Replay: The History of Video Games (69 page)

The early graphics multiplayer games:

• Habitat
  (1986, Quantum Link, Lucasfilm Games, Commodore 64, USA): The most ambitious massively multiplayer game of the 1980s.
  
• Air Warrior
  (1986, GEnie, Kesmai, Macintosh, USA): Online Second World War dog fights.
  
• Neverwinter Nights
  (1991, AOL/SSI, Stormfront Studios, PC: MS-DOS, USA): Based on SSI’s single-player role-playing game engine as used in the likes of
  Secret of the Silver Blades
  (1990, SSI, PC: MS-DOS, USA).
  

The commercial pioneers:

• Meridian 59
  (1996, The 3DO Company, Archetype Interactive, PC: Windows, USA):
  DikuMUD
  meets
  Doom
  .
  
• Ultima Online
  (1997, Electronic Arts, Origin Systems, PC: Windows, USA): Expansive and intricate game that defined the future of the genre through both its failings and its successes.
  
• EverQuest
  (1999, Verant Interactive, 989 Studios, PC: Windows, USA): A more co-operative experience that learned the lessons of
  Ultima Online
  ’s chaotic early days.
  
• Phantasy Star Online
  (2000, Sega, Sonic Team, Dreamcast, Japan): Co-operative monster slaying that introduced the genre on the games console.
  

South Korean games:

• The Kingdom of the Winds
  (1996, Nexon, Jake Song, PC: Windows, South Korea): Online game set in ancient Korea.
  
• Lineage
  (1998, NCSoft, Jake Song, PC: Windows, South Korea): Multiplayer castle raiding that brought South Korean video games to global attention.
  
• Ragnarök Online
  (2002, Gravity Co., PC: Windows, South Korea): Norse mythology and Korean ‘manhwa’ comic visuals.
  
• MapleStory
  (2003, Nexon, Wizet, PC: Windows, South Korea): Free-to-play multiplayer role-playing game that racked up more than 100 million registered players.
  

Others:

• Argentum Online
  (2000, Pablo Marquez, Matías Pequeño & Fernando Testa, PC: Windows, Argentina): Argentina’s
  Ultima Online
  . The protests that followed the country’s economic collapse in 2001 seeped into the open-source game when players barricaded the virtual streets.
  
• Disney’s Toontown Online
  (2001, Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney Internet Group, PC: Windows, USA): Massively multiplayer action for kids.
  
• Final Fantasy XI Online
  (2002, Square, PlayStation 2, Japan): Japanese role-playing reinvented for online.
  
• Second Life
  (2003, Linden Lab, PC: Windows, USA): A vast, social and artistic experiment whose origins can be traced back to
  TinyMUD
  .
  
• A Tale in the Desert
  (2003, eGenesis, PC: Windows, USA): Civilization and culture building in Ancient Egypt. Governed by a representative democracy that gives players the power to change the rules of the game at the (virtual) ballot box.
  
• World of WarCraft
  (2004, Blizzard Entertainment, PC: Windows, USA): Polished online role-playing designed for the mass appeal it achieved.
  
• Fantasy Westward Journey
  (2004, NetEase, PC: Windows, China): China’s first big online gaming success.
  

Adventure

Will Crowther’s
Adventure
(1976, Will Crowther, PDP-10, USA) started it all, but the game really took off in the wake of Don Woods’ remix,
Adventure
(1977, Will Crowther & Don Woods, PDP-10, USA).

The roots of Crowther’s game can be seen in:

• Eliza / Doctor
  (1965, Joseph Weizenbaum, IBM 7094, USA): Virtual psychotherapy. Try it at:
  www.chayden.net/eliza/Eliza.html
  
• Highnoon
  (1970, Christopher Gaylo, unknown mainframe, USA): Wild West show down in text. Relive it and whole Teletype gaming experience at
  www.mybitbox.com/highnoon
  
• Hunt the Wumpus
  (1972, Gregory Yob, unknown mainframe, USA): Often mislabelled as an adventure game, but it’s a monster-hunting puzzle game. Texas Instruments’ graphical version,
  Hunt the Wumpus
  (1982, Texas Instruments, Kevin Kenney, TI-99/4a, USA), is more inviting than the text original.
  

Adventureland
(1978, Adventure International, Scott Adams, TRS-80, USA) took text adventures onto home computers, but Adams’ best was his
Treasure Island
-inspired follow-up
Pirate Adventure
(1978, Adventure International, Scott Adams, TRS-80, USA).

Infocom, however, were the masters of the text adventure. The company’s output spanned all genres of fiction:

• Zork! The Great Underground Empire – Part 1
  (1980, Infocom, Apple II, USA): A fantasy adventure landmark, based on the original mainframe
  Zork!
  (1979, Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels & Dave Lebling, PDP-10, USA).
  
• Deadline
  (1982, Infocom, Marc Blank, Apple II, USA): Detective novel and the first Infocom game with feelies.
  
• Planetfall
  (1983, Infocom, Steve Meretzky, Apple II, USA): Superb sci-fi comedy quest, as is
  The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
  (1984, Infocom, Douglas Adams & Steve Meretzky, Apple II, USA) and
  Leather Goddesses of Phobos
  (1986, Infocom, Steve Meretzky, Apple II, USA)
  
• Plundered Hearts
  (1987, Infocom, Amy Briggs, Apple II, USA): Mills & Boon romance.
  
• Lurking Horror
  (1987, Infocom, Dave Lebling, Atari ST, USA): Horror set in the grounds of MIT, the birthplace of Infocom.
  

Infocom’s literary peaks were the anti-Reagan
A Mind Forever Voyaging
(1985, Infocom, Steve Meretzky, Apple II, USA) and the anti-nuclear
Trinity
(1986, Infocom, Brian Moriarty, Apple II, USA).

Infocom’s big rival was Sierra. Roberta Williams delivered most of the company’s adventuring high points:

• Mystery House
  (1980, On-Line Systems, Ken Williams & Roberta Williams, Apple II, USA): The first illustrated text adventure.
  
• Time Zone
  (1982, On-Line Systems, Roberta Williams, Apple II, USA): Roberta’s bold visions for adventure gaming led to this vast work with its 1,500 locations, an enormous number for its time.
  
• King’s Quest
  (1984, Sierra On-Line, Robert Williams, PCjr, USA): A fairy tale adventure that introduced animation into the text adventure.
  
• King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella
  (1988, Sierra On-Line, Roberta Williams, PC: MS-DOS, USA): Its female hero predated Lara Croft by nearly a decade.
  
• King’s Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
  (1992, Sierra, Roberta Williams & Jane Jensen, PC: MS-DOS, USA): The series’ high point.
  
• Roberta Williams’ Phantasmagoria
  (1995, Sierra, Roberta Williams, PC: Windows, USA): Williams’ most ambitious work since
  Time Zone
  : a video-based interactive horror movie spread over 12 CDs. Encapsulated all the hopes and all the flaws of full-motion video games.
  

Sierra’s other notable adventure writer during the 1980s was Al Lowe:

• Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
  (1987, Sierra, Al Lowe, PC: MS-DOS, USA): A sarky lampooning of wannabe womanisers that sold in huge numbers to wannabe womanisers. Its precursor,
  Softporn Adventure
  (1981, On-Line Systems, Chuck Benton, Apple II, USA), is just crude.
  
• Torin’s Passage
  (1995, Sierra, Al Lowe, PC: Windows, USA): A rare example of an adventure designed to captivate kids and their parents.
  

Beyond the dominant Sierra-Infocom axis of the 1980s:

• The Prisoner
  (1980, Edu-Ware, David Mullich, Apple II, USA): Strange, experimental adventuring inspired by the cult 1960s TV series. Edu-Ware’s unusual output continued with the two-player terrorism sim
  Terrorist
  (1980, Edu-Ware, Steven Pederson, Apple II, USA).
  
• The Hobbit
  (1982, Melbourne House, Beam Software, ZX Spectrum, Australia): Tolkien’s book brought to life.
  
• Portopia Murder Serial Case
  (1983, Enix, Yuji Horii, NEC PC-6001, Japan): Japanese murder mystery adventure that inspired future
  Metal Gear Solid
  creator Hideo Kojima.
  
• The Pawn
  (1985, Rainbird, Magnetic Scrolls, Sinclair QL, UK): The debut release of Magnetic Scrolls, the UK’s answer to Infocom.
  

France had a thriving adventure scene of its own. Highlights:

• Paranoïak
  (1984, Froggy Software, Jean-Louis Le Breton & Fabrice Gille, Apple II, France): A battle against a nervous breakdown.
  
• Le Crime du Parking
  (1984, Froggy Software, Jean-Louis Le Breton & Fabrice Gille, Apple II, France): Adult murder mystery.
  
• Même les Pommes de Terre Ont des Yeux
  (1985, Froggy Software, Clotilde Marion, Apple II, France): Latin American revolution comedy.
  
• L’Affaire Vera Cruz
  (1985, Infogrames, CPC, France): Classy detective game.
  
• Méwilo
  (1987, Coktel Vision, Muriel Tramis & Patrick Chamoiseau, CPC, France): An exploration of Martinique’s culture and the history of slavery. The same team followed it with the anti-slavery ‘war game’
  Freedom: Rebels in the Darkness
  (1988, Coktel Vision, Muriel Tramis & Patrick Chamoiseau, CPC, France).
  
• Captain Blood
  (1988, Infogrames, Didier Bouchon & Philippe Ulrich, Atari ST, France): Bold, different and bizarre space adventure.
  

Déjà Vu: A Nightmare Comes True
(1985, Mindscape, ICOM Simulations, Macintosh, USA) marked the start of the point-and-click era of adventure games, which Lucasfilm dominated during its decade-long focus on the genre. Picks? Almost all of them:
Maniac Mansion
(1987, Lucasfilm Games, Ron Gilbert & Gary Winnick, Commodore 64, USA),
Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade
(1989, Lucasfilm Games, Noah Falstein, PC: MS-DOS, USA),
Loom
(1990, Lucasfilm Games, Brian Moriarty, Amiga, USA),
The Secret of Monkey Island
(1990, Lucasfilm Games, Ron Gilbert, PC: MS-DOS, USA),
Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck’s Revenge
(1991, Lucasfilm Games, Ron Gilbert, PC: MS-DOS, USA),
Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis
(1992, LucasArts, Hal Barwood & Noah Falstein, PC: MS-DOS, USA),
Sam & Max Hit the Road
(1993, LucasArts, Steve Purcell, PC: MS-DOS, USA),
Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
(1993, LucasArts, Dave Grossman & Tim Schafer, PC: MS-DOS, USA),
Full Throttle
(1995, LucasArts, Tim Schafer, PC: MS-DOS, USA),
Grim Fandango
(1998, LucasArts, Tim Schafer, PC: Windows, USA).