Video games based in the golden era

[Matt Deckard]

http://www.indianajones.com/videogames/news/news20050518.html

I have played a few of the Indiana Jones games and think there is much more they can do to make them better. I have had fun with 1940's fighter games. What have you played and what is worth buying now?

I have and X-Box and a PC.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Did you play Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb? That one was fairly decent although that level near the end with the tank caused my friend and I no end of trouble...

Other than WWII related games (of which there are many to choose from) I think the best Golden Era game is Mafia. It is sort of a Grand Theft Auto only with a more cinematic/realistic feel and set in the 30s. I think it is a really great game just in terms of plot and gameplay but when you add the 1930s angle it become spectacular. It is fun to just get in a car and drive around the city or countryside looking at the scenery and pretending it is 1935.

 

[scotrace]

Game

Battlefield 1942. Online play, etc. Pretty good graphics, and the mac version is great.
PS2 & a Mac.

 

[IndianaGuybrush]

As mentioned in another thread, Mafia, which is more or less GTA set in the golden era.

Also, Grim Fandango, a LucasArts game set in the fictional Land of the Dead which is very golden era. The decor in the game is a cool mix of art deco and aztec. The storyline is pure noir as well.

 

[jake_fink]

Mafia isn't just the only video game set in the golden era that I've ever played, it is the only video game I've ever played, period. I liked it. I liked just driving around town, and the missions were fun, though, I think, a little easy - except for the race, which was frustratingly, boringly, impossibly hard. Finally got through just on luck.

Mafia

Anyway, the Godfather video game is due in October, set after the second world warr and based on the film. I'm looking forward to that.

The Godfather

 

[Rumpled Fedora]

Crimson Skies for the Xbox looks like a good game.
It's a flight shooter set in the 30's I believe...

 

[Kent Allard]

Destroy All Humans is set in the 50's. You play an alien conquering Earth and stealing human brains. There is a fun section that takes place at a drive-in showing "Plan 9 From Outer Space".

 

[Oscar Tong]

Recommended: Tex Murphy series

I would recommend the Tex Murphy series, particularly Under a Killing Moon, The Pandora Directive, and Tex Murphy: Overseer. The first two games are DOS games and are so far largely incompatible with DOSBox; the third game is a Windows 95/98 product that, with a bit of work, will run on Windows XP.

From the Unofficial Tex Murphy Web Site, currently under renovation:

Tex Murphy is an old-fashioned gumshoe living in the new-fangled future. In post-World War III San Francisco, Tex is one of the people counted as a Norm—a person whose genetic makeup was not affected by the post-war radiation. Norms have a natural immunity to the radiation, and most of them live in New San Francisco, the area of the city that was rebuilt after the war, but Tex doesn't. He lives in Old San Francisco with the Mutants—the people who were altered by the radiation. Somehow, he feels more comfortable around those who have been shunned and rejected, but he tells his clients that he lives there because the rent is cheap.

Tex is a man out of time. Dressed in a well-tailored trench coat and a soft felt fedora, he looks like a P.I. from the 1930s, not the 2040s in which he lives. The only thing different is the pair of comfy sneakers he wears in place of the traditional wing tips. Tex can handle the futuristic machinery and looks of his surroundings, but give him a glass of bourbon (neat) and a Lucky Strike*, and he feels right at home.

What I like about the games is the characters, the story, the writing, and that they are not mindless action games. They are first-person mystery-adventures with hardly any action sequences and no shooting. The few that do exist usually involve hiding and a bit of running. Give them a try if you find them in the bargain bin of your local video-game shop.

* Lucky Strike is a brand of cigarettes.

Here are some pictures from The Pandora Directive and one sort-of publicity still:

This is Tex Murphy, private investigator.

Here is Tex peering through the shadows.

This is Gordon Fitzpatrick, a man who hires Tex to locate a missing friend. Of course, this is the kind of case that becomes more complex than it first appears to be.

This is Chelsee Bando, Tex's friend and possible love interest (if you don't play him as a jerk). She runs the newsstand on Chandler Avenue, where Tex lives.

 

[IndianaGuybrush]

Those were amazing games, filled with the kind of Noir atmosphere that made me love the genre from a very young age. One of the best aspects of the game was the diologue for the voiceovers. Comic and gritty.

 

[ADGENTNC]

The greatest wwII game I have ever played (or rather expeirenced) is Brothers in Arms...Cinematic feel, gritty dialogue and gameplay, and an amazing control system. Also, I thought it did a great job of providing a GI feel to the plot.

Mafia- by and large is a great game, althought it can be pretty frustrating at times...

Crimson Skies- while not exactly a golden era game- is a alt. reality flight sim. The game does not do the universe justice, and you can check out the Crimson Skies world here

Regards,
AD

 

[Zach R.]

I agree Brothers in Arms is great, any WWII aficianado and certainly any gamer should have it in their library. :cheers1:

I didn't enjoy Mafia at all though, if anyone wants my copy for the PC, I'll see if I can find it and ship it to you.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

I think Dismuke is looking for a copy of Mafia. He played it on my computer and liked it.

 

[Dismuke]

I didn't enjoy Mafia at all though, if anyone wants my copy for the PC, I'll see if I can find it and ship it to you.

Vladimir is correct: I am indeed looking for a copy. At the very least, let me reimburse you for the shipping.

 

[Zach R.]

I've got to find it first, I'll get back to you.

 

[Empyrium]

Anyone with a golden era based PC game which can be played online?
It would be cool to see the loungers playing together

 

[Laraquan]

The Last Express is set not in the Golden Era but in 1914 before the war and is simply astonishing graphically and atmospherically. Bioshock has got some real nice art deco / art nouveau looks but is set later - the sixties I think. There is another one, set in the 30s I think, but it dang went and slipped my mind... That's right. Dark Corners of the Earth - a Lovecraftian stealth-shooter was set around then, I do believe. They're all great games, even ones that aren't strictly Golden Era.

 

[ScionPI2005]

I would like to put in my vote for the Tex Murphy games as well. I have played adventure computer games throughout my childhood and into my adulthood-though to a lesser extent due to life taking over. In part, the Tex games are what got me interested in pursuing the real field of investigation.

I would also recommend the computer game, Black Dahlia by Take 2. The game is from 1998 I believe, and is not affiliated with the James Ellroy novel or movie. The game starts in 1941, right before the US gets involved in WWII. You work as an agent for the COI (in the game, COI turns out to be the predecessor to the OSS-though I have not heard if this is truly the case in real life). You start by investigating Nazi propaganda, and get involved in the Torso Killings of Cleveland, WWII, and the Elizabeth Short homicide. Overall, I think it was a very good game that got overlooked sadly.

 

[Ken]

I am not majorly big into computer games but recently started playing Bioshock - what a fantastic game. Not only is it oozing with art deco grandeur of what could have been, with nice 40s music and characters but also it actually gives you ethical decisions to make to influnece the outcomes. Not to mention the graphics are beautiful, the story compelling and the game play great.

I also enjoyed Grim Fandango but admit to never completing it.

Ken

 

[nyx]

I am not majorly big into computer games but recently started playing Bioshock - what a fantastic game. Not only is it oozing with art deco grandeur of what could have been, with nice 40s music and characters but also it actually gives you ethical decisions to make to influnece the outcomes. Not to mention the graphics are beautiful, the story compelling and the game play great.

I also enjoyed Grim Fandango but admit to never completing it.

Ken

I loved Grim Fandango. All of the buildings were beautiful, and I loved the whole Day of the Dead decorations mixed into it. I did finish it, but it's honestly been awhile. Maybe I'll take it out again...

 

[Socrets]

Hi.

Hi there! Well, I've been looking around the forums for some advice on how to get rid of sweat stains on a ribbon and I found this thread and I just couldn't help myself. Not to say, I'm not a fan of Golden Era fashion (I sport my fedora when I can). But anyway enough nonsense rambling (Oh, and yes I did actually find what I was originally looking for.). Apparently, the Golden Era is still influencing games for the better. So here's my two bits on Golden Era gaming.

Golden Era: Saboteur
Release Date: 2008
Warning: Implied Neck-breaking Violence
http://www.saboteurthegame.com/

Interesting concept. They're going for a noir setting in Vichy France. You get to play an Irish race car driver in France whose life gets turned upside down by (guess who?) Nazis. Apparently areas with a heavy Nazi presence and whose populace has low will to fight is essentially in all black and white and red. Long story short, eliminating more Nazis=more color variation in the scenery and a more active populace (doesn't mean you've driven the Nazis out of France just forced them to stay in military bases/police stations/etc). Only problem is that you'd probably end up selling a family member or two just to pay for an X-Box 360.

Not Golden Era but the trailer has a nice golden era song and various influences:
http://fallout.bethsoft.com/teaser/teaser.html

Supposedly, Fallout 3 has licenses for about 20 songs from the 1940s that you can listen to as you wander around the wasteland that is now D.C. In other words, you get to listen to the Ink Spots while a mutant gnaws your arm off. Furthermore, Bethesda has incorporated various designs from the 1940s and 1960s into their post-apocalyptic setting. Also, ff you can find them on youtube, the introduction for fallout and fallout 2 have golden era songs too, I think.

Although if you're looking for a Golden Era overdose, I sincerely doubt anyone can beat Bioshock.