AndLoom, for all its beauty and strength of design, still succumbs to some of the
problems of adventure games. During the conversation cut-scenes, the game is com-
pletely linear and players have no control of the game whatsoever. This might be more
acceptable in smaller doses, but some of the cut-scenes inLoomgo on for a significant
amount of time. The game can also sometimes degrade into players trying to click
everything on the screen, just to see which objects can be manipulated. There is a good
chance that, if an object can be manipulated, players will need to do something with it to
complete the game. This is both good and bad: good in that it limits players’ actions to
useful ones instead of leading them down a false path after red herrings and pointless
diversions; bad in that it severely limits the interactiveness of the world. And some-
times the game’s landscape art is drawn in such a way that it is difficult to figure out
where Bobbin can navigate and where he cannot.
But, truly, these are minor complaints. Is it so bad thatLoomis a storytelling expe-
rience with a predetermined story? The game is only as worthwhile to play again as it is
to read a book or see a movie a second time. Of course, repeat reading and viewing is
something many people enjoy, if the work is good enough to warrant it.Loommay not
be as interactive asCivilization, but does every game need to be that interactive? A
game ofCivilizationmay tell an interesting story of the rise of an empire and the
advancement of technology, but to me there has never been a game ofCivilizationwith
a story as compelling and touching asLoom’s. Critics might ask, why not tellLoom’s
story as a book or an animated feature? Sure, the story could work in those forms, but
would players be so drawn in as when they are allowed to explore and interact with the
story-world in question? Through an adventure game likeLoom, players gain a certain
emotional attachment to and involvement in the events that transpire that is impossible
in other media. Perhaps it is not a game by an exclusionary definition, but that does not
make it any less worthwhile.
236 Chapter 12: Game Analysis:Loom