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Grace H, Roving reporter

Homestuck

Written by: Andrew Hussie
www.mspaintadventures.com (new window)

Have you ever read a comic and thought to yourself, "What would this be like if every panel was animated? If I could interact with the world and the characters? If it had a soundtrack?"

Well, wonder no more, because Andrew Hussie's Homestuck (new window) is for you. It's not so much a webcomic as it is a multimedia story featuring unique visuals, a gripping story, a catchy soundtrack and even a few interactive segments in the form of putting you in the shoes of a main character and getting you to explore the world and interact with the characters.

The story begins in the style of the old point-and-click adventure games with our main character John Egbert having just turned ten years old and received the mysterious Sburb PC game. Sburb is a lot like The Sims except for one major factor: someone else is controlling your game. You're pretty much their character, as they can control your environment however they wish: taking out walls, adding another floor, whatever they want.

John decides to get involved in the game with his friends Dave, Rose and Jade, who each have their own copies of the game and act as each other's "server" players, or the characters that are controlling their environment.

Just as the kids are getting the hang of the game, meteors start appearing in the sky and a timer starts, counting down until the point at which they will collide with the kids' houses. Their only chance for survival is playing the game and finding the individual objects that will transport their house away from danger - away from the Earth, as a matter of fact. Sound complicated? That's only in the first half of the first chapter.

Homestuck is an ongoing story with up to five new panels added almost daily to the site, adding more to the story in the form of chapters. The normal format is an animated image accompanied by a short description of the scene or the characters talking to each other, but occasionally a short movie will be put up instead, or even an interactive piece that lets you take control of a character to learn more about the world.

The comic has been running since 2009 and has around 3600 pages and a very dedicated team behind its creation. You might think it's a lot, but once you get started reading, you really get drawn in and don't even notice as the time passes.

You're going to want a lot of time if you're going to get into this series, but it's really worth it if you love a good story, and Homestuck presents one of the most unique storytelling experiences on the web. It's been skyrocketing in popularity with the sales of T-shirts, hoodies, albums and prints all available for purchase at the online store.

With a quirky sense of humour, a gripping story, Homestuck is for anyone looking for a good laugh and an exciting tale. Despite having a bit of a slow first act and a fairly complicated story that might take a while to fully sink in, it's still an impressive game. Give it a go, stick with it and you won't be disappointed.

4 out of 5

For more game and website reviews, check out our Reviews archive.

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