Peter Gabriel’s Multimedia

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            Peter Gabriel’s Multimedia

Review by Orb

There are some musicians that see any kind of interactive effort as an opportunity for another empty-minded vanity piece. Then there are those that see it as an opportunity to broaden their artistic horizons and fiddle around to create something that enhances the work they have already generated. Peter Gabriel, as a performer that has taken his music and transformed it into an interactive thingamabob, is in the latter category.

I know, I tricked you with the technical reference “thingamabob,” didn’t I? Well, rare is it that any of these CD-ROMs made by musicians is a game, and most all are really just thingamabobs. So these two pieces are that, but really good ones, like some of the others I have previously written about, such as Laurie Anderson’s Puppet Motel and the works by the Residents.

It makes sense that Peter Gabriel would go in the direction of this sort of work—he has consistently done music videos that define and set standards for computerized, hypnotic gimmickry that keeps people entertained and the records moving out of the stores.

Explora1: Peter Gabriel’s Secret World

Explora, although groundbreaking in its time, is not necessarily a full gaming experience and will be enjoyed best by people who either like Gabriel’s music or like oddities that defy specific categorization as far as things that go into the CD-ROM drive. This title does have a small number of puzzles and certainly plenty of things to look at and explore. I don’t want to call it a game per se, because the puzzles are very simplistic and really only make the thing more twiddleware and interactive than it would have been otherwise.

This isn’t to say that the things found in Explora aren’t entertaining, they certainly are. The player gets to explore Gabriel’s Real World Studios. In this area, the player is treated to videos of original recording sessions and gets to remix one of Peter Gabriel’s songs.

There is a tour of the WOMAD Festival, and in this area the player must solve a puzzle that involves collecting various inventory items. Once these items are retrieved, the player is allowed access to additional parts of the disk, and also some treats are downloaded to the player’s hard drive to be used and kept. There is also a section that covers Gabriel’s background and history, a very thorough discography that also gives snippets of songs from each period of his life, and a section on Amnesty International, obviously a favorite charity of Gabriel’s.

Explora is more of a music magazine featuring the work of Gabriel, and if one goes into it from that viewpoint, the experience is quite enjoyable. Explora also features some interesting packaging in that the box it comes in opens like a book, and included is a full-color book that features artwork by people involved in the project, quotes by them, and detailed info on the various sections on the disk, biographies, and other ephemera, all very nicely packaged.

Eve

Eve, despite being produced in 1996, is really a trip through the 80s, showcasing Gabriel’s catchy pop music from that time period. The project was originally started as an interactive songbook, and it evolved as those involved in the project began working with ideas for the interfaces using art from well-known artists combined with Gabriel’s music. This is a full-blown adventure game, with environments to explore and things to solve, all wrapped in Gabriel’s music.

The game has 80 minutes of video and 45 minutes of music, with four worlds to explore, and 360-degree panoramic scenes in each.  The images of the worlds were created with a tremendous number of still photos, and each world features a Gabriel song and the artwork of one of four well-known fine artists, Nils-Udo, Yayoi Kusama, Cathy Monchaux, and Helen Chadwick, which gives each world its own very singular air.

The puzzles themselves are decidedly unpuzzle-like, and very intuitive, allowing the player to look around and click on stuff to see what happens, before the inevitable “aha!” at the end of it all. There’s no finite beginning and end and no particular narrative that has to be followed. The overall story is that Adam and Eve have been separated in the Garden of Eden, and Pandora’s Box has scattered objects across the four game worlds, and these must be explored and the items located. The overall game goal is to collect and use various bits of video and music, and finding these objects will solve the riddle of “the Relationship between man, women and nature.” Whatever. The thing is really just fun as heck to click around in and explore—after all, if they’d really solved this age-old riddle, don’t you think they’d be able to get a lot more money for this sucker? The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Real World Multimedia Publisher: Real World Multimedia Release Date: 1993 (Explora); 1996 (Eve)

Available for: Macintosh Windows

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Screenshots

Explora1

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Eve

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System Requirements

Low

Where to Find It

Womad Shop (Eve) £17.99 (inc p+p)

Explora1

Eve

Prices/links current as of 5/23/06Links provided for informational purposes only.  FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies).

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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