Voyager Company, 1996
Freak Show is a three-dimensional CDROM game and the very first attempt from "The Residents," an underground music band from San Francisco, to deliver their music to the adventure gaming fans. Regretfully, the game, which undoubtedly looks like an adventure game in appearance, but without any plot to follow, puzzles to solve or items to collect in your inventory, is more like a multimedia musical showcase created in an interactive setting with stunning three-dimensionally rendered graphics.
The game follows the stories behind the freaks introduced in "The Residents" music album by the same name, where every freak character has a song dedicated to him or her. In the game you enter the Freak Show tent and meet every character onstage and backstage just to know their life story. These freakish characters, which include Herman the Human Mole, Wanda the Worm Woman, Tex the Barker, Harry the Head, Benny the Bump and Jelly Jack are all the main characters of the game and your goal in the game is to meet them wherever and whenever they are available.
The entire environment, which includes the tent area, trailers in the backstage and the characters itself are created in three-dimension by one of the best computer animators, Jim Ludtke, who remained attached with the band for their other game releases. Music and sound in the game is mostly taken from the music album. Control interface is smooth point and click with options to save and load the game. Finally, I would say that If you are a fan of "The Residents" and love to hear their music then this is a game made especially for you.
