David Kushner The Lords of Doom.
What it’s about. The late 1980s. Two young men meet at the American publishing house Softdisk: future game design master John Romero and computer code king John Carmack. Together, they were destined to create the famous first-person shooters Wolfenstein 3D, Quake and Doom, become fabulously wealthy and influence the entire gaming industry.
Why gamers will like it. This is not just a story about the development of great games, but a fascinating story about a team of geeky slackers. Thanks to them, society stopped perceiving games as entertainment for children.
Now you could fight Nazis, demons and aliens in them. Kushner recounts in detail how this revolution began. There was no shortage of swearing, fighting, burglary and hundreds of pizzas eaten.
Bernard Perron Silent Hill
What it’s about. Analysing the legendary horror series, the author reveals the techniques used to make games scary. And we’re not talking about screamers, but about the subtle work with atmosphere, plot, sound and gameplay.
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The Silent Hill series was not chosen by chance. The most successful instalments of the Japanese franchise were released more than 20 years ago, but few have managed to instil such genuine horror in players. Not only when encountering monsters, but also during a lonely walk through the foggy streets of Silent Hill.
Why gamers will like it. This is a good example of game studies, a scientific discipline that studies video games. The author analyses the plot and gameplay of Silent Hill to explain how the developers ‘tamed’ fear and used it against players. The reader learns how the clumsiness of the characters helps to create an oppressive atmosphere and why the scariest things happen not on the screen, but in the player’s head.
Jan François Half-Life
What it’s about. The author, Jan François, is the art director of Arkane Studios, known for Dishonored and Prey. In the book, he talks about the origins of Valve, analyses the story of both parts of Half-Life in detail, and examines their script and gameplay. All this is accompanied by exclusive comments from the developers. You can also find out what the authors of Half-Life borrowed from Resident Evil and why Gordon Freeman would surely have been liked by Tony, the gangster from The Sopranos.
Rafael Luca The Witcher
What it’s about. The history of the development of the game series and, at the same time, the universe of the witcher Geralt. From writer Andrzej Sapkowski’s first attempts to conquer the fantasy genre and the national success of the books about ‘The Witcher’ to the birth of the gaming industry in Poland and the emergence of CD Projekt Red.
The book covers the entire game trilogy, excellent spin-offs, and Blood Feud: The Witcher Stories. The narrative ends with the events of 2019, when the development studio was working hard on the action RPG Cyberpunk 2077.
Nicolas Denescho and Bruno Provecza Uncharted
What it’s about. The Uncharted series is one of PlayStation’s main assets, bringing Sony tens of millions of dollars. The story of adventurer Nathan Drake and his friends has established itself among the best storylines in video games, and fans have been waiting for a new instalment for a long time.