Gish - Official Website

Using his gelatinous body GISH is able to adapt to his surroundings, becoming sticky to climb walls, slick to slide through tight cracks and heavy to break through walls, bad guys, and the like. By expanding his body at a rapid rate GISH is able to quickly project himself into the air and attach to almost anything in his path.

A Sunday stroll with his lady friend Brea goes awry when a shadowy figure emerges from an open man hole and pulls Brea into the ground below. Following her cries for help GISH suddenly finds himself in the subterranean sewers of Dross, a long forgotten city filled with twisting corridors, evil traps, and some of the most demented creatures imaginable.

Features:

  • 34 story mode levels spanning over 5 chapters
  • 23 collection levels
  • 5 hidden levels
  • 5 Vs modes
  • A cast of over 18 fully animated bad guys
  • One of a kind physics based gameplay
  • Dynamic lighting and shadows
  • Destructible environments
  • Specular cell shading
  • Particle effects

Game Chronicles takes a look at this tremendously entertaining new platform game with an exclusive interview by John Carswell.

GCM: Please start us off by introducing yourself and telling us about the team behind "Gish".
Edmund: My names Edmund McMillen and im the creator, lead (and only) artist and co designer.
Alex: My names Alex Austin, I did programming and design.

GCM: How would you describe Gish’s Gameplay?
Edmund: Unique. :)

GCM: Where did you find your inspiration for Gish both in terms of the game and of character design?
Edmund: I had been playing a lot of GBA games at the time so i think there is an obvious Mario/Nintendo inspiration going on in Gish. as for the character design is say id say a lot of my inspiration was a cross between Ren and Stimpy and Pokemon.
Alex: I played a lot of older games, like Super Mario Bros, even some old 2600 games like Pitfall.

GCM: Gish has received high praise from many gaming media outlets. Were you expecting such a great response and what does this mean for the future of Chronic Logic?
Edmund: I hoped for this kind of response, but wasn't sure we were going to get it. The gaming community seems to be polarized, on one had you've got people who rate games by their gameplay value and want to push the limits on innovation and originality, on the other hand you have people who rate games on graphics, popularity and the latest technology. Lately it seems like the people more the ladder, and I felt that Gish would just be tagged as another addition to the 2D genera that went out in the early 90s, but lucky for us there are still gamers out there who still seem to get what video games are really all about, unique and fun gameplay.
Alex: I never know what to expect, but I thought it would do pretty well. For Chronic Logic it means we can continue to make games for at least a few more months.

GCM: Please tell us about the level and puzzle structure found in Gish.
Edmund: The levels in Gish are structured around Gish’s 4 main abilities, sticky, heavy, slick, and expand. as you progress, the design of the levels slowly test your skills in each of those areas, from progressing over crumbling pillars to navigating the ceiling over a pool of lava. The majority of puzzles in Gish are physics based, so realistically you can think to yourself, how could I do this in real life (if I were a ball of tar) and then do it in the game. An example would be having a switch in an area that's being blocked by a pillar that's laying on its side, by spinning to the left and sticking you can gradually slide the pillar to the right and activate the switch with it.

GCM: Please tell us about Gish’s physics engine and how it affects gameplay?
Alex: The physics engine allows us to do a lot of things you can't do in other games, but it also creates a lot of gameplay issues. The hard part in physics gameplay is balancing the possibilities with the playability. I think we did a good job in Gish of allowing the player to do what they want without making the learning curve too high.

GCM: What do you feel has set Gish apart from other games in its genre?
Edmund: I think the biggest thing that sets Gish apart from other platformers is its gameplay and control, there has never been a physics based game where your characters body structure actually effects gameplay. I think the biggest misconception about Gish is that its just another 2d platformer, if you go into Gish thinking you are just going to be able to hop around like Mario, your going to get frustrated. Gish doesn't play like your average platformer, in fact it doesn’t play like any other game, and I think that’s what makes Gish such a unique experience.

GCM: How long do you feel it will take the average gamer to complete Gish and what do you see as adding replay value?
Edmund: It seems like the average gamer completes the game in about a week, but it really varies on how quickly you grasp the unique control style and game play. As far as replay value goes, once you've beaten all 34 levels in story mode, you've still got 5 secret levels to find through out the game, over 55 hidden areas and 2 endings to discover. aside from story mode, you've also got over 23 original time trial collection levels where you can compete online for the highest score and even save full replays of your trials to send to friends. But even after all that.. There is more, we've added a full 2 player support VS mode where you go head to head in over 5 VS modes, ranging from a fight to the death to a simple game of football and with 3 alternative levels for each mode. You have infinite hours of game play... hell I’m still playing Gish everyday!

GCM: Please tell us the graphics engine and art style to be found in Gish.
Edmund: The art style I used in Gish was a mix between over the top cartoony images contrasted with more realistic textures. I wanted the characters to really stand out, but i didn't want the game to appear like a little kids game, so I designed the environments to look more realistic and the characters to look more twisted and dark. I think the over all artistic feel of Gish is dark and twisted yet cute and funny at the same time.
Alex: The graphics engine is a tile based 2D engine, with some lighting effects to make it look pretty.

GCM: Thank you for your time. Do you have any final thoughts or impressions that you would like to leave our readers with?
Alex: You want to buy Gish.