Discworld

"For Those with a Sense of Humor"

Preface:
I have always fancied myself as someone with a sense of humor (a unique one at that). I have noticed in my 16 or so odd years playing video games, that a truly funny game (that sacrifices no gameplay) is hard to find. One day I found myself contemplating the purchase of a little-known game known as Discworld II. When I was told of its heralded jokes during the game, I could not pass it up. After enjoying this game to its fullest, I set out on search for the Original Discworld.

I feel it is worth noting that this game is very hard to find. Online Auction sites are the only sure-fire way to find it and there are times when those do not have any copies for the PS1. I cannot stress enough that the game is worth it, but the search for it might deter some. Enough of this and on to the game.

Story: (9)
Discworld is based off of several novels by Terry Pratchett, but reading them is not necessary to enjoy the game (I have never even seen one of the novels before). Upon playing you are transported to the world of Discworld (a disc that is transported by a turtle), in the role of a goof-up wizard named Rincewind (voiced my Eric Idle of Monty Python fame). Your role is to stop a dragon terrorizing Ankh-Morpork (a city). While this may seem like a simple story the enormous amounts of dialogue between characters adds so much to the game and make it a pleasure to learn as much amusing information about the characters as possible. Also the story does get deeper towards the end, but I do not want to ruin it for you here.

Gameplay: (9)
If you have played Maniac Mansion, you need not read the rest of this section because they are almost the same. Using a point and click interface you control Rincewind and how he interacts with his surroundings. You can examine some objects, take others, and use some as well. You can store all of your items in Luggage (a walking trunk whose name is self-explanatory) and use them at your leisure. My personal favorite feature are the options for dialogue. When you meet someone, you choose how to talk to them (normal, sarcasm, and more) and they respond differently. This is a nifty feature and it breaks up the monotony of normal adventure games that only approach dialogue in one way.

Sound: (10)
It is hard to justify a 10, but the voice acting makes up for the lack-luster music. The music is not bad, just not memorable or even really noticeable for that matter. The breaks in sound (while the other is loading I guess) is annoying but the voices are so well done that I was in stitches laughing very often during this game (There is an interaction that deals with a note with the word 'monkey' being written on it which is still one of my favorite video game moments of all time. The voice acting make this game and I wish other games could execute as well as Discowrld did.

Graphics: (7)
When this game came out in 1995 the graphics must have been breath-taking. Now in 2004, they hold up but aren't great. I refuse to give any game anything below a 7 in graphics if I have no problem navigating through it, and they don't destroy the gameplay. Discworld has bright well drawn 'cels' (I hesitate to say cel-shaded) that animate worse than a flip-book I drew in first grade. When not moving they still look good (lush backgrounds, good character models), but the animation is so herky-jerky that it makes me wonder how many frames were used for some of the activities. Keep in mind that it was not a big-name game developed by some huge company. Perfect 10 and Psygnosis did a commendable job for what they were given. And I still think that this could have been one of the best looking games out in 1995.

Others:
Replay is moderate because, if you are like me, you will want to see some of these hilarious moments again and again. The biggest flaw in my mind is that it takes up 8 memory blocks on your PS1. This is depressing because I wish I could have like 5 saves from this game, but alas I cannot. If you have one of those big third party ones this should not be a factor.

Overall: (9)
While I cannot give this game a perfect score, it remains an enjoyable game that ages quite well. I recommend you pick it up if you ever see it. You'll thank me. Enjoy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/13/04