This week I have been playing a lot of Spider and Shadow Complex(I only play games that start with the letter S)and I consider them both great games. One of them is going to end up very high on my Top 10 games of the year. Why are they so great? Why are the games I consider great, so great? I think it’s because they all have moments where everything just clicks.
In Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor you play as a spider spinning webs and catching bugs. It’s not hard really, you just have to figure out where to make the webs. That is until you get to the closet full of moths. They run away from you, and don’t want to get stuck in your webs. So I crawled and jumped around the level trying to figure out how I was going to get the moths in my spider’s belly. That’s when I accidentally jumped onto a light switch turning on the light in the closet, making all the moths fly into my webs. My jaw literally dropped and I was completely in love with the game.
Shadow Complex, well Shadow Complex is easy. The first time I turned my flashlight on, and it colored some rocks green, and I learned that green meant grenades. Setting a grenade against the green rocks blew them to pebbles and I was able to precede. The game then continues to do this in more and more inventive ways the whole way through.
Is this why the games I love, are the games I love? They all have moments that click, and make memories and impressions on me the gamer? I’m currently playing Wolfenstein, and there hasn’t been a moment yet like this in the game, and it feels very forgettable, but I’m not sure it’s a bad game. I just know it’s not one of the greats(yet….). Am I the only one who craves these moments? The moments where the game just clicks and everything makes sense? Let me know in the forums, or email me jim@fourplayercoop.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Let me know what makes a game great or memorable for you.