It added a striking visual imagery to the narration, and it probably wouldn’t work without all work that went into immersing me into this reality. I don’t know about you but I found “the armada” to be heart breaking, beautiful and poetic.
You drink the world in, the mood seeps into your bones and then it delivers the really powerful imagery in the final act. Whether you want it or not, you become intrigued by the strange markings on the walls, and the frequent mentions of the caves and the mysteries that lie within. The slow trek though the picturesque environments, listening to an unreliable narrator ramble about random things is a way to make you part of the game world.
The linear, scripted progression was exactly the right way to tell this story. But I think that was a conscious choice – The Path style exploration would not be appropriate here. Unlike The Path which required the player to invest time and effort into exploration, Dear Esther strings you along and leads you by the hand most of the time. Dear Esther is much simpler and much more streamlined but also more casual. But The Path actually had game-like elements – items that needed to be collected and secrets that needed to be found. On the surface it kinda reminds me of The Path which I reviewed back in 2009. The entire thing is about an hour long interactive story. As the narrator rambles on and indulges in digressions you find out more and more about the island, it’s mysteries and the protagonist himself. This part love letter, part confession and part diary of a troubled man is not easily digestible, but it stays with you. The writing is good – eloquent, poetic and dense with meaning. Something to be experienced.Ĭombine these masterfully crafted visuals with excellent, but subtle sound-scape and sparsely used music and narration and you end up with something rather extraordinary. And I’m not even showing you the caves, which are just… Something else. Note how the vibrant colors make this environment light up, and how at the same time they line up to create a visually interesting path for the player. This game contains some of the best night environments I have ever seen. Here is another example of a location that is not only picturesque and beautiful but also well executed. Here is a snapshot from an early part of the game, where you ascend a hill and see a small building in the distance against an amazingly well designed sky box:Īnother example of a really good use of color and cintrast What they did using the Source engine is both impressive and breath taking at the same time. The developers of this title (which started as Half Life 2 mod, but then turned into a full-fledged game) have a very keen eye for color, composition and contrast. If nothing else, the game is absolutely gorgeous. I bought it during the summer Steam sale for about a buck, and I thought it was a dollar well spent. And if it is not art, then I’m not exactly sure what would it be. It is a non-game – an interactive virtual experience. While it tells a compelling story, it has no real plot. While it is interactive, it has no game play.
While it costs money, it is not a mainstream commercial product. These games are to be consumed as entertainment, and if they do contain some deeper meaning, or give you reasons for contemplation it is usually just a nice bonus.ĭear Esther is a little bit different. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but there is usually not much artistry involved. They are made to excite, titillate and provide the player with a quick adrenaline rush. They trade in the same distractions as Hollywood blockbusters: guns, sex and explosions. They are commercial products first and foremost. Or rather they are as much art as Michael Bay’s Transformers. That said, if you rephrase the question and ask whether or not the modern triple A mainstream releases are art, then no they are not. Dismissing one for expression as invalid and unsuited to properly conveying creative ideas is silly. Artists can choose to express themselves in just about any medium and this includes the interactive and the digital. Anyone who would say no to this is wrong. Can video games art? This is a really dumb question.
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