User:Razr Nation/sandbox/Gravity Bone

Gravity Bone is a first person adventure video game developed by Brendon Chung under his video game studio, Blendo Games, and released on August 2008. The game was developed using a modified version of id Software id Tech 2 – Quake 2 engine – and incorporates music by Asian filmmaker Wong Kar Wai. Four incarnations of the game were produced during its development stage of about one year; the first one featured more common first-person shooter elements than that of the released version. Subsequent versions shifted into a new direction, with the inclusion of a more spy-oriented gameplay.

Gravity Bone received critical acclaim by video game journalists. It was classified as "an experience worth playing", and received comparisons to other games such as You Have To Burn The Rope and Portal. The game was praised for its cohesive story and atmosphere, as well as for its ability to catch the player's interest over a very short timespan without feeling rushed or incomplete. It received the "Best Arthouse Game" award in Game Tunnel's Special Awards of 2008, and a direct sequel, Thirty Flights of Loving, was released in 2012.

Gameplay
Gravity Bone is a first person adventure video game. In it, the player controls a spy who is tasked with the accomplishment of several missions across each one of the two stages composing the game. During these missions, objectives and guidance is provided through direct iteraction between the player and specific objects in the game, as well as a part of the environment. The first level of the game is disguised as a tutorial system used to showcase the player the routinary gameplay elements such as object iteraction and movement; here, the player is tasked with the delivery of a contaminated drink to an unspecified non-playable character. After the first level is completed, the player is sent to the second and final level of the game. The second level follows the trend of the first one, tasking the player with a set of instructions to complete, involving several platforming sequences; before the level is finished, a series of sequences is triggered, and the game ends with the sudden death of the player's character.

Development
Gravity Bone was developed by Brendon Chung under his video game studio, Blendo Games. Chung, who worked as a level designer for Pandemic Studios, has also been part of the development of titles such as Full Spectrum Warrior and Lord of the Rings: Conquest. Four incarnations of the game were produced during its development stage of about one year. Brendon Chung, during an interview with FidGit, commented that "Gravity Bone started out very different from what it was and that ended up getting scrapped ... so on and so forth until this version came out." The first version of Gravity Bone featured more common first-person shooter elements than that of the released version; it was also based on a series of Quake 2 maps entitled Citizen Abel. Chung elaborated that the first version of the game had the player running around with a gun, "shoot[ing] things and stuff explodes." After that, development shifted into a new direction and Gravity Bone was transformed in a sort of hacking game; the player would act as a computer hacker, "hacking stuff all the time." Most of the original shooting elements were eventually removed by the third revision of the game.

The third version of the game incorporated a more spy-oriented gameplay, with the player "trying to quietly take out enemies and not be seen." Chung commented that he reworked the game several more times to fit the vision he had for the game: "It kept on just changing and changing and changing until it got into a more story-oriented direction." Chung stated that he did not feel comfortable by developing Gravity Bone as a first person shooter game, and kept adding "bits and bits of more and more unconventional" elements as a result. Chung explained this development shift by stating that he "got stuck on this idea of the hero never fires a gun, but he just has a bunch of tools on his belt, like a power drill or a can of pressurized Freon, a screwdriver. I thought that was kind of funny and interesting."

Gravity Bone was developed using a modified version of id Software id Tech 2—Quake 2 engine. Chung aknowleged that although he has worked with newer "powerful and flexible" engines, he preferred to use Quake 2's engine because it was released as an open source platform, "so you can redistribute it for free." Gravity Bone incorporates music by Asian filmmaker Wong Kar Wai. Chung declared that his passion for films were an important factor in the selection of Kar Wai's music: "He makes these really beautiful films and I've always wanted to use the same music in a videogame." He also stated that Kar Wai's films wielded a considerable influence while developing the game. The voice work featured on the briefings in Gravity Bone were produced using text-to-speech programs.

Reception
Charles Onyett from IGN applauded the game as an experience worth playing, elaborating that Gravity Bone is "a game that appears to toy with the notions of heroism and villainy, and the ways the player identifies with, and is directed toward, both roles." In addition, he further expanded on every aspect of the game, commenting that "The cohesiveness of its striking visual presentation, soundtrack and effects, and almost entirely incomprehensible story combine to create an atmosphere of peculiar strength." Onyett concluded his impression of the game by stating that "it's a pleasure to experience, and never ceases to delight and surprise over its short run." Anthony Burch from Destructoid gave a positive review to Gravity Bone. In his review, Burch stated that Gravity Bone "is so stylistically unified, so consistently cool and weird and imaginative, that it's damn near impossible not to fall in love with—even as the game ends and you're wondering what the hell happened, and why." He also applauded several technical and design aspects of the game, expressing adoration for the game's "stylistic choices", as well as the "nigh unbelievable" bloom effects featured on the game. Burch concluded that Gravity Bone is "a great ride", and that the "atmosphere and style alone will barrel you through to the journey's end, which comes all too soon."

Derek Yu from The Indie Games Source compared the game with Portal and stated that Brendon Chung, creator of the game, was able to develop "an impeccable flair for graphic design" while manufacturing Gravity Bone and concluded that the game is "bursting with delicious color, and features blocky-headed characters that are infinitely more interesting to look at and interact with than the frightening Realdolls game players are often forced to contend with in modern FPS’s." Yu additionally applauded the game's potential, elaborating that it has "enough panache in its two levels to make it somewhat of an indie sleeper hit of the end of 2008." An editor from Game Drink Code also compared Gravity Bone to Portal and You Have To Burn The Rope, explaining that they are all "short-form games that seamlessly integrate a humorous narrative and gameplay into one memorable ride" and added that Gravity Bone goes beyond such definition, stating that it "jams in not only a ton of humor, more than a few memorable game moments, and a semi-cohesive story, but it also creates a comedy that’s inherently ludic in nature. Gravity Bone is humor that only works because it’s a game."

An editor from The Refined Geek was pleased with both Gravity Bone and its sequel, Thirty Flights of Loving, awarding them a score of 8 out of 10 and stating that "the enjoyment from these games comes from noticing all the subtle environmental clues and then using your imagination to draw the connecting dots." The editor commented that both games were designed to highlight the story elements over the graphics and technical innovations, and agreed that their "true strength comes from its ability to tell a story in the extremely short time frame." Kirk Hamilton from Kotaku praised the game, stating that "if you own a PC [sic], you owe it to yourself to play Gravity Bone." He elaborated that the game was "one of the coolest things I’ve played on PC lately." Kieron Gillen from Rock Paper Shotgun considered Gravity Bone to be an intellectual mixture of between Hitman, No-one Lives Forever and Team Fortress 2, stating that it's the "wittiest game" he has played since World of Goo. Gillen appaluded every aspect of the game, and elaborated of its pottential by stating that Gravity Bone was an "indie art game whose main effect is to delight you at every turn." Gravity Bone received the "Best Arthouse Game" award in Game Tunnel's Special Awards of 2008.

Sequel
A sequel was released, called Thirty Flights of Loving. The sequel has been funded via a Kickstarter joint campaign organized by the people behind Idle Thumbs. Thirty Flights of Loving features a soundtrack by one of Idle Thumbs' hosts, Chris Remo, and those who pledged $30 to the Kickstarter received a copy of the game.