3021

Yeah, it was me. Thanks!

It’s been mentioned, but in case you missed it an mp3 of the extended theme is up for free download at The Escapist Music Library.

3022

What are you talking about? That movie was deliciously wicked and funny. I used to hate James Spader until I saw that movie.

Oh wait, this isn’t the movie forum. Nevermind.

3023

I was about to say, are we talking about the movie? I fell in love* with Maggie Gyllenhaal because of that picture.

*Meaning she was added to my long list of Hollywood crushes. I’m smitten pretty easily.

Wait, that kind of comes off as an insult. I swear, it’s not!

3024

She was pretty damn hot/cute in Stranger than Fiction too, despite her rather offbeat looks.

3025

That is true. I was surprised by how much I liked Stranger than Fiction. To me, she has a 1920s silent film star vibe visually. I think it’s hot.

Though really, Clara Bow, pictured on the left I think looks pretty modern. Like much of the 1920s, she kind of bridges the transition to a modern society and culture. And of course, who doesn’t have a crush on Bow after seeing It?

3026

3027

Bow was, after all, the “It Girl” I remember seeing her in a silent film with Harold Lloyd (or Buster Keaton, I can’t remember) and thinking, “Daayum, who was that?” I never did see It but I’ll have to check it out.

3028

I like the actors well enough and the performance was certainly there, but the writing and the characters themselves really didn’t do anything for me. And it’s never too early.

3029

Or playing The Colonel’s Bequest.

3030

I was goign to say this. I had no idea Laura was based on an actual person (well, that her name was, and maybe a film persona).

3031

Just about everyone in TCB is based on a real person. Gloria Swansong is Gloria Swanson, Clarence Sparrow is Clarence Darrow, Wilbur C Feels is WC Fields.

Man, now I want to play that again.

Fucking Activision. LOOK AT WHAT LUCASARTS IS DOING, YOU ASSHOLES! RELEASE THIS SHIT ON STEAM!

(Though to be honest, I gotta say that this game suffered more from Sierra Random Death than any other I know of. I mean, you died if you walked down the main hall in the middle.)

3032

A blast from the past, with Silent Hill 2.

3033

It’s surprising how often shitty gameplay doesn’t interfere with a game being excellent.

3034

Actually I’d say something like Silent Hill 2 is almost singular in being excellent despite shitty gameplay.

3035

The poor gameplay and shitty controls is what kept me from enjoying the atmosphere in the game. I loved it in the beginning when he first arrives in town, but the moment he has to fight creatures and the controls respond so poorly and I can’t do what I want, I get completely pulled out of the game and can’t get immersed in the atmosphere anymore.

3036

Agreed. Atmosphere overwhelms gameplay in this series alone so far as I can think of any other examples. And whatshisname is quite correct in pointing out this only applies really to SH 2 and SH 3. SH 4 had great concept and atmosphere, but it doesn’t quite manage to rise above the dreadful gameplay. The two recent entrants in the series had bad atmosphere and bad gameplay and so were utterly worthless.

3037

The sneaking in Beyond Good in Evil springs immediately to mind.

Most of Planescape Torment that wasn’t talking.

Every main quest in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

3038

Beyond Good and Evil had generally good gameplay. The atmosphere in those admittedly bad sneaking bits didn’t seem especially good to me though. I just suffered through the sneaking to get to the other parts that had better gameplay.

I also think that Planescape Torment had generally good gameplay (for the RPGs of the time), but wasn’t particularly strong on atmosphere as such compared to something like Silent Hill.

I hated Vampire: The Masquerade throughout, almost every aspect of the game, except for the admittedly superior haunted house sequence. If that had been good enough to carry the game, I’d agree, but it wasn’t good enough for me, so it fails…

3039

The sneaking made up at least a third of the main quest line.

Planescape Torment came out after Icewind Dale, a game featuring better combat in every regard. In fact I think you’ve got your argument backwards. It had superb atmosphere, really bad combat.

3040

True, Icewind Dale had superior combat.

It’s just hard for me to even grant that an old isometric game like that even has atmosphere compared to something like Silent Hill. I think you are conflating story, setting, and dialog with atmosphere. Silent Hill is actually weak in all those areas except atmosphere (insert joke about fog), so it is sort of a pure example of style over substance.