Stacking Preview, Tim Schafer's best game yet?

by Guest Thu 20 Jan 2011 - 20:32

Back when Gina G ruled the airwaves and Pop Tarts were inexplicably accepted as wholesome breakfast fare, I was invited to hear some of the UK's brightest literary talent speak in Big London.

I say "invited". In truth, it was a school trip enforced upon me by a Beatnik English teacher - about as Beatnik as you got in Suffolk, 1995, anyway, what with wearing a few beads and smelling faintly of lavender - and I was far too preoccupied with Tiffany Amber Thiessen and giant fizzy cola bottles to pay it much mind.

Yet one brief moment, even a full decade-and-a-half later, still stands out.

A strident, (self-proclaimed) feminist scholar confidently stomped onto the stage and clutched the mic. She was due to discuss the idea that much of the English language had been created by men to deliberately reinforce a sociological structure in which they could unjustly thrive. Jurassic Park, this was not.

She took a deep breath. "Penetration."

Never before or since have I witnessed such a bold opening gambit. It whipped through the room, physically knocking necks half an inch backwards and stabbing dead furtive conversations about who-fancied-who.

The girls gasped. The boys sniggered. The Beatnik looked flustered. Everyone was unsure if this was okay.

The clamorous host continued: "It's definitely a word that only a man could have invented to describe a sexual act. If a woman had named it, it would surely be called something softer, more descriptive - like 'envelopment'."

Alas, I was but a recently pubic pup, and perhaps didn't give the shock-value quandary the consideration it deserved. Besides, a buzz-cutted ally, clad almost exclusively in Hi-Tec, quickly shattered the tension by shouting out "nobbing". I still consider him very much a hero.

I hadn't consciously thought about this entire incident again until last week, when I was first confronted with Tim Schafer's latest creation, Stacking; a game which pits you as tiny Russian / Matryoshka Doll Charlie Blackmore, and gives you the ability to hop inside a huge array of characters.

Does a Russian Doll, I considered, actually "stack" at all? Surely it "nests"? Or, indeed... "envelops"?

A peculiar line of thought, yes. But in all honesty, I expect a Double Fine game to inspire nothing less. That's what they're supposed to do.

Following my playthrough of Stacking, Tim Schafer and co-creator Lee Petty would explain that Double Fine never wants to make software that is even occasionally predictable, or at least which inspires predictable responses.

They admitted that they are almost mechanically obsessed with the notion of "the humour of surprise" - something which Stacking wears proudly on its teak sleeve.

From its pleasingly consonantal title to its diorama-Python tableau; its dome-faced heroes and heroines to its ragtime-piano-meets-instrumental-baroque score, Stacking is stuffed with unorthodox aesthetic and gameplay touches. But unlike some of Schafer's more easily criticisable material, none of it seems at all out-of-place in the world Double Fine has constructed.

My hands-on begins with an introduction to little Charlie, a teeny chimney sweep struggling to make his mark on a Dickensian world that consistently ignores him. His family are finding it tough to scrape together whichever currency best befits Russian Dolls, before good news arrives: dad has found employment with a wealthy baron, promising to eradicate his clan's battle with poverty.

This early narrative platform is evocatively soundtracked by classic photoplay piano - its ham-fisted melody bringing the jittery silent movie reel and text dialogue on screen to comedic life. It isn't long before the tempo rises, along with the tension.

Within weeks of the old man's exit, we learn he's racked up huge debts no-one in his bloodline could hope to repay. With his family suffering against a backdrop of nutrition-free gruel and threadbare clothing, the wealthy baron's men storm in to capture every one of them.

Every one, that is, except Charlie: even in a group kidnapping which will lead to a life of maximum harsh industrialism and minimal personal gain, he is given the cold shoulder. "You can stay," barks the henchman. "We need workers, not runts."

Motivated by a will to put right this injustice - and, as Petty would have it, a desire to show "even the littlest person can have a big effect on the world" - Charlie sets out to rescue his siblings from the treachery of enforced serfdom. It won't shock long-term Schafer fans, but within minutes, an unlikely hero is born.

As you take control of Charlie, a Vivaldi-esque classical score strikes up, immediately plunging you into a vivid Victorian society where our protagonist's grimy face and tufty flatcap do him no classist favours.

Stacking's art style is nothing short of beguiling. Its mix of Victorian theatre with a kind of End Of The Pier silliness may sound simple or cartoonish, but Double Fine's vast world is filled to the brim with intricate, non-stop reminders of a fustier age. Look closer, and there are plenty of Aardman-style visual gags, too: cigars as chimneys or angry men literally 'blowing their top' with steam.

It's all done with such a delicate touch, not to mention vulnerability - like a model village come to life - that even belching and farting gags raise a smile; their anarchic qualities all-the-more heightened by the etiquette-obsessed toffs who surround you.

Charlie's venture to rescue his oppressed family begins in a chasmal railway station, which immediately poses a clear problem. You're tasked with somehow persuading members of the train's Guild, safely locked away in a swanky members' bar, to converse with picketers and get the steam engines moving again.

If this sounds like the sort of trial you'd find in a point'n'click adventure, that's because that's exactly what Stacking is, to a degree. Although there's no inventory to report, each doll you climb inside - and there isn't a single one you can't - has a single signature skill, which you can then use to solve a puzzle.

For example, the doorman of the bar has to be distracted before we can approach the Guild, and the curvy lady's 'seduce' ability (which involves a whole lotta' wiggling) does the job nicely.

Initially, this one-choice system seems restrictive, but after discovering a new character (and therefore skill) around nearly every corner, and that multiple stacking - i.e. climbing inside somebody, and then somebody else - also becomes part of the challenge, there's plenty here to get the grey matter whirring.

There are also hints that some historical pathos may creep into proceedings - not least the child coal miners, who splutter up carcinogenic muck via their 'black lung' ability.

Stacking's biggest asset, however, is its sheer good-natured humour, which shines through in every aspect of the game - from the often clipped conversations you can instigate with each NPC, to the chunky, wooden sound effect set off by hopping inside another doll.

Having taken the train to a cruise ship location, an abundance of hangover-friendly delights unfurl. Each character's skill is often giggle-worthy in itself; whether punching with a strong-man's over-sized fist, camply slapping with an old gent's white glove or, in the case of one mini-game, dragging the behind of an ill-behaved mongrel across the ship's floor.

On-board trials cause widespread smirking - and are regularly dependant on causing delirious mayhem. These included a fantastic set-piece in which Charlie climbs inside (no... it still doesn't sound right) a bear suit and growls at unsuspecting safari park attendees, and a segment in which he must halt an amusingly over-sized caviar production line, much to the chagrin of engorged lunching ladies.

Every challenge, mini-game and encounter in Stacking can be approached in a variety of ways, and offers a myriad of cheerful rewards. It's an undeniably feel-good title, and one which has obviously been created by people who know precisely how to stuff an interactive experience with warmth and geniality - something of which Schafer is undoubtedly a master.

I haven't yet spent enough time with Stacking to be sure whether our relationship will ever move to the "better than envelopment" stage, but know this: it's already charmed my pants clean off.

Stacking Preview, Tim Schafer's best game yet? Screenshot_244699

Stacking Preview, Tim Schafer's best game yet? Screenshot_244699

Stacking Preview, Tim Schafer's best game yet? Screenshot_244698

Stacking Preview, Tim Schafer's best game yet? Screenshot_244695

Stacking Preview, Tim Schafer's best game yet? Screenshot_244690

by **FWG Rigor Mortice** Fri 21 Jan 2011 - 10:18

I like the look of this.

Stacking Preview, Tim Schafer's best game yet?

Stacking Preview, Tim Schafer's best game yet?

Re: Stacking Preview, Tim Schafer's best game yet?