See to me, I think even this is too flashy

Here’s one I missed from around a week back. Apparently in a recent podcast interview with Total PC Gaming, Telltale Games’ director of design Dave Grossman mused pointedly at the idea of resurrecting LucasArts’ adventure classic LOOM.

Many people were overjoyed with the idea of seeing one of their childhood classics back on the scene. Others, like me, are a little more skeptical about the idea. Here’s a transcripted section of the interview:

The one I always think about these days is Loom actually, and how ahead of it’s time it was. I think the problem with it at the time was that it was only two and a half hours long and now I find myself deliberately trying to design games that are only two and a half hours long. So I think … well, why not do that?

-Dave Grossman, raider of the Lucas Arts

Now I loved LOOM. It’s unique design and gameplay made it one of the greatest adventure games ever to come out of the then LucasFilm stable. But something about creating it’s sequels doesn’t seem right, at least in my mind.

To me, the charm of LOOM was in it’s simple design and basic yet rich VGA graphics. I’m probably in a small minority of people who thought that the CD-ROM version of the game actually spoiled the mood.

At the time of it’s original creation, LOOM‘s creator Brian Moriarty did pen two sequels, even though actually producing them was “just talk”. Now it seems they might see the light of day, and only about twenty years after they were written. The sequels, called “Forge” and “The Fold“, revolved around the characters that Bobbin leaves behind after tearing the Pattern at the end of of the first game. Bobbin then acts in an advisory capacity, helping his stranded friends to fight against Chaos, who still retains control over half of the original Pattern.

It would be a big undertaking for Telltale, if they were to go ahead with it. While the first game is essentially aimed at a family friendly level, it also contained more of an adult feel than the carefree, laugh-along examples provided by Monkey Island and Sam and Max. So could Telltale take on something that is both funny but deep at the same time? It’d break away from their body of work so far, it’s true, but it’s probably something that the team would relish the challenge of.

If they could accomplish it, then the only remaining hurdle would be convincing old-school weirdos like myself that it could live up to it’s predecessor!

Take a look at the interview article.