2010
Tras ocho años, la última entonación de Halfquake es una caída al absurdo masocore. Con retos prácticamente imposibles de superar si no es con puro ensayo y error, la mayoría basados en torno a mecánicas y geometría con las que GldSrc no trabaja bien, y con un recorrido final que pasa por burlarse de las tendencias dominantes, se siente un juego muy punk en términos estéticos. Hoy en día seguramente se lea más como una admisión de derrota por parte del equipo responsable, y voluntad de continuar con lo siguiente.
La salida del último Halfquake también marca el final de cierta pretensión artística en el ámbito mod, una pretensión que existió durante los 2000 pero a la que no hemos vuelto realmente hasta hace muy poco (con MyHouse siendo un claro ejemplo de ese retorno). La noción de explorar todas las facetas de un motor para sonsacar un significado superior es algo que durante buena parte de la época actual se ha tratado con cierto desprecio y dejadez, tal vez influenciada por la popularidad de juegos "Háztelo Tu Mismo" tipo Minecraft, pero Halfquake era un ejercicio claro de exploración hasta romper con la forma misma. Es algo que no considerarías factible hacer en Unity o Unreal, y en ese sentido, aprecio su voluntad exploratoria incluso si por el camino he tenido que darme de bruces cincuenta veces con la misma muerte instantánea.
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After eight years, Halfquake's latest entry is a descent into masocore absurdity. With challenges practically impossible to overcome saving pure trial and error, based around mechanics and geometry that GldSrc doesn't work well with, and with several areas that actively mock design trends of the time, it feels like a very punk excersise in aesthetic terms. Today it reads more like an admission of defeat by the team, and a willingness to move on.
The release of the latest Halfquake also marks the end of an era of artistic exploration in the mod scene, a scene that existed during the 2000s but that we haven't really returned to until very recently, MyHouse being a clear example of that. Exploring all facets of an engine to coax out a higher meaning is a concept that's been largely dismissed for much of the current era we're in, perhaps due to the rise of so many Minecraft-like DIY titles. But Halfquake was a clear exercise in exploration. to the point of breaking with the form itself. It's something you wouldn't consider feasible to do in Unity or Unreal, and in that sense, I appreciate its willingness to commit, even if along the way I had to run into the same instant death fifty times.
La salida del último Halfquake también marca el final de cierta pretensión artística en el ámbito mod, una pretensión que existió durante los 2000 pero a la que no hemos vuelto realmente hasta hace muy poco (con MyHouse siendo un claro ejemplo de ese retorno). La noción de explorar todas las facetas de un motor para sonsacar un significado superior es algo que durante buena parte de la época actual se ha tratado con cierto desprecio y dejadez, tal vez influenciada por la popularidad de juegos "Háztelo Tu Mismo" tipo Minecraft, pero Halfquake era un ejercicio claro de exploración hasta romper con la forma misma. Es algo que no considerarías factible hacer en Unity o Unreal, y en ese sentido, aprecio su voluntad exploratoria incluso si por el camino he tenido que darme de bruces cincuenta veces con la misma muerte instantánea.
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After eight years, Halfquake's latest entry is a descent into masocore absurdity. With challenges practically impossible to overcome saving pure trial and error, based around mechanics and geometry that GldSrc doesn't work well with, and with several areas that actively mock design trends of the time, it feels like a very punk excersise in aesthetic terms. Today it reads more like an admission of defeat by the team, and a willingness to move on.
The release of the latest Halfquake also marks the end of an era of artistic exploration in the mod scene, a scene that existed during the 2000s but that we haven't really returned to until very recently, MyHouse being a clear example of that. Exploring all facets of an engine to coax out a higher meaning is a concept that's been largely dismissed for much of the current era we're in, perhaps due to the rise of so many Minecraft-like DIY titles. But Halfquake was a clear exercise in exploration. to the point of breaking with the form itself. It's something you wouldn't consider feasible to do in Unity or Unreal, and in that sense, I appreciate its willingness to commit, even if along the way I had to run into the same instant death fifty times.
2002
Gran parte del mérito de Halfquake Amen reposa en ser el primero en muchas cosas, pero también en ser el puente de otras. Es el trasvase del estilo de juego kusoge y tramposo del mundillo mod con un vestido de obra experimental, casi vanguardista. El tipo de extensión de Half-Life que no solías ver en la época, pero lo bastante lleno de referencias y chistes facilones como para reconocer de dónde viene. Al mismo tiempo, es sorprendente lo mucho que este juego se adelantó tanto a la avalancha de juegos indie basados en puzzles 3D (ya hablé de Portal en el primer Halfquake, pero aquí me acuerdo más de Antichamber) como a los Escape The Room de Flash. La existencia de Halfquake es una demostración fehaciente de lo compleja, rica, variada y, al mismo tiempo, tan inmadura y tontorrona que era esta escena en un momento tan clave de la historia del medio, y me alegro muchísimo de que pueda seguir jugándose a día de hoy.
Ni qué decir tiene que lo que peor ha envejecido no ha sido el diseño troll ni el hecho de que te hagan esperar 20 minutos literales en un momento determinado, sino el que tengas que saltar tanto en un juego de GoldSrc, lo que debería estar penado por la ley a estas alturas.
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Much of Halfquake Amen's merit lies in being the first in many things, but also in being a nexus to many others. It's the meeting of kusoge and asshole-ish game design from several mod scenes with an experimental, almost avant-garde presentation. The kind of Half-Life expansion you didn't use to see back in the day, but full enough of references and lame jokes to recognize where it's coming from. At the same time, it's surprising how far this game was ahead its time both in how it conceives of 3D puzzles (I talked about Portal in the first Halfquake, but here I'm reminded of Antichamber) and the Flash scene's Escape The Room subgenre. The existence of Halfquake is proof of how complex, rich, varied and, at the same time, so immature and silly this scene was at such a key moment in the history of the medium, and I'm really glad that it can still be played today.
Needless to say, what has aged the worst is not the troll-ish design decision to make you wait literally 20 minutes at one point, but the fact that you have to jump around so much in a GoldSrc game, which should be punishable by law by now.
Ni qué decir tiene que lo que peor ha envejecido no ha sido el diseño troll ni el hecho de que te hagan esperar 20 minutos literales en un momento determinado, sino el que tengas que saltar tanto en un juego de GoldSrc, lo que debería estar penado por la ley a estas alturas.
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Much of Halfquake Amen's merit lies in being the first in many things, but also in being a nexus to many others. It's the meeting of kusoge and asshole-ish game design from several mod scenes with an experimental, almost avant-garde presentation. The kind of Half-Life expansion you didn't use to see back in the day, but full enough of references and lame jokes to recognize where it's coming from. At the same time, it's surprising how far this game was ahead its time both in how it conceives of 3D puzzles (I talked about Portal in the first Halfquake, but here I'm reminded of Antichamber) and the Flash scene's Escape The Room subgenre. The existence of Halfquake is proof of how complex, rich, varied and, at the same time, so immature and silly this scene was at such a key moment in the history of the medium, and I'm really glad that it can still be played today.
Needless to say, what has aged the worst is not the troll-ish design decision to make you wait literally 20 minutes at one point, but the fact that you have to jump around so much in a GoldSrc game, which should be punishable by law by now.
2001
El comienzo de una carrera fascinante. Park puede parecer muy simple a día de hoy, pero tiene un carácter exploratorio que creo que muchas obras han tratado de imitar desde entonces.
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The beginning of a fascinating career. Park may seem very simple today, but it has an exploratory nature to it that I think many works have since tried to imitate.
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The beginning of a fascinating career. Park may seem very simple today, but it has an exploratory nature to it that I think many works have since tried to imitate.
2021
La idea de recrear una memoria infantil hace que It's Summer se sienta un poco más clara que It's Winter, pero no mucho más.
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The option to recreate a childhood memory makes It's Summer a little clearer than It's Winter, but not much more.
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The option to recreate a childhood memory makes It's Summer a little clearer than It's Winter, but not much more.
2023
En muchos aspectos, la obra cumbre de Sad3d. Su capacidad para trasladar la alienación e inutilidad del mundo contemporáneo al entorno 3D, pasando por miles de tradiciones (desde el motor Source hasta la época actual de Backrooms) y aterrizando con un mensaje sobre el mundo actual que sólo aumentará en relevancia cuanto peor vayan las cosas.
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Sad3d's crowning achievement, in several ways. Its ability to translate the alienation and futility of contemporary society on a 3D environment, going through thousands of traditions (from the Source engine to the current Backrooms era) and landing with a story about today's world that will only increase in relevance the worse things get.
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Sad3d's crowning achievement, in several ways. Its ability to translate the alienation and futility of contemporary society on a 3D environment, going through thousands of traditions (from the Source engine to the current Backrooms era) and landing with a story about today's world that will only increase in relevance the worse things get.
TBD
Había visto muchos juegos sobre espacios nostálgicos dominados por la nostalgia ochentera, el vaporwave y los vibes, pero muy pocos de ellos inciden en el carácter onírico y fundamentalmente incierto que estas imágenes poseen en realidad. Utilizar el motivo acuático y la falta de movimiento es la clave de que Mercury Island funcione, a pesar de ser tan corto en el resto de áreas.
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I have seen many games deal with nostalgic spaces that are dominated by eighties nostalgia, vaporwave and vibes, but very few of them emphasize the dreamlike and fundamentally uncertain character that they usually embody. Using the aquatic motif and the lack of movement is key to make this title work, despite being so lackluster in everything else.
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I have seen many games deal with nostalgic spaces that are dominated by eighties nostalgia, vaporwave and vibes, but very few of them emphasize the dreamlike and fundamentally uncertain character that they usually embody. Using the aquatic motif and the lack of movement is key to make this title work, despite being so lackluster in everything else.
2021
Me interesa la forma en que Modus parece haberse zambullido en tiempos recientes en el mundo de la nostalgia por lo poligonal en 32 bits. El trabajo que hicieron en Frontier era quizá mucho más convencional que lo que están intentando aquí, pero creo que hay más de una tendencia solapada en el deseo de evocar los mundos deshabitados y oníricos de aquella época y crear con ello un espacio que se siente inquietante y al mismo tiempo fascinante.
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I'm interested in the way Modus seems to have recently plunged into the world of 32-bit nostalgia. The work they did on Frontier was perhaps much more conventional than what they're attempting here, but I think there's more of an underhanded tendency in the desire to evoke the uninhabited, dreamlike worlds of that era and thereby create a space that feels unsettling yet fascinating.
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I'm interested in the way Modus seems to have recently plunged into the world of 32-bit nostalgia. The work they did on Frontier was perhaps much more conventional than what they're attempting here, but I think there's more of an underhanded tendency in the desire to evoke the uninhabited, dreamlike worlds of that era and thereby create a space that feels unsettling yet fascinating.
a secuela hinchada y extremadamente ambiciosa de una obra que supuso un antes y un después en mi manera de entender los videojuegos. Puedo apreciar la increíble ambición, pero siento que tanto esfuerzo desmejora la sutileza del título original. Con todo, si un trabajo puede considerarse la versión definitiva de lo que implica explorar un espacio liminal, podría ser éste.
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The bloated and extremely ambitious sequel to a work that marked a before and after in my way of appreciating videogames. I can appreciate the ambition, but I feel that so much effort detracts from the subtlety of the original. All in all, if a work can be considered the definitive version of what it means to explore a liminal space, this could be it.
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The bloated and extremely ambitious sequel to a work that marked a before and after in my way of appreciating videogames. I can appreciate the ambition, but I feel that so much effort detracts from the subtlety of the original. All in all, if a work can be considered the definitive version of what it means to explore a liminal space, this could be it.
2020
Me gustan estas antologías, pero es imposible valorarlas como un trabajo unitario.
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I like these anthologies, but it is impossible to evaluate them as a unified work.
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I like these anthologies, but it is impossible to evaluate them as a unified work.
La verdad es que hace mucho que jugué a esta novela visual, pero lo que más recuerdo de ella era lo descriptiva y poco atrevida que me pareció en comparación a otras obras. Más cerca de un misterio tradicional que de un manifiesto meatpunk, que es donde creo que Domino Club florece más.
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The truth is that I played this visual novel a long time ago, but what I remember most about it was how descriptive and unadventurous it seemed in comparison to other works. Closer to a traditional mystery than a meatpunk manifesto, which is where I think Domino Club flourishes.
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The truth is that I played this visual novel a long time ago, but what I remember most about it was how descriptive and unadventurous it seemed in comparison to other works. Closer to a traditional mystery than a meatpunk manifesto, which is where I think Domino Club flourishes.
2021
creo que la manera de Valerie Dusk de aproximarse al mundo de los sueños es fascinante, y su trabajo reciente revela una evolución clara en el tipo de imágenes que prefiere explorar. Con Veins y con Wrtihe es donde realmente parece que nos estemos acercando a algo nuevo, y aunque el mundo que nos toca explorar es siniestro en extremo, también me siento atraído hacia él de forma inevitable.
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I think Valerie Dusk's approach to the world of dreams is fascinating, and her recent works reveal a clear evolution in the kind of images she prefers to explore. Veins and Wrtihe are where we really seem to be approaching something new, and although the world we get to explore is sinister in the extreme, I am also inevitably drawn to it.
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I think Valerie Dusk's approach to the world of dreams is fascinating, and her recent works reveal a clear evolution in the kind of images she prefers to explore. Veins and Wrtihe are where we really seem to be approaching something new, and although the world we get to explore is sinister in the extreme, I am also inevitably drawn to it.
Gótico y sensual, un juego que sabe capturar con mucho atino esa sensación de atracción y repulsa que la escritura decimonónica amaestró y que el videojuego contemporáneo siempre ha querido imitar. En su forma más sencilla, este juego te muestra lo que sería experimentar las cadencias del género de Poe sin las encerronas de un título de acción como Castlevania.
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Gothic and sensual, this game knows how to skillfully capture that feeling of attraction and repulsion that nineteenth-century writing mastered and that contemporary videogames have always wanted to imitate. In its simplest form, this game shows you what it would be like to experience the cadences of Poe's genre without the confinements of an action title like Castlevania.
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Gothic and sensual, this game knows how to skillfully capture that feeling of attraction and repulsion that nineteenth-century writing mastered and that contemporary videogames have always wanted to imitate. In its simplest form, this game shows you what it would be like to experience the cadences of Poe's genre without the confinements of an action title like Castlevania.
TBD
Con un estilo tan sencillo, Nodomus es una invitación a recrearnos en el misterio. A exacerbar ese impulso que el terror y la ciencia ficción nos incita muchas veces a querer ver más de cerca aquello que podría dejarnos con los huesos helados. Tiene un acabado fascinante, que me recuerda a la promesa ofrecida por el Half-life original del mundo de Xen (y que me gustó tanto a pesar de lo poco que le gusta al resto).
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With such a simple style, Nodomus invites us to dive into a sense of mystery and feed our impulse to take a closer look at that which repels us, something that horror and science fiction are very prone to make us do. It's fascinating ending reminded me of the promise offered by the original Half-life's Xen, and how far they could have taken it.
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With such a simple style, Nodomus invites us to dive into a sense of mystery and feed our impulse to take a closer look at that which repels us, something that horror and science fiction are very prone to make us do. It's fascinating ending reminded me of the promise offered by the original Half-life's Xen, and how far they could have taken it.
Hay algo increíblemente anticuado en la manera con la que este juego aproxima su crítica a la sociedad de consumo. Como si estuvieras visitando una exposición surrealista de los años 60 o una tira cómica del Roto en la actualidad. Es un juego muy boomer en su presentación. Y aún así, las referencias de las que está mamando son indiscutiblemente modernas. La obra que más se aproxima a Chamber of Stars es sin duda alguna Gingiva, pero ese juego tiene algo que decir sobre alienación que el foco de esta historia en particular (una que parece más interesada en el camino a la celebridad) no atiende tando. Aún así, creo que tiene suficientes elementos interesantes que explorar para querer ver lo que sigue.
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There's something incredibly old-fashioned about the way this game approaches its way of critiquing consumer society. Almost as if you were visiting a surrealist exhibition from the 1960s or a Roto comic strip of today. It is a very boomer game in its presentation, and yet the references are undeniably modern. The work that comes closest to Chamber of Stars is undoubtedly Gingiva, but that game has something more to say about alienation than this incredibly vague critique of celebrity culture.
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There's something incredibly old-fashioned about the way this game approaches its way of critiquing consumer society. Almost as if you were visiting a surrealist exhibition from the 1960s or a Roto comic strip of today. It is a very boomer game in its presentation, and yet the references are undeniably modern. The work that comes closest to Chamber of Stars is undoubtedly Gingiva, but that game has something more to say about alienation than this incredibly vague critique of celebrity culture.
2021
Este juego continúa donde Blue Lacuna y 17776 lo dejaron y añade la misma presentación y estilo (con mucho menos estilo) que el proyecto SCP. Ahora mismo no tiene mucho que explorar, pero es suficiente para recomendaros que hagáis una corta buceada a algunos artículos aleatorios. También se podría decir que este es el juego perfecto para la gente que pasa más tiempo en las enciclopedias de los juegos triple A que jugando, pero eso es un poco más cruel y no quiero meterme con nadie.
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This game picks up where Blue Lacuna and 17776 left it off, and adds the same presentation and style (with much less style) as the SCP project. You could also say that this is the perfect game for people who spend more time in triple-A game encyclopedias than playing them, but that's a bit cruel and I don't want to pick on anyone.
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This game picks up where Blue Lacuna and 17776 left it off, and adds the same presentation and style (with much less style) as the SCP project. You could also say that this is the perfect game for people who spend more time in triple-A game encyclopedias than playing them, but that's a bit cruel and I don't want to pick on anyone.