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E3 '12 - Ron Gilbert & Double Fine Take Us Into 'The Cave'

By GG-AngelThanatos 1 year ago • 0 Comments

Video game legend, Ron Gilbert invited us into a dark and mysterious room off to one side of the SEGA booth. As we entered, Senior Producer Matt Hansen smiled at my Double Fine shirt. “Well, YOU’RE gonna be hard to impress.”

There, surrounded by the awesome concept art of Derek Brand and Levi Ryken, we got a first-hand look at seven unique adventurers and a cave with a sultry voice. Oh, yeah. It’s a talking cave, baby.

You begin by choosing a team of three from the following choices: a Hillbilly, Time Traveler, Knight, Monk, Scientist, Adventurer or a pair of creepy, Tim Burton-esque Twins. Those who come to The Cave are looking for something; enlightenment, answers, power…everyone has their own reasons but the adventure will be epic, no matter who you choose.

Note: for you fans of Costume Quest I noticed a resemblance between brainy Trick-or-Treater, Lucy and The Scientist from The Cave. I commented that she could be Lucy’s mom! Turns out it was a coincidence but they looked a tad concerned so who knows if The Scientist will change her look before the finished product.

Along your journey into the depths of The Cave, (which again, TALKS) you will encounter a number of puzzles and obstacles that each character can solve in a unique way. Also, there are special areas designed for each character; a castle for the Knight, a missile silo for the Scientist, etc. However, you can only access the areas for which you have those characters. In this way, replay value will be relatively high so you can play again with different characters, solve puzzles in different ways and access new areas.

In Ron Gilbert/Double Fine tradition, the quirky adventure will be full of witty dialogue and sight gags. During the live demo, we found a vending machine in the cave (lol) which dispenses a gigantic hot dog which you must tote across treacherous areas to lure a monster.

Each character is uniquely animated and although they will not be saying much themselves (The Cave does most of the narration), I was impressed with how much personality has been infused into them all. We couldn’t help but giggle through the entire experience and I’m looking forward to trying it myself.