The Dig (1995)

I was surprised recently to see I was approaching my 100th review—wow, that is a lot more voluntary writing than I expected to do after graduating college—and luckily a game I really enjoyed gets to mark the occasion. The Dig is an engrossing point-and-click sci-fi classic that fans of the contemplative puzzle-y adventure Outer Wilds should consider checking out. At least if you have a tolerance for old-school PC gaming. (But hey, you could develop that here, right?)

This game features a greatly streamlined interface compared to many classic point-and-click titles, with one click generally being enough to do a range of clear, context-appropriate interactions. Its puzzles can sort of feel similarly obtuse to other games, and have a few frustrations in the actual execution of the solutions. There is artificial and arbitrary-feeling stuff here, but I still feel like they are really well-integrated into the game world and just feel cool, like I'm actually engaging with this alien world somehow. The large hub area you spend most of the game branching off from feels like a puzzle itself, and progression through that area brings a very satisfying flow through its various secrets.

With your space crew somewhat at odds with one another, most of the game finds you as commander on a pretty lonely journey through mysterious environments. It can get sort of eerie at times, and they don't shy away from a couple tense situations. When they do show up, the characters are not always supposed to be likable, but they contribute well to the game's serious, grounded feel despite its fantastical sci-fi setting. That setting is brilliantly atmospheric, boldly colored and full of strange creatures and mechanisms. The art and music are excellent. It's just a super immersive and interesting game world with juuust enough character focus to work on multiple fronts.

From its somewhat urgent-feeling opening to that slower main section, the storytelling usually felt pretty strong, whether it focused on more active events or just quiet worldbuilding. There were definitely times where narrative/logical leaps were made that I didn't quite understand, which I suppose is a result of the game's infamously troubled development. And I was not a big fan of the ending, as it kind of swerved in a direction different from what I felt it had been building toward. Still, it was pretty fascinating and had some very memorable scenes to take away.

When taken as a whole, despite any flaws this was an excellent experience that provides a refreshing contrast to prior LucasArts adventure games that I wasn't personally as into. Very impressive and definitely deserves some of the updated re-release love that other games of the era got, so that more people will try it out.

Whether this is a personal experience or not, lemme get this out of the way - I could not finish the Dig. Not due to frustration or difficulty, but by a game-breaking bug involving talking to the alien inventor that rendered the ability to get the creator's engraving impossible.

Had that broken segment not halted my progress, The Dig would've gotten at least a 2/5. Pretty and ambitiously rendered, The Dig soon devolves into simple exercises (panels, light bridges) and is attacked by incredibly frustrating puzzles (That drone, the random trap setup, etc) that viciously does away with anything resembling a difficulty curve.

The story (astronauts discovering a probe that takes them to a strange alien planet) looks like quite the interesting setup and definitely takes its queues from a Stephen Spielberg work (inspired by his Amazing Stories, no less) but trips over its unnecessarily hokey dialogue where there should be seriousness, especially with the amount of death and foretelling over the direction of the human race.

The Dig is frustrating to play and misses the mark on its story's tone, with the game-breaking bug I mentioned (yessss I did talk enough times about the alien device and the eye piece) that puts nails in the coffin. It always remains an interesting artifact from afar, being part of the LucasArts library and filled with ambitious visuals and an attempt at an epic storyline, but it's best to not touch this one. Ever. Don't even.