About GamePeople

Gray Matter 360 Review

10/03/2011 Family Teen Gamer Review
Created by
Game Reviews
Home | Family Video Game Guides | Family | The Teen Gamer Column

Subscribe to the Teen Gamer column:
RSS or Newsletter.


Why not try our Blog, Radio or TV shows. Click for samples...


Gray Matter 360

Gray Matter

Format:
360

Genre:
Adventuring

Style:
Singleplayer

Buy/Support:
Support Rowan, click to buy via us...


Other GamePeople columnists have reviewed this from their perspective - huh?:
Tired Gamer (360)


Gray Matter 360 may not change the world, but it delivers a nostalgic point and click experience to a wider audience. I wasn't expecting to like it all that much, but was very soon hooked.

I've heard my dad going on about how great Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle and Beneath a Steel Sky were, but I've never really got what makes them so interesting. Too much reading and repetitive puzzles that don't make any sense to me - chickens and pulleys for example - have been a real turn off.

I've tried some of the downloadable point and click games too. Sam and Max on Wii-ware was fun for a while, but I couldn't help feeling it didn't quite have the budget behind it that it really needed. This actually made me quite excited to play Gray Matter, it's an original full priced point and click and genuine fresh meat for the genre.

The story introduces the usual combo of spooky locations, magic and a mystery to be solved. It is all very much from the Monkey Island playbook, and reminded me of watching my dad play when I was younger - jokes I never quite get, and over stylised characters making tongue in cheek remarks.

Some of my friends thought Gray Matter looked out of date next to games like Heavy Rain but I think they are missing the point.

It took me a while to get my head around the controls. Of course, on the 360 you don't have an obvious pointing device. Instead you have to use the analogue sticks to guide you on-screen hand. You can hold down a trigger button to access the different items in the current location, which made things a little easier.

After a while though I could easily navigate my way around the game, and got pretty speedy at the different controls. In fact I was enjoying it enough to call my dad upstairs to have a look. He sat down for a while but soon got frustrated not having a mouse. It worked fine for me, but I guess I'm not used to other styles of controls.

It was down to me to progress through the story on my own. This I actually found quite easy. Happily, there is a lot less combining of random objects to solve the different puzzles. This more straight forward approach meant I felt like there was a chance of actually figuring out what I should do using logic rather than wandering around relying on chance.

Gray Matter nails this nostalgia bang on, but in a way that has got a younger gamer like me actually playing it.

Some of my friends thought Gray Matter looked out of date next to games like Heavy Rain but I think they are missing the point. While Heavy Rain is exciting and new, it lacks the finesse and attention to dialogue and story of original point and click games.

Gray Matter nails this nostalgia bang on, but in a way that has got a younger gamer like me actually playing it. Rather than novelty, new interactions, flashy graphics and grandiose claims, Gray Matter gets on with being true to all those point and click games my dad still spends hours re-playing.

I like games that have the confidence to know their limits. Gray Matter stays within its genre, but does so with enough style and grace to win new converts. It has even got me thinking about playing Monkey Island for myself, there's an iPhone version I might try.

Written by Rowan Brown

You can support Rowan by buying Gray Matter



Subscribe to this column:
RSS | Newsletter

Share this review:

Rowan Brown writes the Teen Gamer column.

"I write about my favourite games from a younger person's perspective. It's often surprising how different this ends up to other more grown up reviews."


© GamePeople 2006-13 | Contact | Huh?

Grown up gaming?

Family Video Game Age Ratings | Home | About | Radio shows | Columnists | Competitions | Contact

RSS | Email | Twitter | Facebook

With so many different perspectives it can be hard to know where to start - a little like walking into a crowded pub. Sorry about that.

But so far we've not found a way to streamline our review output - there's basically too much of it. So, rather than dilute things for newcomers we have decided to live with the hubbub while helping new readers find the columnists they will enjoy.

What sort of gamer are you?

Our columnists each focus on a particular perspective and fall into one of the following types of gamers:

Download the original attachment