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Game 37 Loom Final Rating

Im genuinely interested to see what PISSED rating Loom will get. Its undoubtedly a very good game, but I do wonder whether its short running time and puzzle simplicity might cause it to fall short of the top of the leaderboard. Only one way to find out...

Puzzles and Solvability
There’s no doubt that the draft mechanic is fun and unique, but I can’t help thinking there’s a reason why it hasn’t been replicated repeatedly over the years. I did have to use my brain a few times to figure out which draft was going to assist with my current predicament, but overall I have to say that the system made the game far too easy. Pretty much all the puzzles in Loom are obvious (and by that I mean that you know you’re faced with a puzzle when it arrives), and since every puzzle can ONLY be solved by weaving a draft, and the amount of drafts available is limited, it’s always only a matter of time. The fact is that I was only temporarily stuck three times in the whole game, and on each of these occasions it turned out that it was the environment that was causing me trouble. I was trying to find a puzzle to solve when in fact there was a well hidden (or should I say unobvious) environmental pathway that I was supposed to be taking. I would however like to retract a couple of complaints I made in my gameplay posts, where I criticised certain puzzle solutions (having to weave invisibility on the tower for one). It was my way of thinking that needed adjustment, and once I understood how drafts should be applied (ie. they cannot affect the weaver), things made complete sense. In the end I don’t think the puzzles were the main focus of Loom, and that’s never more obvious than in the final scenes where the player only occasionally takes care of menial tasks in between minutes of rapidly climaxing plot. As much fun as I had, I can’t go too high here!
Rating: 5


Interface and Inventory
Loom is a very professional and polished adventure game. It was also a really brave project, which stepped away from all previous (successful) LucasArts games to try something different. For this reason it’s amazing that the interface is so incredibly simple rather than overly complicated. If anything, the interface may actually be TOO simple, as strange as that might sound. I found myself on a few occasions wanting to do certain things or talk to particular people, and I didn’t have the means to do it. But I’ve already criticised the game for being too easy, so I’m not going to get stuck into it for being too simple too. The fact is that the interface does exactly what it’s supposed to do in an efficient and enjoyable way, so credit where credit is due. As for inventory, well there isn’t one in a traditional sense. I could however argue that the Book of Patterns is the real game inventory, as it holds the “items” required to solve the games puzzles. I guess it’s not unlike a Quest for Glory game, where the player has to gain enough experience and skill to be able to best utilise items that they already have. I may not have been able to open my inventory in-game, but I spent heaps of time skimming through it in the real world, gaining more information about each of my “items” than I ever could have in-game.
Rating: 6


Story and Setting
The story is a huge part of Loom’s appeal. The developers used everything at their disposal to give the world of Loom a deep and lush history, not least of all the package material that accompanied the game. I’ve already mentioned how useful and satisfying the Book of Patterns was, but the audio cassette that I listened to prior to playing had just as much impact. It was surprisingly professional and entertaining, and made the whole gaming experience so much more fulfilling. The story of Loom within the game itself is really unique and interesting too. I never quite knew in what direction it was all going to go, and was constantly surprised and intrigued throughout. Some of those surprises were shocking, including the gruesome death of the young boy Rusty, which left blood on my hands that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get off. There were however a few issues that I need to mention. Some of the game’s explanation of events felt weak, such as the Glassmakers’ decision to let Chaos destroy them, although I believe later versions of the game fleshed these out to a more acceptable level. It also felt odd to follow an obvious villain throughout the first three quarters of the game, only to have him abruptly destroyed and replaced by another towards the end. That being said, I guess it adds to the unpredictable nature of the storytelling, and Chaos was a much more formidable opponent than Bishop Mandible. At the end of the day, I’m disappointed that the sequels were never made, and that has a lot to do with how involved I got with the history and setting of the game.
Rating: 7


Sound and Graphics
Loom is a visually and audibly beautiful game! The designers had a clear vision based on certain influences (mostly Disney’s Sleeping Beauty and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake), and that vision was very well realized in the final product. I’ll say straight up that I’m not a massive classical music fan (or ballet fan for that matter), but I can certainly appreciate it for what it is. It’s probably for this reason that I don’t find a lot of the music in Loom to be all that memorable, but I have no doubt that it fits perfectly well, and adds to the atmosphere and “magic” of the game. Sound in general plays a more important role in Loom than it has in any previous game on the list, since progressing in the game relies on listening carefully (even more so in Expert mode), and once again I think it has been implemented perfectly. Im still waiting for a game to fill the less important sections with mood creating background music and sound effects, but well have to wait a bit longer Im afraid. On the graphics front, I really can’t believe how stunning Loom is, especially given the limitations of the EGA technology. So many times I sat back and just took in the scenery, admiring the use of colour and shadow. The animation is also of a reasonably high quality, and I was most impressed by the way a rainbow of colours constantly swirled through the Loom in the Guild of Weavers. The only remaining question is whether or not Loom technically surpasses the likes of Hero’s Quest and Indiana Jones. Given the full package of Loom, I think I have to say yes!
Rating: 8


Environment and Atmosphere
This is the category where Loom will undoubtedly clean up! I really love the way the designers gave each of the game’s guilds distinctive regions, and each of them is memorable and vastly different in every way imaginable. The Glassmakers have a city made of green glass located next to the ocean, the Shepherds control a vast area of grassland where their sheep roam, the Blacksmiths live in a huge anvil structure which is built into volcanic rock, and the Clerics plot within a massive gothic cathedral built upon a graveyard. Each is cool in its own way, but the awe-inspiring cathedral was my favourite. Probably my only criticism is how unsubtly the shifts between them occur. Rather than gradually changing surroundings, there are some seriously jarring transitions, but I guess we’re supposed to assume that Bobbin had travelled a fair distance between screens. These environments are the basis for Loom’s irresistible atmosphere, but a bunch of other elements also come into play. I’ve already mentioned the music and sound, but for me it was the sense of wonder and magic that really had me gripped. While things do become quite whimsical at times (I’d prefer my evil dragons not to call me Sweetie all the time thank you very much), I found the steadily unfolding universe of Loom to be a fantastic place to spend my time. It’s just a shame I didn’t get to stay there longer.
Rating: 8


Dialogue and Acting
Loom is quite story driven, so it’s no surprise that there’s a lot of dialogue. Strangely though, it doesn’t draw much attention to itself, which I guess could be considered a good or a bad thing. On the one hand, there was no horrible writing that made me grimace, but on the other hand, a lot of it lacks the character that other recent games have used so prevalently. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t think the numerous characters were differentiated as much as they could have been when it came to language and speech patterns. If I read any portion of dialogue spoken by Bobbin, Goodmold, Rusty, Cygna etc. and paid no attention to the subject matter, there’d be very little indication of who said it. I should also mention that I was often frustrated at having no control over the dialogue in the game. Conversations were triggered by actions alone, and I was unable to choose what topics were discussed or to ask anyone anything in the entire thing. It was also a bit weird to see all the close-ups of the characters I was talking to, with no mouth movements (let alone lip-synching), at all. I believe the makers did attempt to include this feature when making the game, but felt it wasn’t convincing enough so left it out. If you’re thinking that I’m being pretty harsh here, when very few games on the list so far (if any) have met these standards adequately, well I guess I am! In a way, Loom feels so polished in so many ways that these features feel like they should be there, even if that’s an unfair expectation. The game made leaps in some areas, yet as professional as it is, this isn’t one of them.
Rating: 5


So thats 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 8 + 5 which equals 39, divided by 60 = 0.65. Wow! 65 is a very high score indeed, and would make Loom equal with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for second place. How do I feel about that? Well both games were groundbreaking in different ways. I think I may have enjoyed Loom slightly more than Indy, but then its short length and linearity probably hasnt been massively punished by the PISSED rating due to it affecting only one category. Im going to leave it where it is, which means both games are tied behind Heros Quest on the leaderboard.


Did anyone predict a 65? Yes, Joseph Curwen did! Kenny McCormick did too, but he changed it to 66 after noticing Joseph had already chosen it. Congratulations to our winner! Youve won yourself the Kings Quest Collection from Steam, as generously donated by our sponsor Lars-Erik. Ill send you an email shortly. After a bit of admin, were back to Sierra with Conquests of Camelot.

75 CAPs for Charles
• Olav Challenge Award – 50 CAPs – For meeting my challenge and blogging through Olav & the Lute
• Lure of the Temptress Award – 20 CAPs – For solving my Lure of the Temptress riddle
• Gravity Award – 5 CAPs – For picking up on my Gravity reference

60 CAPs for Andy_Panthro
• Olav Challenge Award – 50 CAPs – For meeting my challenge and blogging through Olav & the Lute
• True Companion Award – 10 CAPs – For playing the game with me and completing it.

60 CAPs for Zenic Reverie
• Olav Challenge Award – 50 CAPs – For meeting my challenge and blogging through Olav & the Lute
• True Companion Award – 10 CAPs – For playing the game with me and completing it.

50 CAPs for Reiko
• Olav Challenge Award – 50 CAPs – For meeting my challenge and blogging through Olav & the Lute

50 CAPs for Ilmari
• Olav Challenge Award – 50 CAPs – For meeting my challenge and blogging through Olav & the Lute

45 CAPs for Laukku
• Version Comparison Award – 10 CAPs – For directing us to a clear reference of Loom version differences
• LucasArts Referance Award – 10 CAPs – For mentioning some neat in-game references in other LucasArts efforts.
• True Companion Award – 10 CAPs – For playing the game with me and completing it.
• Alternate Solution Award – 10 CAPs – For informing me of alternate puzzle solutions
• Companion Assist Award – 5 CAPs – For helping Lasca with a technical issue.

42 CAPs for Draconius: Reference Hunter
• True Companion Award – 10 CAPs – For playing the game with me and completing it
• Obvious Reference Award – 7 CAPs - For discovering seven incredibly obvious references!
• Wheel of Time Award – 5 CAPs – For picking up on my Wheel of Time reference
• Bear Hunt Award – 5 CAPs – For picking up on, and then reciting, my Bear Hunt reference
• Green Sheep Award – 5 CAPs – For picking up on my Green Sheep reference
• Candlemass Award – 5 CAPs – For picking up on my Candlemass reference
• Phantom of the Opera Award – 5 CAPs - For picking up on my Phantom reference

35 CAPs for Lars-Erik
• Sponsor Award - 20 CAPs - For sponsoring the blog with free games
• True Companion Award – 10 CAPs – For playing the game with me and completing it.
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing an adventure game sale on Steam

25 CAPs for Canageek
• Cutting Room Floor Award – 20 CAPs – For adding CRF links to pretty much every game on the blog
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing an adventure game sale on GOG

20 CAPs for Corey Cole
• Failed Tricky Smackdown Award - -20 CAPs – For betting against me and losing…twice.
• Inside Info Award – 10 CAPs – For giving us inside information on the people involved in the game.
• Inside Info Award – 10 CAPs – For giving us inside information on what was cut from the QfG games
• True Companion Award – 10 CAPs – For playing the game with me and completing it.
• Caption Contest Award – 10 CAPs – For coming up with the best (IMO) caption

20 CAPs for Schide
• Sharing is Caring Award – 10 CAPs – For sharing his thoughts on Loom in great detail
• True Companion Award – 10 CAPs – For playing the game with me and completing

20 CAPs for Jarikith
• True Companion Award – 10 CAPs – For playing the game with me and completing it.
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing an adventure game on Steam
• Genre Support Award – 5 CAPs – For announcing an adventure game sale on GOG

20 CAPs for Tymoguin
• Loom Halloween Award – 20 CAPs – For carving a Chaos Halloween pumpkin!

20 CAPs for TBD
• True Companion Award – 10 CAPs – For playing the game with me and completing it.
• Kickstarter Award – 10 CAPs – For announcing a new Kickstarter adventure game

10 CAPs for Joseph Curwen
• Psychic Prediction Award – 10 CAPs – For predicting the score I would give the game

10 CAPs for Pacpix
• My Dying Bride Award – 10 CAPs – For picking up the My Dying Bride reference

10 CAPs for Aperama
• Grammar Correction Award – 5 CAPs – For commenting on Bobbin’s spellcheck malfunction
• Mulligrubs You Award – 5 CAPs – For damaging Draconius by picking up on my Mulligrubs reference

10 CAPs for Kenny McCormick
• Creation / Apocalypse Draft Award – 5 CAPs – For having a vivid imagination
• Monty Python Award – 5 CAPs – Run away, run away!

5 CAPs for Cush1978
• Matrix Award – 5 CAPs – For picking up on my Matrix reference
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