Bitmap Books has been putting out some amazing books over the last few years., such as I’m Too Young To Die: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 1992–2002, The Secret History of Mac Gaming: Expanded Edition, Go Straight: The Ultimate Guide to Side-Scrolling Beat-’Em-Ups and The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games (Expanded Edition). Bitmap Books has also been putting out what are essentially art books mixed with background information and interviews about various consoles and genres and one that stood out is The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games.
Point-and-Click Adventure Games have been a key part of gaming history and seeing them covered in detail in The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games is a wonderful experience. There are excellent visuals chosen to highlight the diversity of the games in the genre and with a good range of emotions drawn. Some of the art choices stand out more than others in a wonderful sense of the genre, with classics like Leisure Suit Larry, highlighted alongside Tell Tale’s The Walking Dead.
In addition to the amazing visuals from the games, there are a number of interviews with iconic figures in the genre, such as Dave Gilbert and Dave Grossman, and these give us more insight into the development of these games. Unlike a book such as The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games (Expanded Edition or Run ‘n’ Gun: A History of On-Foot Shooters, The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games is less a history book and more of a celebration of the genre, with history added in.
Insight into development of classics like Quest for Glory and Monkey Island is a great part of the book, but striking the right blend is difficult and yet Bitmap Books managed to pull it off extremely well. One thing I enjoyed was the discussion of how Adventure games have changed in the modern era and how a PC oriented genre is finding itself more and more on consoles these days. Since The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games was released, it has gone through multiple editions with more content added, and yet even more advancements have happened since the last edition, with more content added each time, showing the genre is far from dead and its history is bigger than we realized.
What I especially liked the most about The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games is that it talks about games that were ill-fated but had so much potential if not for development issues, such as The Dig. The information provided there was extremely interesting and shined a lot on an oft-neglected part of gaming history. It is one thing to highlight the well known successes like Monkey Island and Myst, but the lesser titles need attention as well.
The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games also takes time to highlight the hybrid games in the genre, such as the aforementioned Quest for Glory games, which blended Point-and-Click Adventure Games with Role-Playing Games and did so in a unique way. With many more indie games taking this route, there is a lot of potential for future editions to cover, as well as the bridge of Point-and-Click Adventure Games and Visual Novels. In general, there is a lot for future editions, because there have been so many advances in just the last few years, with titles like the new version of Beyond Shadowgate and other classic revivals and new takes on the genre.
The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games is a different sort of art book and as mentioned earlier, acts as a celebration of the genre and its history. I would like to see a more in depth game by game analysis style book along the lines of The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games (Expanded Edition) in the future, because the genre has so much history and so many great games deserve to be highlighted. Still, if you are a fan of Point-and-Click Adventure Games and want a book highlighting the best of the genre while showing off its art and a lot of its history, then The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games is a must buy for you. This is a dream come true book for any devotee of the genre and a well crafted resource for those wanting to know more about its history.
Disclaimer: We were provided an ebook version for this review
