The Neverhood Review

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The Neverhood

Review by Orb and JenApril 2002

One of a Kind

Orb: The Neverhood is an anomaly in the history of adventure games for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was one of only two adventure games that have been published by the venerable Dreamworks, and secondly, it was the only adventure game ever done in claymation. If you are wondering just exactly what claymation is, think Gumby and Pokey, or Wallace and Gromit. The whole style and humor of the game is like no other, and it’s very obvious that Dreamworks spared no expense in hiring the best people that they could lay their hands on.

In addition, the style of the drawn characters harkens back to an earlier day of animation. The main character in the game, Klaymen, is obviously the bastard son of Koko the Clown, the hugely popular Max Fleischer character of the 20s and 30s, with a little bit of the early Walt Disney stuff thrown in. In other words, Klaymen is retro chic, as far as cartoons go.

Adventure Game as Art?

Jen: The Neverhood is a masterpiece worthy of placement in the Smithsonian. It was released in 1996 and as best as I can recall it was one of the first Windows 95 games released. The designers really thought of everything when they were working on this game. If they had chosen to release it as a movie instead of a game, I have a feeling it would have been a Hollywood blockbuster.  As a game, every element intertwines beautifully. The scenery and music and sheer quality act as a perfect backdrop to the integrated puzzles.

You’ve Gotta Like it Gross …

Jen: … because it is, at times. Anybody who knows me knows this kind of stuff is right up my alley. Maybe a case of arrested development? Whatever. There are a few supremely disgusting moments in The Neverhood, such as some sort of icky goo being squirted by a bug that emerges from a sphincter-like orifice.  When The Neverhood was originally released, it had an ESRB rating of “M,” but there is really nothing in this game that I would not allow my kids to watch.

Something for Everybody

Orb: One thing I think is interesting about the design is the fact that it is played in both third- and first-person, perspective-wise. While it could be classified as a straight third-person title as much of the gameplay involves controlling and moving Klaymen around, there is quite a lot of gameplay from a first-person point of view, which really gives the game an interesting air.  These varying perspectives do not conflict with each other, but rather they complement each other so well the transition is hardly noticed.

Puzzling Details

Orb: The puzzles are for the most part very original.  There are a couple of old chestnuts, a slider and a music puzzle, but most are very different and are completely in keeping with the whimsical air of the game. One downside to some of the gameplay, however, results from some of the puzzles and game exploration areas having really redundant sections where actions must be performed over and over, and this does get old really fast. But the sheer charm and look of the game really override these rough spots, so they didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the game.

Jen: Even the music puzzle was unique—it involved spitting into cylinders to change their tones. And the slider puzzle, while nothing special, was at least not hard to solve.  It was only a three-by-three grid, and there was a big fat clue not far away as to what the final picture looked like. Like you said, most of the puzzles are very original. Even those couple that weren’t so original were so well-blended into the overall game that they did not seem at all out of place.

Play it Again, Sam

Jen: The repetition got to me, too, in spots. Mostly that only happened in areas where I wasn’t enjoying the music. The music definitely adds a whole lot in terms of atmosphere. It’s hard to classify. Can we make up our own category of music and just call it “Weird?” Quirky and interesting throughout, there were never any spots where the loops were so short as to cause the music to get on my nerves. There was, however, one tune that bugged me from the get-go. Remember that one I called “Andy Griffith Hell?” It featured whistling a la the Mayberry RFD theme song. But that’s probably just me. I enjoy whistling about as much as I enjoy fingernails on chalkboards.

Orb: Oh, I thought the music was just great! I don’t even think there were any parts of it that became redundant to me.  Probably my favorite bit of music was the potato song. One of the puzzles features around 10 different music pieces/songs, and that was just about the most entertaining for me. The game is also littered with other bizarre and amusing sound effects that I never tired of either.

Little Goodies Abound

Orb: Another aspect to the game is how much extra stuff was put in it just for the sheer fun of it, things totally unnecessary for the successful completion of the game but really fun to play with. Even letting Klaymen stand for a while without moving him around produces interesting results. He’ll scratch his ear, fidget, and even take his head off with a “ta-da!” flourish.

Jen: I know what you mean about the extras and the amusing sound effects. One of my favorite parts (like you couldn’t have guessed, but this is for the readers) is the 10-minute belch that Klaymen puts forth, just for the heck of it. I loved all of those little added bonuses that did nothing to further the game but were thrown in just for fun. Comic genius, I tell ya!

The Whole Package

Jen: All in all, The Neverhood is one fine specimen of interactive entertainment. It would have been perfect except for those few repetitive sequences, but as it stands, it’s the closest I’ve ever seen.

Orb: So true. And it also stands its ground and on its own merits as a really fine piece of cartoon and animation work as well. All of these things combined put it head and shoulders above most other adventure games and make it (quite rightly) a classic that collectors lust after. The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: The Neverhood Publisher: Dreamworks Interactive Release Date: 1996

Available for: Windows

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Screenshots

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System Requirements

Pentium 75 MHz 8 MB RAM (16 recommended) 1 MB VRAM SVGA monitor 4X CD-ROM drive 8-bit sound card and speakers (16-bit recommended) 10 MB available hard disk space Windows 95

Where to Find It

      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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