A video game enthusiast can only love the Mr. and Mrs. Williams. What they achieved in the 80s, the heights they reached with some of their titles and their way of conceiving video games are inevitable reference points that deserve to be remembered forever. So their return to the gaming scene after many years of hiding, caused by the sale of the company they founded, Sierra Online, and its profound and destructive reorganization, can only be cause for celebration. After all, how could you not dream of Roberta while she hand-drawn the Mystery House images, creating the first graphic adventure in history? How can I not thank them for the King's Quest and Phantasmagoria series? How can we forget Ken Williams' policy of putting productions completely in the hands of the authors? It is not just about looking at the past, but rather about being able to distinguish the moments in the past on which the present is based. Precisely because of this deep respect that both deserve, it is really difficult to write Colossal Cave Review.
Why the Colossal Cave?
Before continuing, it is important to clarify the project and its origins. Colossal Cave is nothing more than a modern version of Colossal Cave Adventure, the first textual adventure in history written by Will Crowther in 1976, which was named after Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, of which it reproduced part of the topography. In particular the map I copied the entry, called Bedquilt, and the Colossal areas. The objective of the game, which is the same as the 3D remake, was to penetrate the cave, find as many treasures as possible and then leave, accumulating points tied to the player's actions. The protagonist was an adventurer in search of fortune without particular characterizing elements (in fact it was the player himself who played him).
Colossal Cave Adventure was a very important title for the world of video games, not only because it launched a genre, but also because it was the first to discover the narrative potential of the medium, making the interaction the protagonist, despite the fact that the game is developed with a completely textual interface and only the places visited are described.
Expanded at the university level, it became well known in the then small circle of those who had access to computers. Roberta Williams was an avid player of Colossal Cave Adventure, in the version of don woods (which added the score and various fantasy elements inspired by Tolkien's works such as The Hobbit trilogy and The Lord of the Rings). She was on the point of allowing herself to be kidnapped for days and days, until she finished it, then became inspired, thus developing the idea of writing an adventure as well, getting help from her husband Ken for technological reasons. In fact, Crowther and Woods' game marked the beginning of Sierra Online.
All of this preamble serves to make clear that the relationship between Williams and Colossal Cave Adventure is deep and deep-rooted, to the point that when Colossal Cave was announced, those who know them considered it to be more of a way to reconnect with that part of their history than had abandoned, than to earn money. Here come the problems, because if as a sacred act the game is understandable, unfortunately it has too many things that simply do not work.
Out of time
As we mentioned, Colossal Cave is the attempt to translate into 3D the historical textual adventure, but in doing so we forget, probably even consciously, that more than forty-five years have passed since then. We mean: a gamer of the time might also find it nice if the "look" command became an eye-shaped cursor that, when clicked, provided a generic description of where he was, with references to objects that are looked at directly (if useful), but a new player will wonder the reason for such a feature, given that the object is clearly visible in front of him and is well recognizable.
L'interface As a whole it is a kind of big quote from the text analyzer of Crowther's game, but as we said it will leave those who have not gone through that experience completely indifferent and, in fact, it will create some annoyance for them, because it mixes up the collection. in a somewhat obtuse way and the use of objects linked to verbs, with WASD commands that are not exactly optimized (if you wish, you can also play only with the mouse). For example, we can already imagine many wondering why they have to turn the torch on and off in the inventory, why item slots are so limited, and what's the point of a score in what is essentially apoint and click adventure.
At the same time, some steps to get all the treasures will seem abstruse, whereas in the text adventure they worked perfectly. Oh yes, because the Williams have chosen to maintain the same structure, forcing the player to go back and forth to pick up and leave some objects, due to the limited inventory. Now, in the original it was a matter of writing “n, s, w, e”, that is, it took little time to return to places already visited, especially when the map was well known. Things get more complicated here, in an era where the player doesn't immediately understand that they have to leave the silver nugget placed at the beginning, and then come back to retrieve it at a later stage. It is true that you are not obliged to find all the treasures, even if that is the objective, but certain delays are now unbearable, especially in the face of a fairly large game environment, made up of fifteen areas.
The game's main problem, however, is that, paradoxically, a lot was lost in the translation of the text into 3D. Colossal Cave Adventure does not work well when displayed. It was a game made up of about 700 lines of code, whose i testi They were often very short so as not to take up too much space. There is a world of difference between reading, "You are standing at the end of a road in front of a small brick building. Around you is a forest. A small stream flows out of the building and down a ravine," and seeing the building. the stream and its surroundings in a 3D world. What, when described, questioned the player about his first move to make, projecting it into the adventure with a few words, now that it can be visualized seems as miserable as it is unnatural, because it was built with little attention to verisimilitude, thank you too. to a very flat graphic style and a general quality of 3D objects that really leave a lot to be desired. It seems that we are looking at a game from a few years ago made by fans... which if we want is the truth, since the Williams are fans and do not seem to have given much thought to the transition of the text. to 3D, limiting itself to celebrating the game that was.
This is not to say that Colossal Cave also has its moments. A veteran player like the writer has felt quite a bit of pleasure in facing some Dating or to the classic solutions adopted for certain puzzles. But precisely because, coming from that era, he didn't need help understanding many options. In a sense it is something already chewed and digested. At the same time, however, it was impossible to deny that we are faced with something that only has a reason to exist as a manifestation of a part of the psychic universe of some people. A little too little to aspire to the greatness of the original.
Conclusions
Tested version PC with Windows digital delivery Steam, epic games store, playstation store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop Holygamerz.com 4.0 Readers (7) 6.6 your voteColossal Cave reminded us of those parents who, having found an old toy of theirs in the attic, repair it, clean it and then give it to their children, who, however, do not want to play with it. It is an act of love that, given the outcome, would have been better left private. Of course, we are happy with the return of the Williams, but we still cannot recommend the game from it... perhaps only to the most nostalgic. It is like a figure, in the Jungian sense, that the Robertes wanted to make speak again on the screen, giving voice to an era that was already dead, ideally starting from scratch, which they had to traumatically leave behind. The operation is clear, but it is difficult to share it in this way.
PRO
- The return of the Williams is always a celebration
- Some puzzles are not bad
AGAINST
- Interface
- Technically horrible
