2007 Quest / Adventure / Platform Game of the Year
While
there are those who stick to a single strict definition of adventure games, Game
Tunnel groups classic adventure games with Platform games as well as action
titles that
devote a lot of time to the story and adventure.
As in years past, this category serves up some great games that go beyond your
typical non-stop action and provide an experience unlike any other. These games
stand out as some of the top games of the year.
5th Place - Cave Days
| Developer: Insolita Studios |
Players: 1 |
| System Requirements: Windows 98+, DirectX 8.1+, 600 mhz, 128 mb RAM | |
Website |
Download |
Few games get humor right. Cave Days, for the most part, does. It also understands variety in a way that should make most plat-forming games envious. Running, swimming, swinging, jumping, racing, throwing, biting, falling and of course clubbing, they're all here. With multiple characters that are swapped in and out as you progress through a unifying storyline and more levers, switches, weapons, puzzles, and special objects than most games dream of, Cave Days gives players a unique adventure punctuated with entertaining caveman-voiced cut-scenes and some great pixel art work. It's well-worth your time.
4th Place - Sam & Max Episode 4: Abe Lincoln Must Die
| Developer: Telltale Games |
Players: 1 |
| System Requirements: Windows XP+, 1.5 Ghz Processor, 256 MB RAM | |
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Website |
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This case only seems to get stranger and stranger. After some strange moves by the President and an encounter with a boxing glove, a new ruler of the free world was needed. Max and a 19 foot tall statue of Abraham Lincoln are now competing to become the next President, making this pretty much a normal day at the office. The statue seems to do nothing more than read oversized queue cards which gives me a new use for all those posters I've been stealing.
Sam & Max are a very messed up duo who have become the first successful episodic game series, and they're indie ta boot. You could pick just about anywhere in the series and walk away with a great game, we choose Episode 4 because the the ragtime musical interlude about war is pure genius, and oh yeah, this episode is now 100% free. Like all the Sam & Max episodes it's a little irreverent, a little bit amazing, and a lot of fun.
3rd Place - DROD: The City Beneath
| Developer: Caravel Games |
Players: 1 |
| System Requirements: Windows 98+ or Mac OSx or Linux | |
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Website |
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Even the journey to rooted hold didn't
prepare me for actually arriving. Standing in lines hours long just to get
a name? A library full of puzzling trap doors and deadly bugs? Who
thinks of these things? I can't imagine anyone here thinks at all, though the
difficulty I've had getting through some of the traps seems to indicate
that somebody's had way too much time on their hands. My sword could solve that
problem real quick.
Following up on the excellent Deadly Rooms
of Death: The Journey to Rooted Hold, The City Beneath continues the
journeys of Beethro, of "there is no problem that can't be solved with a really
big sword" fame. The game builds a story around a series of puzzles, and
that is where the real amazing part of the game shines forth. You've
probably played through some games that you thought offered some pretty
difficult puzzles. DROD presents a challenge that makes everything else
look rather pedestrian. However, the real magic is that it is done in such
a way that you are convinced you'll get it next time. It's a game that can
turn anyone into an addicted puzzle-solver--completely out of touch with reality
and the passage of time. We're not sure if we should love it or hate it
for that, but there's no mistaking. It's a great game.
2nd Place - Knytt Stories
Walking through the cavern, I come to a series of water falls, each more
majestic and amazing than the last. The vegetation has taken on an alien
appearance, rising in long twisting strands that seem to be topped with
phosphorescent bulbs. Climbing up the walls and moving down a new corridor
I find myself in peaceful underwater surroundings amidst a strangely constructed
series of tunnels and paths. The way opens with new vegetation marking yet
another change in my location. My surroundings show some signs of life,
but a desolation begins to take hold. What are the machines doing to the
world?
Knytt Stories is as much art as it is a
game. It's beauty in simplicity.
Each area is carefully crafted so that it provides a
uniqueness that goes far beyond just looking and sounding different. Each
area plays differently, taking on its own life and giving one the feeling of
truly visiting someplace far from anywhere you have ever been.
Knytt Stories is something of a
pixel-perfect plat-forming nirvana, and though the accolades seem at odds with
the humble presentation, it's hard not to write a list of superlatives when
describing the game. The expandability of allowing others to add their own
stories only serves to add to one of this year's most intriguing and enjoyable
experiences.
2007 Quest / Adventure / Platform Game of the Year - Aquaria
As
I enter the cavern the fish swim by my side, then change directions and
swim away. The world around me beckons and repels me. Each of the many dark
caverns that lead away from here has its own story. Some of that
story is darker than the caverns, filled with war and destruction. Other
parts are more sublime, echoing the dreams of civilizations long lost. My
part in the story seems to be ever changing as I discover melody in the peaceful
sounds of the waves and harmony in their angry thrashing of the shore.
Aquaria is perhaps the most well-known indie game in recent memory and it should
be. The underwater world painted on the screen is captivating and
mesmerizing. The game world feels immense and will leave more than a few people
scratching their head as it teases with information, providing puzzles and
challenges that will test your abilities to reason and occasionally leave you
entirely unsure what to do next. As the breakthrough moments of
understanding hit, the game becomes magical. The feeling of success mixed
with the wonderful fantasy playing out in front of you creates an experience
that is as unique as every game wants to be. Aquaria is a masterful stroke
of vision in its appearance, sound and play. It's a game that no-one
should miss, and an easy winner of our 2007 Adventure Game of the Year award.
Adventure Game of the Year Award History
History:
2007 - Aquaria
2006 - Gumboy Crazy Adventures
2005 - Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space
2004 - Gish
2003 - Starscape
By: Russell Carroll
Posted: Wednesday December 19, 2007
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