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Passage: Interactive Art
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One Game Feature by MAtt Dujnic, 3/4/08
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As if in felicitous response to my surliness at Mass Effect's time sink and my cynicism about BioShock's overwrought artistic pretentions, Jason Rohrer produced a lovely little game called Passage, which is both quick to play and is a profoundly simple work of art. If you are late to the party on Passage (as Game Grump itself admittedly is), go download and play it now. There is a version for your computer. Instructions: use the arrow keys move in the four cardinal directions. Go now.
You've played it? Okay, welcome back. My own time with the game was colored by news coverage and critical analysis beforehand. So, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you. If you still haven't taken the five minutes, go download and play it now. No kidding.
Right. Wasn't that fun? Maybe only a little, or maybe not exactly. Given its short duration, measuring fun in Passage isn't critical. What Passage brings to the table is certainly interesting. The game turned me reflective. It fascinated me, filled me with bittersweet melancholy, and almost impossibly, nostalgia. Near the end, palpable sadness. All in five minutes. Go download and play it now.
Passage is what I presume will eventually be called 'interactive art.' I am a man who is already quite convinced of the artistry of video games, but I recognize that, just as there are 'movies' and there are 'films,' so too will our pastime demand a similar dichotomy of 'video game' and 'interactive art.' And ever on will rage the debates about what falls where and why it matters. But on Passage, I can see no debate. It clearly is not on the 'video game' side . In any case, it is game enough to belongs to us (that is, gamers).
Not everyone will find profundity when playing Passage. Like any piece of art, you have to have the eye for it. Or, more precisely, the eye, ear, and hand. The eye that is used to squeezing meaning out of tiny chunks of pixels. The ear that subconsciously translates simplified, occasionally dissonant, blips into meaningful melody. The hand that communicates instinctively to virtual action through keys and buttons. The gamer has these - laymen do not.
That's right, we have laymen now! What fun. Gamers are more likely to appreciate Passage than non-gamers, just as an art critic is more likely to lose himself in sublime brushwork while others see only a painting of fruit. Pretentious? Fine. But as gamers, we're due.
Like any piece of art, there is more in Passage if you choose to find it. Interact again and again, and more layers unspool. Colored dots on treasure chests mean something. Taking a partner or going alone means something. Finally, your own feelings, imagination, and interpretation means the most of all, and that's powerful. All out of (and perhaps because of) a mere 100 x 16 pixels. Go download and play it now.
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'Interactive Art'
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#&rendershop#
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