Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth

The events of the novel covers the period 1123 -. 1174 years, a troubled time in the history of English is not settled state, when, after the death of King Henry I and his tragic death in a shipwreck of his heir, the son of William , began a protracted internecine struggle for power.

Against the backdrop of political and religious intrigues, plots and wars Ken FollettHe describes the fate of a plurality of different characters, which, however, are directly involved in all these tumultuous events. Mason Tom Builder, the dream is not to repair the house, and to erect churches, his children and his disciple

Jack, the son of a wild and chaotic Ellen that Tom met after the death of his wife, the monk Philip, beautiful Aliena, dishonored daughter of the influential Earl, who fell victim to his own ambition – they are all different, but the fate of their intricate patterns interwoven in these troubled times.

These key characters present in the game, which, of course, follows the central plot of the novel. At first we were individually introduced to each of them, making an outsider unfamiliar with the book, may fall into frustration – five minutes ago, we have taken birth in the woods near his dying wife of Tom, and now in the role of Philip doing chores fictional Kingsbridzhskogo monastery, and soon then for little Jack shoot from a sling in the deer …

but this protracted introduction are perfectly familiar with the main actors, and soon all of them one way or another are linked by common events in which personal destiny, joy, and drama are inseparable from the politi eskih and religious – and we understand how multi-faceted story is waiting for us …

Interactive book

And it is all the more interesting for the players, as opposed to the novel’s readers, can somehow influence events and even change them – so here are some situations differ from the original. In fact Daedalic Entertainment for the first time decided to act in the genre of interactive books.

In Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth is “masseffektovskie” dialog box, and in many cases, the time to choose the replica and solutions, just like in the games Telltale Games is , is limited.

Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth обзор игры

QTE unpretentious here, but where do without them now?

As a result, influence can be on a lot of different situations, from some relative trifles (as will develop Jack’s relationship with his son Tom, take the evil assistant to the prior monk, thief or not) to global events – addressed whether Philip on the plot with the bishop Bigode (one of the novel antagonists), or not to let the refugees in the monastery. And if he did not help the bishop, perhaps, there would be no refugee that makes us suffer, and conscience, and character.

The game accurately monitors and takes into account all the steps in each chapter and at the end resembles what you did and how did – until some again, little things like that, could one find an old inscription on the wall of the mill, who poured stew in the first place and helped to warm the legs if the old one monk (he, by the way, in this case, Philip will support in its disputes with the brother).

There are other gameplay elements fashionable nowadays, or rather hints at them. You can navigate through the global map, choosing where to go – for example, to the bishop or directly to the city. Otherwise we run between the different refugee groups and decide who and how much to give bread. There are unpretentious QTE.

In this situation, the actual quest, what is, strictly speaking, the genre is Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the EarthPredictably reduced to a level unusual for games Daedalic Entertainment’s .

No, this is certainly not a complete entity, like Telltale : there are tools, and the collection of items that need to be applied in the right places, and running between locations, but there are no complicated puzzles – everything is simple and logical.

Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth обзор игры

Very symbolic picture for the game.

 

***

Experiments with the interactive format, “imprisoned” solely on the narrative plot, started in Silence , gave their seedlings in Ken Follett’s Pillars of The Earth of the – we have perhaps the most ambitious and unusual quest in the history of Daedalic. Yes, apart from the text of the book itself and without prior acquaintance with it some situations seem strained and strange.

Especially when everything is so fantastically combined with the construction of romance, religious rhetoric, reading the Bible and jokes about the color,

I’m sorry, kakashek knight. But this is only a superficial impression of an outsider, and already in the course of the first authors of the book manages to intrigue and to show the full potential, the depth of this very multifaceted history – so I personally look forward to continuing.

As usual in such cases, we now expose only a preliminary assessment – to sum up the after all three “books”. 

Pros:a fascinating story; a lot of interesting characters; the non-linearity of the narrative; Excellent hand-drawn graphics; wonderful music; expressive scoring of all conversations and remarks.