Have Fun With Adventure Games

Once upon a time it was easy. Just 15 years ago most games slotted into their categories with librarian-

pleasing snugness. Take the adventure game

In 1985 they were text games with a focus on storytelling and puzzle solving. Five years later it was the

same but with animated graphics and mouse clicks replacing the typing. But defining the genre now is

like hugging fog. The once firm borders of adventures have crumbled and their ideas have diffused out

into the wider gaming ocean. Today the definition of an adventure game depends on what school of

thought you embrace.

Dan Connors, head of adventure specialists Telltale Games, sees the genre as a broad church. His

definition is inclusive not exclusive. It includes Heavy Rain and Uncharted as well as his company's more

traditional efforts such as the Back to the Future adventures.

In the late '80s and early '90s it was very clear cut," he says. "Now

you could attribute the dialogue trees in Mass Effect to adventure

games. A lot of the scripted storytelling in Valve's games comes from

adventure games. I think adventure games went out and permeated

every single genre because they've always remained the best way to

interact with characters in a world and to interact with an

environment.

Others view adventures in more exclusive terms. "Stories in games need to mould themselves around

what gameplay a game is trying to deliver," says Charles Cecil, founder of Broken Sword developer

Revolution Software. "Uncharted is absolutely not an adventure game as I would define it, same with

Heavy Rain. Both require considerable expertise with a joypad and an adventure is a cerebral experience

rather than one requiring manual dexterity.

A lack of violence or death is also a common trait of

adventures, he adds. But even then Cecil's definition has

grey areas thanks to the likes of L.A. Noire, which lets

players skip the action and focus on its adventure-inspired

detective work.While the exact definition may be

debatable, the origin of the adventure game isn't. The first

adventure is the aptly named Adventure, a 1976 text game

created by Will Crowther on his workplace's PDP-10

mainframe computer.