I've had a recent rekindling in my one true love of games, point 'n' click. For me there's nothing that comes even remotely close if I'm looking for something to dip into for a couple of hours to relax.
The genre has evolved somewhat since I started playing them though, and sometimes it's hard to tell if it's for the better. The actual act of pointing and clicking seems to have fallen out of vogue, a change I suppose that is due to both a keen interest in 3D in the industry, and the popularity of consoles and using them as an adventure game platform. But the fact still remains that there are very few types of game which will draw you in and entrance like PnC (with the exception of RPGs I suppose).
It's nice that developers are still making the games, and the recent efforts have been very good and still capturing the right sense of atmosphere (Syberia, Broken Sword 3), but I still have a real Rose-Tinted view of it all. I was weaned on The Secret Of Monkey Island, and to this day it's still quite possibly my favourite game. Having played it through far too many times already, I still like to load it up and play it through at a sitting, especially if it's foul weather outside - it's comforting, my blanky if you please.
The artwork is what tends to set these apart for me, beautiful rendered backdrops, hand-drawn characters. These coupled with the usually absorbing, but very subtle, music just drag you in and don't let go. The other big thing for me is the way most of them won't let you die permanently, it's a real plus for me. I think maybe that's why Beneath a Steel Sky took me so long to sit down and play through.
Lucasarts were the Daddy and no mistake, it's just such a shame that market forces and a hundred other boring bureaucratic decisions means the likes of Ron Gilbert don't get to ply their trade any more. Still, with the likes of Microids still churning out the goods I should be kept happy for the foreseeable future
For me it gets no better than these...
1. The Secret Of Monkey Island (get the CD double pack with MI2 if you can, MI with CD Audio is a real treat).
2. LeChuck's Revenge: Monkey Island 2 (Harder than the original and very good).
3. Day Of The Tentacle (Quirky, cartoony and clever puzzles, if a little easy - plus full speech throughout! - and the full version of Maniac Mansion for free (DoTT's precursor)).
4. Grim Fandango (The first to use the new GRIME engine and 3D, but brilliant atmosphere and a nice art-deco/film noir style)
5. Broken Sword (Amazing audio throughout and a great story well-told).
Looking back at those they may not be my favourites in that order, but it's so hard to pick between them. Also look at The Dig (Probably not up there with the best Lucasarts stuff, but the grittier more realistic style and fantastic art make up for it), Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis (multiple play styles, brilliant puzzles and proper Indy feel), The remaining Monkey Island games, The Longest Journey, The Syberia games and the first couple of Discworld games.
This of course is without even touching Sierra's stuff, Zak McKracken etc. Oh dear, I could ramble here for days.....
The genre has evolved somewhat since I started playing them though, and sometimes it's hard to tell if it's for the better. The actual act of pointing and clicking seems to have fallen out of vogue, a change I suppose that is due to both a keen interest in 3D in the industry, and the popularity of consoles and using them as an adventure game platform. But the fact still remains that there are very few types of game which will draw you in and entrance like PnC (with the exception of RPGs I suppose).
It's nice that developers are still making the games, and the recent efforts have been very good and still capturing the right sense of atmosphere (Syberia, Broken Sword 3), but I still have a real Rose-Tinted view of it all. I was weaned on The Secret Of Monkey Island, and to this day it's still quite possibly my favourite game. Having played it through far too many times already, I still like to load it up and play it through at a sitting, especially if it's foul weather outside - it's comforting, my blanky if you please.
The artwork is what tends to set these apart for me, beautiful rendered backdrops, hand-drawn characters. These coupled with the usually absorbing, but very subtle, music just drag you in and don't let go. The other big thing for me is the way most of them won't let you die permanently, it's a real plus for me. I think maybe that's why Beneath a Steel Sky took me so long to sit down and play through.
Lucasarts were the Daddy and no mistake, it's just such a shame that market forces and a hundred other boring bureaucratic decisions means the likes of Ron Gilbert don't get to ply their trade any more. Still, with the likes of Microids still churning out the goods I should be kept happy for the foreseeable future
For me it gets no better than these...
1. The Secret Of Monkey Island (get the CD double pack with MI2 if you can, MI with CD Audio is a real treat).
2. LeChuck's Revenge: Monkey Island 2 (Harder than the original and very good).
3. Day Of The Tentacle (Quirky, cartoony and clever puzzles, if a little easy - plus full speech throughout! - and the full version of Maniac Mansion for free (DoTT's precursor)).
4. Grim Fandango (The first to use the new GRIME engine and 3D, but brilliant atmosphere and a nice art-deco/film noir style)
5. Broken Sword (Amazing audio throughout and a great story well-told).
Looking back at those they may not be my favourites in that order, but it's so hard to pick between them. Also look at The Dig (Probably not up there with the best Lucasarts stuff, but the grittier more realistic style and fantastic art make up for it), Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis (multiple play styles, brilliant puzzles and proper Indy feel), The remaining Monkey Island games, The Longest Journey, The Syberia games and the first couple of Discworld games.
This of course is without even touching Sierra's stuff, Zak McKracken etc. Oh dear, I could ramble here for days.....
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