Thoughts on Facade

Sep 16, 2013 by bganter

Façade is an interesting game in so far as it allows one to experiment with different approaches while trying to tackle the relationship problems of Grace and Trip. One need only patience and tact to accomplish this. I spent most of my time either agreeing with one or the other and typing lots of simple messages, things like: “you need to talk it through”, or “I am your friend!”, or trying to convince Trip that there’s no need to be trippin’. I thought it was rather funny how Grace tells Trip that she knows he’s been frequenting that bar on the corner, he acts like its something to be ashamed of, or when she drops the bomb about her having continued to paint in secret, next she’ll tell us that she’s also been taking dance lessons behind Trip’s back, these are some sad Caucasian people with really boring secrets. The text attempts to deal with some serious issues, like Trip being ashamed of his parents, or Grace having unfulfilled dreams, and is like to a tragedy in that one feels there is so much that Doesn’t happen, this argument could have ended in divorce, but instead they both just thanked me saying that I had “helped them” and ushered me out the front door, anticlimactic. I understand that the creator of the game was shooting for realism here, however this game would have been made more fun if it was about you just happening to be there on the night when Trip reveals that he has been worshipping the devil and sacrificing innocent children, while Grace comes back at him with her being impregnated by a gorilla. This is not my type of game, but it does accomplish the task of putting you in the room and really feeling for these sad, affluent, seemingly attractive white people and their problems that most married couples would laugh at. Although, there are some people out there who have enjoyed this game, I remember people playing it when I was in high school, and IGN gave it a 7.3 (good), which is on par with what they have rated some of my favorite games in the past, I can’t say I liked it, but it succeeded more than it failed.