Moriarty:
The only part of the game that's comic-book-y is the Intro itself, which is essentially a video of the comic book's panels with voice over. You can download a
PDF copy of the actual comic.
(The alternate floppy intro is... interesting. It gives the very start of the game a different feeling, but I'm not sure it works that well for me.)
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Originally Posted by MoriartyL
I'm surprised to hear that the scene where Reich is killed is held in such high regard- I couldn't help but feel indifferent about it. A short freeze of the moment in which Reich is shot could have gone a long way. Or maybe a machine's-eye view on the side, or maybe a slow-motion series of frames. There are many good ways of approaching this, you see.
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I dunno... while I enjoy most games' full-bore fancy cutscenes, I find the fact that, IIRC, all of BaSS's cutscenes happen scripted in-game to be kind of neat. But you obviously have to deal with the limits of the playing engine that way.
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Originally Posted by MoriartyL
As for the content, it didn't surprise me to see him shot because frankly, I was more surprised that the PC (What's his name, anyway? I didn't catch that.) wasn't. Learning that you're being watched even though no action is being carried out tips you off that something like that will happen.
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That's exactly what made it work, at least for me. As Duckman said, Reich is the guy you expect to have to chase (or be chased by) through the game... and then you enter the furnace room and see the camera and you're so sure that Reich's watching you. And sure enough, when you open the door there he is. And you're so certain that you screwed up and it's time to die... except that *Reich* gets shot instead?
It's obvious that whoever's behind the camera isn't on Reich's side after all. Does that mean they're on *your* side? Why did they save your life?
(The PC's name is Robert Foster, BTW.)
The art style:
Don't worry, it gets more interesting later. We're just stuck in the middle of a pipe factory right now.
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Originally Posted by MoriartyL
Honestly, what kind of story gives the character a mysterious background before it even bothers to develop him as a character? (Answer: A bad one.)
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Both Sanitarium (an adventure) and Planescape: Torment (an RPG) did this, and they're two of the best game stories I've played.
I'm not entirely sure why it's a bad thing... a game character's personality is generally developed while actually playing the game (by listening to the way he talks to people and comments on things).
So, if the point of a story like this one is that the character doesn't remember his past and now he's stuck in a situation where that past seems to be coming back to haunt him, well... you kind of have to give the character a mysterious background before you can show his character.
Joey:
I don't personally see Joey as an R2D2 clone... (after all, I don't remember R2D2 as being that snarky, for one...)
The pacing:
Hmm. Well, don't forget that BaSS doesn't really have built-in chapters/sections... I just picked the first likeliest-looking stopping point for our discussion. Perhaps I didn't choose very well. (sheepish look)
Peace & Luv, Liz
