I want more direct control adventure games.
 

I realize I am in the minority, but I want more (well any) direct control adventure games. I think that point-n-click should be put away forever. At least make games with both options for a time. I'm a big fan of Tomb Raider like games, (Zelda, Soul Reaver, Morrowind, Deus Ex, etc.) I feel more immersion into the game world when I can control the character's movements. I feel more engaged in experience. I don't know whether to keep hope alive that adventure games would mature to where I think they should be or just stick to action games even if they don't have the kinds of stories adventure games are capable of.

You should wait for the remastered version of Sherlock Holmes.
The game will mix the best of both worlds, point'n click and first person view.
You switch from 1st to 3rd using the mouse button.

Try Simon the Sorcerer 3D!

Dreamfall
Broken Sword 3 and 4
Monkey Island 4
Grim Fandango

are all firect control games where using a joypad is preferable.

I think that direct control is fine, as long as you can use a mouse for it (ex. GK3, Uru, RealMyst, Sentinel). I used to get confused about direct control just meaning using a keyboard for movement, but have since been corrected.

The games you mention are not adventure games. Maybe you shoud stick to those kind of games if you dont like point and click.

It's all about money. Direct control games are a lot harder to make and thus more expensive.

BTW GK3 is one of the best adventure games ever made.

Even though adventures these days tend to play like they always have, it's reassuring that other genres are picking up more and more adventure traits. (With the bonus of innovation!) GK3's camera made the game so much more immersive in my opinion. I would love to see a camera system like that again in an adventure game.

I totally agree: I'm close to define it the best possible way for a point-and-click adventure! ;)

It provides a huge immersion and a vivid feeling of reality: a shame that no more game used that system.

While I'm not against direct control in adventure games, I see no reason to use it unless the puzzles are built around exploration and physics. That means full 3D graphics, and developers have to choose between giving up a lot of detail compared to a game with static 2D screens, or making the game a real hog when it comes to system requirements. A good adventure game should, in my opinion, have more detailed locations than other genres, so the switch from 2D to 3D means inevitable tradeoffs.

You should try games that have some AG elements, like:

• Psychonauts
• Beyond Good and Evil
• Mass effect (from what I've heard, haven't played this one yet)

And RPGs rich in storyline: Torment, Vampire TM Bloodlines...

Little Big Adventure has a lot of adventure game elements in it. Lots of interesting characters, and having to choose between normal(walk and interact), aggressive(fight), athletic(run and jump) and stealth modes makes for some interesting puzzles. It's quite old, though, so probably not easy to get hold of or to actually run it if you do.

I'm the opposite really, I couldn't care less how the character moves, but I love point and click because the cursor is like having my own hand in the game, and I can reach out and interact with objects the way I want to.

I wasn't a huge fan of the controls/camera system in Grim Fandango. I'd hold down an arrow key to run to one side of the room, then suddenly the camera would shift to another perspective, and my directional imput would translate differently, and Manny would run straight back out the way he came. It got a little tiring after a while. :shifty:

You could change this in the options by making the controls character-relative.

while I'm a die hard fan of the point and clickers, I have to admit that a well done action/adventure can be a fun diversion. amongst my favourites I'd have to include Morrowind which is admittedly far more of an RPG than an adventure but manages to include a healthy dose of adventure elements
predating Morrowind however is the game that brought the Elder Scrolls series to my attention; Redguard. there's a lot of adventure elements and while there's plenty of combat it's not too difficult to master and it's a much more casual and relaxed game than Morrowind but without being any less fun

another great amongst this genre is Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth. while I've not yet completed the game, what I have experienced so far has a lot of adventure elements intermingled with some action, but more of the running away and trying to escape than combat. it's also a very impressive adaptation of one of HP Lovecraft's best stories

Successfully? Or did you need to buy a new graphics card that supports OpenGL to play it?

There are two main reasons why I play adventure games:

1. For good story
2. For good puzzles

If an adventure game has these two things, then most likely, I'll love it. Adventure games in general don't need full walking around control. It wouldn't do any good since adventure games aren't about beating up bad guys and dodging bullets. It's about picking up clues and solving puzzles.

The Adventure Company recently published a game called DEAD REEFS that tried to be innovative and made it where you controlled the player through the keyboard. It didn't work: the game sucked and the controls were annoying as hell. Perhaps it would have worked better if they had made the controlling easier, but still, it did nothing for the game. They should have just made it a point and click adventure.

I feel like I'm in a time warp. Haven't we had this thread before?

Incidentally, I like both, so long as the controls actually work and don't require twitch gamer reflexes. I think direct control is an important innovation for adventure games, and look forward to seeing more games use it successfully.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure we've done this thread before. If I recall, my post was almost identical too. :D

I don't really care about the controls as long as they work for the game. Although I agree that direct control often feels a little bit better. But I just played Shadow of the Comet and I felt the combination of keyboard controls and mouse in that game was a bit odd. But it works in games like Grim Fandango (only keyboard and no mouse).