Thimbleweed Park – a classic adventure game
Thimbleweed Park is a classic adventure game, a point and click type of game. We are not dealing with an ordinary adventure game, a genre that has been in obscurity in the last several years. We are dealing with an adventure game made by none other than Rob Gilbert, one of the leading figures of the old studio, LucasArts, responsible for some of the leading adventure games of all times: Manian Mension, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, Day of The Tentacle and last, but not least, the first two titles of the Monkey Island series.
In other words, Gilbert is the one who found the base of adventure genre, with the interface based on verbs - look at, talk to, pick up, use etc – and also the SCUMM scripting language used later one by the company for all its adventure titles - see all game titles.
Thimbleweed Park is made by all the “old-fashioned” rules of the genre: the classic pixel art graphics characteristic to 90’s titles, classic verbs based interface taken almost unchanged from LucasArts games, a crazy scenario, influenced by many elements of pop culture (classical or topical), crazy characters, a multitude of puzzles and dialogues with a serious dose of humor.
The story starts mysteriously in 1987, with two federal agents who must investigate a murder in Thimbleweed Park, an American town with a past not so conventional. Obviously, things will get complicated, there will appear other playable characters and many other surprises.
The dialogues, most of them are very well written and interpreted, the actors chosen to give live to characters in Thimbleweed Park are making a great job. I need to reveal here a character that it is absolutely delicious, a comedian clown who will pluck from you a few smiles.
Worth mentioning is the music that maintains a perfect balance between retro and modern, adding to the game an extra dose of atmosphere. Also the graphics benefits from some modern elements presented subtly - find important game details.
If you like classic adventure titles and are willing to accept a look and a formula 100% retro, then you should not miss the new creation of Ron Gilbert.