| Freak Show, The Residents' | Cryptic Corporation, The / Voyager Company, The | 1994 | |
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Freak Show is the first foray into interactive software from the underground San Francisco band The Residents. It's a bit adventure, yet without a linear plot and puzzles. It's best described as a multimedia experience, a digital art showcase, or a virtual visit to, well, a freak show. Characters to meet include Tex the Barker, Herman the Human Mole, Harry the Head, Wanda the Worm Woman, Jelly Jack, Benny the Bump. The game featured some of the best 3D renderings for a computer program, at the time, and everything was rendered and animated by world-famous computer animator Jim Ludtke. The Residents are a strange band indeed. They have released dozens of albums since 1971, they co-invented the music video, they've not been played on MTV (which shows they must be original), they've done numerous live shows and performances, and still no-one knows who they are. In 1993, The Residents approached Jim Ludtke, an award-winning illustrator and animator who had previously done a video clip for them, with the idea of creating a multimedia CD-ROM experience based on their Freak Show comic book. When you first start Freak Show, you are dropped into a freak show tent with a few pitiful, unimpressive attractions. The most interesting part is the last exhibit, a list of 81 real freaks and their stories. The Residents have ensured all these freaks are treated with the proper respect. That sounds like pretty meager content for a whole CD-ROM, and indeed it is - until you deliberately ignore the pesky owner and go backstage. You can visit the trailers of the freaks that star in the game and learn more about their personal lives - the humans behind the freaks (this technique is also used in the other Residents CD-ROM, Bad Day on the Midway). This is not a normal adventure game - you can't die or lose, but you can't win either. You can visit the trailers and explore (and get your fill of The Residents' music, videos, performances and merchandise), learn about the personal tragedies of the stars, then leave. And so, says the closing narration, a freak show is much like life: nobody laughs when they leave. | ||
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