Originally published: June 28, 2006 @ 1:12am PST
"Old Man Stauf built a house and filled it with his toys. Six guests were invited one night; their screams, the only noise. Blood inside the library. Blood right up the hall. Dripping down the attic stairs. Hey, guests! Try not to fall. Nobody knows what happened that night. Not one was ever seen. But Old Man Stauf is waiting there, heheheh. Crazy, sick, AND MEAN!"
- Henry Stauf in The 7th Guest
This game definitely takes me back. When we got our very first computer, back in the mid-90s, one of the first games I picked up for it was this classic, The 7th Guest
(also available for the Mac). When Mom was looking at the computers, I was in the TV section, looking at the CD-i and some of the games available for it and this game was one of them. The game was amazing to me. It started me on my longtime love of FMV (full motion video) in video games. And now, it’s my pleasure, to bring that enjoyment to you…
The story of the game is simple. You wander through the mansion of the toymaker Henry Stauf, solving puzzles and finding out what happened that fateful night of the party. See, one night, he’d invited six guests to his house and offered them all whatever their heart’s desire was. All they had to do was find the seventh guest and bring him to Stauf. The characters you encounter are: Martine Burden, a former beauty queen with a lust for power; Edward and Elinor Knox, a married couple who have fallen on hard times… she wants to start over with Edward, he just wants to start over; Julia Heine, an elder woman, an alcoholic, who wishes for her youth again; Brian Dutton, a man who would do anything for money, he wants to be filthy rich; Hamilton Temple, a stage magician who wants to know if real magic exists, and if he can acquire it; Tad, a young boy who entered the Stauf mansion on a dare who’s now trapped with six people who are looking for him; and the host, Henry Stauf, who talks to you throughout the game, teasing and taunting you on the puzzles.
The puzzles in this game are relatively easy, with the only real difficult ones being the Microscope, the basement maze (Feeling… lonely?) and the piano. The chess puzzle in the bathroom is kind of hard, also but that’s more difficult for the time it takes, not for the actual complexity of the puzzle. All in all, though, the puzzles are all solvable and the back story of the game is entertaining, at the least, and intriguing, as well. Who will find Tad? Who will survive the night? What will be the fates of the guests? The only way to find out is play the adventure! If you find yourself needing a strategy guide, though, one IS available for cheap.
Pictured: The Nunan House
The game was incredibly successful for its time. One of the first games to come out on CD-ROM, it actually increased sales of CD-ROM drives. The FMV scenes were filmed in Jacksonville, Oregon, and even the exterior of the house is based off of an actual historic building called the Nunan House. Back in 1995, on a vacation trip to southern Oregon and northern California, we stopped in at Jacksonville and got to tour the Nunan House. It was really amazing (and no, the interior doesn’t look anything like the Stauf Mansion). The game itself was successful enough to create a sequel, The 11th Hour, which I’ll be covering soon on the site, as well. There were talks of two more official sequels from the game company, and designer, but neither of them came to fruition, the only actual third sequel being a game called Uncle Henry’s Playhouse that combined puzzles from 7th Guest, The 11th Hour (also for the Mac) and a third game called Clandestiny which wasn’t related to the series.
As stated before, I loved this game. I hope that I’ve been able to entertain and inform you with this article. Of course, there’s probably no doubt that I’ll be giving this a 5 out of 5. Keep watching for the first of a multi-part article on the sequel, The 11th Hour. Until next time, this is Red Hawk signing out!
Originally published: June 10, 2006 @ 3:31am PST
"Haste makes waste, so I rarely hurry. But if a ferret was about to dart up my dress, I’d run."
- Cheshire Cat in American McGee’s Alice
American McGee’s Alice is available on: PC CD-ROM (Windows 98 or ME or Windows 95) or the Mac version
"Dude, you have to try American McGee’s Alice," he told me excitedly, as only a true gamer geek can.
"Who put it out?" I asked.
"American McGee!"
"What else have they made?"
"It’s not a they it’s a he."
"But you said American McGee, isn’t that the company?"
"No, it’s the designer guy’s name," the way he said this part employed a tone of obvious condescension at my gaming ignorance.
"His name is…. American?"
"Right."
"Awesome!"
Now what in the world would possess a person to name their child American? Okay, it’s not really all that weird, but it’s my lead in to the cool quote I found about how American was named. Ready?
Pictured: Not quite the Alice we’re used to seeing is it? Same quaint dress, though.
"My mom smoked pot. She was a hippie. I’m not sure how else to put that," Mr. McGee’s been quoted as saying.
Now it all makes sense, huh? According to other information I dug up, he was almost named ‘Obnard‘ so yanno, American is pretty conservative if you put it in that light. Curious names aside, American McGee proved to be quite talented. I liked Alice in Wonderland due to the same reason that McGee’s mother named him what she did, but even then I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to play a GAME based on a children’s story.
"Oh no, man, this is waaayy different than plain old Alice. Here, look!" my vibrant companion gushed.
And look I did. I watched him play the game for a while and was so enthralled by it that I knew I must have him immediately bur… I mean purchase a copy for myself… with the box and everything! So I did that and installed it on my PC. I had a fairly active social life in the dorms at this point in my college career, but it certainly dimmed for a week or two after I discovered American McGee’s Alice. The game was amazing and I found myself actually sucked into not just the gameplay but the storyline, as well.
This game is generally described as a 3rd Person Shooter using the Quake III engine. In other words, you steer Alice from behind and make her run, jump and attack various enemies, as well as figure out how to navigate the environment. It’s totally action-oriented, but running around mindlessly trying to destroy everything isn’t going to win the game for you. Alice requires strategy and a willingness to well, die a lot. I know I did. There are lots of fun weapons like playing cards, croquet mallets and such that are not generally seen in other games. Bouncing about as an adolescent girl in a floofy, blood-soaked dress is also something of a trip. You’ll enjoy it, I’m sure.
Pictured: Mushrooms, decrepit White Rabbit, giant blades of grass.. is this a bad trip or what?
Now, while the game itself is loads of fun and difficult to beat (though I did win it), what’s really stunning are (ok, were) the graphics. For their time, in 2000, they were some of the finest I’d ever witnessed. The scenes of warped nature are very true to the imagination Lewis Carroll inspires in his books – just made a bit more sinister. This ties in with the voice-acting and the soundtrack (which includes work by Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna and Madonna Wayne Gacy, the keyboardist from Marilyn Manson) to create an extremely rich atmosphere causing the game to take on the feel of a great work of cinema.
Speaking of movies, it turns out that American McGee’s Alice is actually going to be made into a film, set for release in 2007 [UPDATE: As of May, 2008 the movie's set for release in 2009 - we'll keep you updated]. Marcus Nispel, who also directed the 2003 re-make of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, will be directing and guess who’s set to star as Alice? Sarah Michelle Gellar! You might also know her as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Sounds like she’ll be perfect as the brooding, sarcastic and insanely derranged Alice, to me.
We’ll be bringing you updates on this film as soon as we learn more. Even though American McGee’s Alice may not be the newest of games, it is still worth playing through. The solid gameplay, gorgeous visuals and spooky audio make it an experience worth having atleast once. There’s never been a finer take on Alice in Wonderland as far as I’m concerned. The Cheshire Cat with an ear ring? That should be enough soft-sell right there to get you to take a look. 5 out of 5 is the least I could rate this kick-ass shooter.
And the action figures? TO DIE FOR! Especially the Jabberwock!
Until I once again pass through the looking glass, this is GlowStormLion, battling for the hearts and minds of our nation’s youth.
