelligence" or to cut things short "The Greatest game ever made". I've played and finished Crysis and while it did have an exhilarating feel of invincibility in the graphics department - it did miss a certain something that i'm not sure how to express. It did come at a price though. I had to upgrade my computer radically just to play this game.
So now i had 512MB RAM,160GB HDD and a clock speed of 1.8GHZ x 2 and a 256MB graphic card.I still had to set all the game's settings to Lowest to be able to get a decent shot at playing the game without any glitches. I sometimes wondered if it was worth the effort.I got lost in the world of "high-end" graphics which required the constant need to upgrade something or the other.Early this year i went ahead and did another upgrade - for the new bunch of games - Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed,BioShock and DiRT.
So now i have 4GB RAM , 160GB HDD , a clock speed of 3.0GHZ x 2 and a 512 MB DDR3 graphic card and a 22 inch monitor to boot.
I have to admit- i did have the time of my life playing some of those games simply because of the brilliant design and real-world visuals. And then came the biggie of 2009. Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2. Rave reviews. Record-breaking sales.Basically, it was supposed to be the best. All the while underlining the new law of the virtual world. "The more real it looks - the more its going to sell".
Certainly not my cup of tea - these graphics. I wondered about the old times , the classic arcades - just the sheer joy we derived from the comely world created by the freelancing developers of the 90s.(Basically they HAD to distribute the games for free coz the gaming market was literally non-existent then.) This led to me rummaging through google to get the best "arcade" games of this generation. This was bound to have a proper mix of both worlds, i felt. And i have to tell you - i struck gold. Twice at that!
Machinarium and Braid.
Two of a kind really. For starters - they're both indie games. Which just makes the whole thing so nerve-rackingly cool! They don
t need any fancy graphic cards to run either. Phew!
Lets begin with Machinarium.
It was around the moment when i was atop a tower, swinging from a roll of toilet paper, working at disarming a bomb that's go
ing to explode in four minutes, when i realized that Machinarium was something special.Unlike most typical adventures, Machinarium does not feature a verbose main character, nor does it force you to engage in tedious conversations with other characters to gain information. In fact, there’s no talking in the game whatsoever. The game takes place in a city of robots who primarily communicate with each other in the form of telepathic thought balloons. It is also through these thought balloons, also used as a device to depict flashbacks and memories, that much of the game’s story is revealed. The introduction involves your character, a small, gray, puppy-eyed robot, being placed in a trash heap and dumped outside the city walls. Your first goal is to regain entrance to the city. While doing so, you come across some old rivals who are planning on bombing the city’s tallest building. The rest of the game focuses on your efforts to foil this terrorist plot.Cool huh!
The first thing you’ll notice about Machinarium is its stunning artistic vision. The hand-drawn art is beautifully done and paired well with the game’s color palette, which oscillates between harsh, cold grays and blues and warmer tones of orange and brown. More than anything else, the game should be credited for effectively creating an interesting, living, immersive world with the complete absence of spoken language. While robots will occasionally grunt or groan to each other, much of their communication is conducted through roughly drawn thought balloons, wherein small cartoon stories play out. While there may be no speech, the music in Machinarium is abundant and fantastic. A fusion of modern techno and moody violin and piano, the score appropriately frames the emotions of each scene in the game.
I always have this thing that the heart of an adventure game is in its puzzles and boy, does Machinarium have a lot of heart!! Some puzzles are really damn tough - and require some serious thinking - but it somehow manages to suck you into wanting to finish that puzzle before you get put off by its difficulty. Thats Machinarium for me. The real deal. Certainly my game of the year -hands down!
The other of course is Braid.
The basic rule in Braid would be "Forget everything you know about time". Apart from the ability to manipulate time , the real reason why Braid works is because its diabolically clever and incredibly rewarding. On first sight - its just a pleasing and pretty looking platform adventure game. But just wait until you die... ah...you really cant die here in the world of Braid. I loved this concept. Hence the ability to manipulate time. You get to rewind time and try something different the next time. Trying to articulate in words what Braid is about is more complicated than it seems!! It's probably not because the game is complex or difficult. Puzzles games are naturally focused on mechanics and smoothly guiding the player into understanding how these mechanics layer together.
I played through the five worlds of Braid - five very different worlds i should stress - considering how bullish i felt once i pummeled through World 1 only to find that World 2 was completely and utterly different...Just the basic physics of how the enemies move on the screen has been scripted differently for each world with a challenge saying "Ok maan - this is how the world works this time! Lets see you tackle it!".
Infact i've sat through and finished the game at long last - starting about a fortnight ago - and i'm feeling like i've cracked the Da Vinci Code or something! Seriously satisfying.
To me - this is the greatest game ever developed.
End.
