Gravity Bone Review

Gravity Bone is an unexpected treasure released in 2009 by Blendo Games. The game wastes no time in plunging the viewer into the world. Without so much as a menu screen you are cruising in an elevator towards what looks to be a black tie event-taking place in a Minecraft version of the Swiss Alp’s. As the elevator doors slide open the player is inundated by cube headed strangers and a wave of garbled conversations. A card in your hand tells you where to go, a sign informs you of the basic controls. The most admirable thing about Gravity Bone is the economy of its design. The creators managed to create a cohesive experience and evoke a world with simple well-crafted elements. The low-fi esthetic is not just a visual style it is an effective way of getting shorthand across to the audience without getting weighted down in the details. The world of the game is a humorous amalgamation of Cold War era spy tropes and Noir films reminiscent of the Milkman Conspiracy segment in Phyconauts. The simplistic graphics serve to heighten the sense of absurdity and offer the player a clear indication of the path through the world.

For anyone who is already familiar with the language of first person videogames Gravity Bone will feel immediately familiar, comfortable even, as you navigate the world, find items and journey from A to B.  However, the creators actually use these assumptions to fuel the game’s narrative. Like Bioshock’s infamous twist, Gravity Bone confronts experienced player’s complacency to deliver a narrative kick. It some ways this strategy actually undermines the traditionally held assumptions of what game design should accomplish. Most games have the character progressing linearly and gaining in power with challenges growing accordingly. This is supposed to mirror the progression of the players themselves as they become empowered by mastering the game’s systems. Gravity Bone takes a decidedly non-linear approach more in line with its particular point of view. The game’s use of jump cuts and montage is a particularly good example of its non-linear approach to game progression. I wish more games would experiment with incorporating elements of filming storytelling into gameplay. Ultimately Gravity Bone does in half an hour what many games fail to accomplish in forty times the length not to mention the budget. Play it now it’s free.

In Class Assessment

Questions about Professor Incognito Apologizes:an Itemized List by Austin Grossman

Are there any prominent symbols in the story? 

The story plays with superhero archetypes, particularly those of the protagonist and super villain Professor Incognito. The costumes the Professor and his ex-girlfriend Nebula wear symbolize the capacity for people to lead double lives. The costumes represent a breakdown of communication for the couple that divide them, but also make them more alike than they realize. The Professor comes close to disclosing his identity many times over the course of their relationship, but he can never overcome the final emotional hurtle and put complete trust in his partner. Ironically, his girlfriend Suzanne was experiencing the same moral dilemmas simultaneously in regards to revealing her own secret identity. 

What elements did you connect with from the story? 

The story does a good job representing the struggles of a relationship, albeit in an exaggerated and entertaining framework. It’s difficult to be completely honest with another person all the time; in real life those secrets are probably smaller than being a super villain, but they are no less important in the context of ones own relationships. I appreciated the choice Professor Incognito sets up in the end for Suzanne. Despite the apocalyptic overtones, the Professor’s underlying affection for her comes through clearly in his plans. The Professor ultimately realizes that to repair and sustain their relationship he has to make compromises so he creates an arrangement that works in the confines of their unique situation.

What changes would you make to adapt the story to another medium?

Considering the current fervor in the entertainment industry around the superhero cash cow I’d be surprised if this story isn’t being adapted for the screen in some form or another right now. Though it’s a short story we still get a clear sense of the narrative and character arcs that would fit well into a Hollywood movie. The situation presented in the short story where Suzanne discovers Professor Incognito’s lair should be situated near the climax of the film. Their budding relationship and subsequent falling out would comprise the first two acts and there would have to be some kind of dramatic confrontation or reconciliation at the end. There is a lot of exposition through telling going on in the short story, which works to it’s benefit in this medium, however if it were to be adapted, the filmmaker would have to present the events the Professor describes visually so that the audience can experience them at the same time as the characters.

Thoughts on the Importance of Anime to Young Artists

My typical experience watching an anime is like walking into an unfamiliar restaurant and immediately being offered the choice between a left-handed mitten and a picture of a cactus. “Cactus” I say after some hesitation. I am quickly ushered to a table in the corner where I man I can’t understand yells at me and throws ping pong balls at my head. After twenty-two minutes of this he hands me the check. I struggle to reconcile this new experience with my pre-conceived notions of restaurants. Meanwhile my fellow restaurant-goers accept the ordeal without gleefully, discussing their favorite parts in detail. This was my experience watching Anime like Beyond the Boundary in class and generally in interacting with Anime fans.

Perhaps the cultural universe in which modern anime exists has been so deeply canonized that it has become incomprehensible to an outsider like me. These considerations are a factor when I try to determine the worth or importance of anime as a medium. But before I get into that it’s vital to understand what the term anime is actually referring too.

In his article What "Anime" Means Brian Ashcraft makes the point that the definition of anime is considerably more complicated than just “animation from Japan”. It is an amorphous term weighted by cultural associations and our own subjective interpretations. While the label might fall apart when applied to specific works, or even particular sub-genres in Anime, it is still somewhat useful in describing a general visual style, tone or overall body of work. So when I refer to Anime keep in mind I’m referring to some overly generalized aspects of an exceedingly diverse (and not necessarily Japanese) category.

As to whether or not it’s important for young artists to understand the manga/anime style, there are a couple important angles to consider this question from. From a practical perspective it is important for emerging artists to be well versed in the global media-scape. Non-Western nations are not just passive consumers. They are ever-increasing exporters of global culture on a scale that is at least comparable to the U.S. Artist should be permeable to all kinds of influences; close-mindedness leads to creative atrophy, which is a surefire way to be abandoned in the quickly evolving entertainment industry. So if artists should at least be aware of what’s going on in anime and manga, the question becomes how does it affect young artists?

Detractors of Anime argue that the form exerts too strong an influence on the budding creativity of young artists. There is a certain amount of visual and thematic homogeneity that is elemental to what is classily considered Anime. The detractors argue that this formulaic approach ultimately creates identical artists and as a result more formulaic, less compelling work. In the worst cases anime has become synonymous with weak storytelling predicated on clichés, fan service, and lack of attention to good drawings and motion.

However, It is not fair to single out Anime as an influence; after all young artists have to get interested in their craft somehow. I fail to see how something like American comic books or Disney animation exerts any less of a pull to a young artist’s fledgling sensibility. The only real difference is anime’s unique cultural perspective that lends a certain amount of artistic democratization to the medium (which is a separate topic in and of itself). Anime should stay open as potential destination for a young artist after they have a strong handle on their craft. If there’s any danger to the prevalence of Anime, or indeed the overemphasis on any one style, it’s that young artists may take away the wrong lessons when trying to understand it. The impulse for young artists is often to use a style as means to cover their own lack of experience. Anime and Manga represent a wealth of rich traditions and techniques in visual narrative. It is the responsibility of the artist not just to replicate what they’ve seen, but to understand why they are used and what are the elements that make them successful.