I”ve been revisiting games of my youth recently, primarily of the point-and-click persuasion.
Sam and Max Hit the Road, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle. The list goes on and on. It was these games that instilled my appreciation for storytelling in games.
One game that I have not been able to stop playing is one that I didn”t play until my teenage years: I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream.
Originally released in 1995, the game is based on the book of the same name by science fiction writer Harlan Ellison, which was published in 1967.
The game tells the story of five people kept alive and tortured by a sentient computer name “AM” – from the adage “I think, therefore I am.”
Each person has a character flaw, one has suicidal tendencies, the second is an ex-Nazi physician, the third has a phobia over the color yellow, the fourth is a murderer and the last is a con artist.
Serious subject matter for a game, and not easy to get through at many points.
Through simulated experiences, each person is offered the chance to redeem themselves or overcome their problems, which is how the player reaches one of the game”s four endings.
The title of the game is what brought me back to it, with the recent premature birth of my third son and his inability so much as cry because of breathing and feeding tubes, as well as sedation, I feel that he has no mouth, but must scream.
It”s indescribably hard to watch a person as small as he is – not even two pounds – fight for life. And although he makes progress every day, every so often he will scrunch his face in a pained grimace and open his mouth only to remain silent.
At the same time, I feel my wife and I both have no mouths and must scream. We are in a purgatory of not knowing what the next day will bring, it may be good news, or it may be bad news. All we can do is wait.
But, like the ideal outcome for the characters of the game, we will all overcome these trials and be stronger for it. It is only a matter of patience and endurance. We have no choice but to ride this horrible wave until it breaks.
That is what makes me feel as if I am experiencing what the title of this game insinuates. I do have a mouth and I can scream, cry, curse and blaspheme.
But it will do no good.
All there is to do is fight through this nightmare and hope it will all work out.
Contact J. W. Burch, IV at 900-2022.
