Countdown Rebuttal

Tom King, staff writer

In my opinion, when it comes to reviews, it is not completely fair to expect or demand untainted objectivity within the final analysis. We are, after all, only human. However, it is fair and completely justifiable to expect that said analysis be based on the principles that we have all come to know and love; the current conventions that define the adventure genus. One of the problems with reviewing an older game though, is consideration of the technology available at the time of release. When comparing old with new then, what is the common tangent where all great games intersect?

Having raised that question, the Top-20 adventure games of all time that our senior editor has labored over and which is one of the forum’s hot topics, is a good example of trying to walk that fine line of comparisons within a genre of ever-changing quality. I’ll not plot a specific year, or span of time, but as to the adventure game, seems that either leaps in quality are made, or long periods of time go by with minimal change.

For someone such as I, who have only played three or four of the games reviewed out of the total 20, I cannot add my voice to the din of those stating ‘fair’ or ‘unfair’, nor can I seem to eek out a decent rebuttal. I can comment in generalities, for what it’s worth, and possibly help to diffuse (or infuse) some of the thoughts born of this series.

For purposes of this brief outline, I’ve placed in brackets what the majority seem to think, and in parentheses what I, and subsequently other outside influences–such as print magazines and/or other resources, are inclined; as a sort of article ‘key’. In many cases, the results are the same. Historicity notwithstanding, here are some common tangents that should be considered.

All ‘good’, and in this case ‘great’ adventure games should have a complex/well-told story–(agreed)[true]. All great adventure games should have passable (not detracting from other stellar qualities) graphics (agreed) [varying consensus]. The end of a great adventure game should leave you forgiving of game bugs, glitches, or other lapses (dependent upon intensity of problem)[generally, yes – unless the problem in question is glaring or asks too much of the player]. The game play of a great adventure begs for a return, or has some form of replay value (for the same reasons you would want to read a great book again)[varying consensus – but generally yes].

With but these few criteria, and your own gaming needs, create or compare your own top-20 games. Whether your list differs from Adventure Gamers list or not, the guiding principles should be similar.

Christina Gmiterko, staff writer

When Evan set out to create his Top 20 Adventure Games of all-time list, he knew that he was opening himself up to criticism and debate. And boy, did he ever receive it. Doing a Top 20 list of this nature is ostentatious in and of itself, but putting it out there for the masses to see must have been truly daunting. Evan has handled this arduous task with considerable aplomb and I applaud him for that. He set out to create a list that was as objective as he could possibly make it, which in my opinion he succeeded at. I, myself have trouble putting my subjectivity away when trying to view something objectively. To illustrate this, some of his favorite games of all-time were nowhere to be found in the Top 20 because of this. He truly did stay objective and did his best to keep his personal bias off of the list. Personally, I don’t know if I could do that. If being objective meant keeping one of my favorite games off of my list, I think I would just prefer to make my list purely subjective.

I have played 14 of the 20 games on Evan’s list and I admit to never having played his #1 choice, Day of the Tentacle, not because I am not interested but because of technical problems. I hope to one day finally be able to play it. For the most part, he did a pretty good job with the choices that he made. There were a few games that I thought should have been one or two spots higher or lower but very rarely did I feel the urge to yell out, “What was he thinking?!”

The only major changes that I would have liked to have seen were: a much higher placement of The Pandora Directive, a lower placement of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, the inclusion of the little known underplayed gem, The Dark Eye, and all three Gabriel Knight games should have been included somehow. I know, I know, it’s probably a bit much to put an entire series of games on a Top 20 list, but in my mind all three games are perfect and no game deserves a spot on the list more than they do.

Heidi Fournier, staff writer

Having played only 2 out of the 20 game’s on Evan list, I sort of felt at first like I was the weird friend who still wears parachute pants. I am not a member of the club who started playing adventure games in the glory days. In fact, I came in quite late to this party. Therefore, I hadn’t even heard of a couple of the games on Evan’s list; and I hadn’t played a majority of them for the following reasons: technology problems, difficuluties in finding the games, and a lack of interest in games with antiquated graphics. For those purists out there hissing at me for that last comment, I’ll tell you something else–I’m not the only one.

Now I will freely admit to being a Myst-loving neophite. Knowing this, most of the games on Evan’s list would not be games I would have sought out. In fact, I would argue any day of the week that Amber: Journey’s Beyond is the single best game I have ever played and it didn’t even make it onto the list! It seems that first person perspective games were persona non gratis on this countdown. I may be in the miniority here, but just because these games lack character interaction doesn’t mean they aren’t wonderful games with first-class stories and exciting challenges. A lack of character interaction should not relegate a whole group of games to non-contender status. A adventure like Morpheus is a great game with an interesting story to unravel, but with no character interaction. This fact didn’t mar my enjoyment of the game’s excellent graphics or make the puzzles I faced any easier to solve. So I say, come on–share the love.

Angella Mooney, staff writer

Not many game journalists would undertake something a daunting as ranking the top 20 adventures of all time. Even if the top 20 is a collective opinion, it is still an opinion and open for heated debate. I have to admire Evan for signing himself to such a behemoth task. For the most part I agree with the rankings of the games I have played that made it onto the list. I have 3 points of disagreement. The first point is that there really isn’t a good representation of first-person adventures on the list. I don’t really go googly eyed over Myst, but I feel the staunch supporters of first-person titles sort of got snubbed. My second gripe is kinda personal. Where is Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within? I love this game, and in a completely subjective context think my comrade Evan made a dire mistake in leaving it out. I will forgive him this. It will be hard, but I think I can find it within myself.

My third point of disagreement is more focused on a technical aspect of the Top 20 Adventure Games of All Time series. The “time factor” is a flawed criteria even though it is interesting and adds depth to the series. The reason I think this is flawed is the fact that how well a game title stands up over time is a fully subjective experience. For example, some players will enjoy playing an older title such as Full Throttle and not find its antiquated graphics an issue. Obviously, someone else might have a radically different opinion. The point of all this is to explain that the “time factor” is a bit alienating to everyone who perhaps remembers the game differently or hasn’t been playing adventure titles very long. Even with this sort of larger issue, I still think the Top 20 Adventure Games of All Time is pretty much as good as anyone could hope to get from a person who loves adventure games.