Luke Alexander's blog

I knew absolutely nothing about Welcome to Thebes before I went into the National Theatre production earlier this week, and I thoroughly recommend this approach to get the most out of it.

Since that essentially invalidates this mini-review, I’ll keep it nice and short.

The play, a new work from Moira Buffini, takes the location of Thebes as shorthand for a jumble of classical and contemporary themes.  At its most basic level, Welcome to Thebes brings us a collision between the dense, symbolic action of classical tragedy and the visceral reality of the aftermath of modern conflict.  In doing so, it manages to provide a fresh alternative on both.

It is in its relocation of conflict-torn Thebes to a post-war African state, complete with the vocabulary of Truth and Reconciliation, where the play will lose the patience of some of its audience.  And, indeed, the script does occasionally lapse into cliché from which the superb cast cannot quite rescue it – particularly in the characters of the insane Prince Tydeus and the cabinet / chorus of gossiping middle aged women.

Others may criticise the liberties Buffini takes with her apparent source material – the story of Antigone.  But, even as an over-sensitive Classicist, this didn’t bother me – and it came across as an authentic retelling, retaining the sublimest themes without fixating on accuracy in details which were, at any rate, perfectly fluid two and a half millennia ago.

Highlights included: the ever-present and aptly comic Tiresias, highlighting the themes of blindness, foresight and destiny which stood up well against its classical source material; a superb interpretation of the arrogance of democratic Athens which never quite dipped into parody of American imperialism; and forceful, poetic writing delivered by a well-chosen cast.  The decision to place Thebes in the hands of a democratically elected Euridyce is bold, but pays off.  And the character of Theseus is nothing but a joy to watch.

Certainly a recommended theatre trip, particularly for those with a classical bent.  But don’t go expecting Sophocles or Ford Coppola.

There’s something very exciting about playing a computer game where the first thing you see is the proud BBC branding.  Today, I did that for the first time with the launch of the first BBC Doctor Who video game for a very long time.

I’m a big believer in the broadcaster, its public service values, and whatnot.  I don’t think I’ve ever felt as proud as I did when I reported to TV Centre for my measly six week work experience placement during a university holiday.

But even leaving particular warm fuzzy feeling to one side, the fact that the publicly-funded BBC is taking a solid step into the world of interactive entertainment makes so much sense to me.  In the same way that the organisation can fund and support innovative, lesser-known or niche artists – whether in comedy or music – I would love to see in future a world where the BBC is responsible for finding the UK’s answer to Braid or Portal.

And of course, the idea of a Doctor Who computer game – where I can literally play the Doctor – is something that, at the age of 10, I would never have hoped possible.

So what of the game itself? Or, at least, the twenty minutes I’ve played so far.

Well, the game continues the current series’ feel of slickness and high production values.  Despite a strange crash-to-desktop bug solved by turning my multi-monitor setup off, the game starts well.  As it loads, the heart-lifting Doctor Who theme swells up at the appropriate moment, alongside with a charming animation of the eleventh Doctor and Amy almost falling out of the Tardis with excitement as we reach the main  menu screen – mirroring the childlike excitement I felt as I clicked the button to take me to the first episode – the City of the Daleks.

The Tardis materialises in Trafalgar Square in 1963 – but not as we know it.  We are instantly plunged into the plot as a Dalek appears, chasing what it claims is the last human being on the planet.

The next twenty minutes of gameplay gives us a clue of what to expect in the rest of the game.  And it’s nothing shockingly different from what we’d expect.  It’s a mix of standard action puzzle game, with some mini, Operation-style puzzles thrown in like Bioshock’s hack mechanism for good measure.

This all flows well and feels right, apart from the stealth mechanic, which was already annoying me only 10 minutes in.  If you near a Dalek, you will automatically enter stealth mode.  The area in which a Dalek can see you will light up green, and you have to avoid it.  Occasionally, the Daleks move and you have to hide behind something.

It’s not massively difficult, but it can be a little frustrating, particularly as the game stops you going in certain directions by placing Daleks here and there who can’t be navigated around – meaning that if you misunderstand where the game designer wants you to go, you’ll probably be dead as you realise it.

The dull, slow stealth sections are annoyingly frequent and have the surely unintended side effect of making the Daleks look extremely stupid.  Granted, they’re not the most cunning of foes in the TV show, but believing that we can walk inches away from one (provided we aren’t in the arbitrary green zone) just feels weird.

Speaking of things feeling weird – my second bugbear.  The character animations, particularly the faces, are just plain odd.  I may be spoilt by playing high budget PS3 games and watching new-fangled 3D movies, but the animations in this game feel like such a massive step back.  I probably wouldn’t have noticed if it were 2001.  But it’s 2010, and I did.

Which is a shame, because it jerks you out of the experience somewhat.  We’re used to watching the every expression of the two talented actors who play the characters on TV, and perhaps then unconsciously expect the same of the game characters.  Similarly, the voice acting is off – partially due to facial expressions and perhaps because the actors are quite simply not used to recording a computer game soundtrack.

So those are my initial thoughts on the game.  I’ve lots still to discover, and I’m happy that much of what I love in the show – some decent dialogue, some fascinating situations, a good dollop of OTT sci-fi jargon – has made it into this game.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.