Year 1987. Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick , two of the greatest geniuses in the maelstrom of talent that was the LucasFilm Games of the time, launch Maniac Mansion and revolutionize forever the genre of graphic adventures, giving the kick-off to the golden age of it.
Unrepeatable time that gave us a myriad of timeless classics in a succession of jewels as a genre has not enjoyed again since then, and that would reach practically the end of the following decade, elevating the graphic adventures to the pantheon of PC video games and turning them into one of the favorite genres among the users of them.
Year 2017. Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick return to join forces after a long time apart to devote a heartfelt ode to that time, launching Thimbleweed Park, totally classic graphic adventure as it would have been conceived in the offices of Lucas in that magical and unrepeatable period.
Unlike the mentioned classic that these two legends of the sector launched then, this colossal graphic adventure does not pretend to revolutionize the genre nor lay the foundations of it. It is conformed, that is not little, with being a homage by all the highs to the best moments of the sort,
and to be one of the best graphic adventures that we have been able to enjoy from the yearnings 90, until the point that without a doubt it would have been a classic timeless like other works by Gilbert and Winnick to have left by then.
30 years, which is said soon, separate Maniac Mansion from Thimbleweed Park. And yet, it is inevitable to look back to the 1987 classic when we contemplate the tremendous work that Messrs. Gilbert and Winnick have given us, beyond the innumerable direct references included in the game.
After laying the foundations of the graphic adventures genre with the aforementioned classic, they continued to define it with titles such as the videogame adaptation of the third Indiana Jones movie, the first two adventures of the brave pirate candidate
Guybrush Threepwood and, although they only appear as collaborators, with the continuation of their first work together, Day of the Tentacle whose direction fell to Tim Schafer.
After such a productive period, both separated their roads and spent a long time away from the focus of the sector.
Winnick with an almost residual production, and Gilbert dedicating himself to titles for a more childish audience, as well as launching the interesting trilogy of action rpg DeathSpank, and returning to join forces with his old partner of misdeeds, the aforementioned Schafer, for The Cave, a Great combination of platform game with elements of graphic adventure.
Fortunately, during a meal that Gilbert and Winnick shared, the theme of the charm that the classics they designed in their time in LucasFilm Games / LucasArts came up..
After giving a lot of thought to the matter, they failed to specify the source of this charm. To the delight of their supporters, no other idea occurred to them than to recreate a graphic adventure following the guidelines they used then to respond to that question.
Three years later, after a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $ 626,250 between November 18 and December 18, 2014, the answer could not be more forceful.
Thimbleweed Park is a must-have for fans of graphic adventures, especially the most seasoned veterans in the genre who lived through the golden age, but its true triumph is knowing how to offer a tremendously attractive title beyond how well nostalgia is used. inevitable hook for a certain sector of players. It is a very funny title, with a phenomenally narrated plot that captures completely, while it knows how to be a fantastic challenge to our highly enjoyable wit and true height.
The last work of Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick supposes an authentic and heartfelt declaration of love to the genre of the graphic adventures and its
golden age, with which both have maintained the most fruitful of the relations. Idyll from which came masterpieces such as the aforementioned
Maniac Mansion, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Secret of Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2: Lechuck’s Revenge , and for our enormous rejoicing, we can add to this illustrious list of classics this superb Thimbleweed Park that concerns us.
Welcome to Thimbleweed Park, where nothing is as it seems
Set, how could it be otherwise, in 1987, the starting point of this great adventure is the appearance of a corpse floating in a river in the town that gives its name to the game. To investigate the case, two federal agents, the cynical and veteran detective Ray and the rookie and naive agent Reyes, will move to the area, two of the characters we will control throughout the game.
From this moment begins an investigation that hides much more than what appears at first glance, during which we will know the
picturesque town that will surprise us with its intrigues and its peculiar inhabitants. Along with the aforementioned police couple, three more characters will make up the brilliant quintet protagonist of the plot, characters that represent one of the
great strengths of the title. On the one hand we have Delores, a young member of the richest and most prestigious family in the town, who gave up her inheritance in pursuit of a life as a video game programmer at the famous company MmucasFlem.
His father will be another of the protagonists, perhaps the most peculiar of all, for reasons that we will not reveal here to not overtake more than necessary.
The last member of the main character is the clown Ransome, a foul-mouthed buffoon whose dialogues are full of bad words censored with the relevant “beep”, which has been the victim of a curse for going over the line in one of his scathing performances.
The plot retains the peculiar humor and those droplets of innocence that made the graphic adventures of Lucas of the time, being a constant festival of sarcasm, cynicism and parody as well as these two geniuses had accustomed us at the time.
Not content to impregnate the title of such a nostalgic characteristic, they have gone further by generously spicing it with the influence of two of the great television phenomena of that time, namely,
Twin Peaks and X-Files. Such influence is evident in the halo of mystery that It envelops the whole plot, and in that constant feeling that everyone in
Thimbleweed Park has something to hide, including the main character. This combination of the sharpest and sharpest humor with the enigma that permeates the plot works and catches until we manage to reveal everything that this mysterious town hides.
