Well, welcome back, Media Molecule. We have missed you tremendously.
It has been a few years since Media Molecule has brought out a creatively flavored game. My son and I have played Little Big Planet to death over the last few years and were hoping to see something from the developers again that would spark the creativity of its players and provide a sharable experience for years to come.
As life goes, Media Molecule has delivered Dreams to the world. A wondrous game of creation in a more 3D landscape that contains lots of space to traverse one’s own wild creations. It pretty much is the follow-up to their previous titles but takes the process one step further with more room to play in and a bevy of tools at your disposal that are easy to understand and master. That last sentence is essential for a game like Dreams to succeed because if you can simplify the process of creation for different types of gamers out there (new creators and old), then the longevity of this game is going to keep the lights on for years to come. And I believe the lights are going to be on for a long time with Dreams.
Let’s dig into it.
Dreams is broken into three essential and simple parts: Campaign, Creator, and Player.
Campaign
Before we talk about the campaign, we should discuss how it is all controlled. When Dreams begins, you start out with a fuzzy character called an Imp. The Imp contains a small antenna on top of its head that is used to burst bubbles/objects, as well as grab/pull items. All of the Imp’s movements are important because they play heavily into the campaign. Dreams will put you through a series of tutorials with the Imp to make sure you’re good before throwing you into ‘Dream Surfing’, which is a place that allows you to play the campaign and other creations from fellow players. Generally, I hate tutorials and I can’t stand being forced into them, but this set of tutorials I actually appreciate. While the controls in the game aren’t incredibly complicated, knowing how the Imp works and what it can/can’t do is vital for enjoying the game. For example, the Imp actually moves by the player moving the controller. Remember back in 2006-2007 when Sony introduced the six-axis controller and how it can follow your movement? Guess what??! That movement ain’t just for Call of Duty 3 anymore. Media Molecule actually did a good job with controller movement and detection for this game. It’s a 1:1 movement, if only the PS3 had such ratio success. Can you imagine what could have been? Getting back to Dreams, you can move the Imp around by moving the entire controller, even in an XYZ axis, and it works really well. It’s awkward at first, but once you get used to it, then it becomes second nature.
Anyway, once beyond the tutorials, you dive right into your first game, which will be Media Molecule’s campaign. The game is based in a dream/nightmare of a musician named Art. Art is fighting with himself about a mistake he made with a band he played in, which involved him splitting from the band (ruining it) and trying to go solo. Art assumed he was better off without his bandmates, but soon realizes that is not the case. His unhappiness stems from other demons inside and he has to pull himself together, as well as the band, to find his way back from this deep, dark depressive state. It’s an immersive experience that doesn’t let up in its creativity and honesty with the main character’s mental health.
The campaign is weird, intense, and the subject matter is relevant to the design, which is Jazzy, but sad (you can even go as far as saying ‘Bluesy’). While the story is a bit fragmented at times, and I would love to know more about the background of the break and why the game is still compelling and innovative. In addition, the original music inside, which includes a Coraline-esque set of musical numbers, is certainly oddball, but damn good. There was a lot of good effort put into this experience to show how far the art style and drama could be played out with the tools available in Dreams. This is a demo of what you can do within the game, which equals out to a helluva demo. The game shifts to different genres (shooting, adventure, action), shows off the capabilities of the title, while really giving hope to potential creators that they can stretch out their creativity beyond just making your characters go from A to B.
While the campaign was short (1-2 hours), it was neat seeing the potential of what gamers could create with the tools provided in the game. The campaign pretty much delivered the message of ‘don’t hold back’ to future creators in Dreams. It served more of that purpose than it did with regard to delivering a piece of perfection. I can dig that completely.
Creator
The real purpose of the campaign was simply to show gamers who aren’t coders that they have a chance to make a game and to become developers. While the thought of learning Unity or gathering a small team of talent to create an indie game on a platform is intriguing, the effort and money to do so is a risk. Dreams provides a platform for non-coders to show off their ideas without risking the biscuit. Let me tell you, folks, there are a lot of creative minds out there that have already put together some amazing pieces. Just this morning I played the continued Silent Hill(s) saga from the PT game that Konami abandoned. While the quality of the game isn’t exactly a smooth transition from PT, the creators built a good world to continue a story everyone wanted (sans Konami). The game included a full script, voice actors, cutscenes, and content that actually was somewhat bridged to the original demo. The game also featured pieces of PT (mainly voice recordings from everyone’s favorite radio news reporter — that ONE guy), so it put you where you needed to be in order to get that ‘what could have been’ mindset for PT. Anyway, it was impressive that someone took the tools and the time that far, and created what they did with Dreams. That’s kind of the idea for the game and all it takes is understanding the tutorial the game unfolds for you, and effort/time. I think the last will be the most difficult for gamers.
Anyway, as for the tools, you will certainly have a learning curve with it, but not nearly as bad as some programs out there. Having dived into Maya and After Effects, I can confirm that the tools within Dreams has been simplified to make those two programs unnecessary for folks not wanting to waste time becoming an expert. Dreams will put you through a basic tutorial of how to build and create content through a process called ‘Dream Shaping’. The tutorial takes you through environments, animation, and a bevy of other tools that aren’t incredibly difficult to understand or use. You will learn the basic tools and understand the importance of each through a video-led tutorial, which you will need to make time to truly grasp the creation process. Again, having been through Maya training/tutorials before, MM has made the process of game creation from A-Z so incredibly simple. You just have to have patience for the process. Again, you MUST have PATIENCE with the process. If you truly want to make a game, then learn the tools. Media Molecule spent the time to create simplicity for a 3D game creation process, which is nearly a miracle in its own right.
That said, the only downfall to the entire process is the controls. I didn’t have a chance to use the Move controllers with this game, but I did use the basic PS4 controller. My experience with the PS4 controller wasn’t terrible, but I suspect that when I break out the Move controllers it will be much easier. Using the thumbsticks to move my little imp around to shift/rotate objects in XYZ fashion, while using the touchpad to angle them, while using the directional pad to enlarge them is no easy task. When you dive into the more complicated forms of creation, that controller will get a bit frustrating. There were times where I just had to leave the game to calm down a bit because my brain wasn’t working well with the controls. Anytime you have to fight with the controls to get somewhere or do something it takes away from immersing yourself into the creative experience. It’s important to immerse yourself in this experience to fully enjoy/love it.
Anyway, Media Molecule does a superb job with showing you the ropes, as well as simplifying the creation process. Even compared to its Little Big Planet days, a game constructed through the concept of hardware programming for creators, Dreams is an easier concept when it comes to creating. The creation board literally looks like something straight from Maya. You have an XYZ axis to play with, which makes the environment measured and easy to comprehend as you create. I’m sure 1-2 months from now that controls won’t be an issue, so I’m hopeful. There is so much to this game and I think it’s worth the effort when it comes to working with controls.
Players
Don’t like game designing? That’s okay. You can spend your time feeding off the efforts of others. You get a bevy of different games to play and plenty of things to collect and to add to your creator collection (remember those bubbles that MM likes so much? They’re back!). I can safely tell you that there is a solid library of games right now made by the community. Some of it was incredibly creative, such as playing a mega monster destroying a city while getting a news helicopter viewpoint, while other games were simply ambitious with good intentions (the LEGO Star Wars game was cool, but pretty much JUST a true demo). Playing the games is actually like taking part in an arcade experience, where you’re trying to get a high score. I’ve found some good fun with this aspect of Dreams. It’s neat to see the vision of other’s efforts.
Overall
Dreams is a marvel from Media Molecule. It’s another cog in their creative machine that takes game creation to another level. Does it have room to grow? Lord, yes, especially in controls, but it offers up an outlet for non-coders to make their gaming dreams a reality.
