Post by AREA666 on Dec 15, 2008 17:32:50 GMT -5
Having played a lot of games this past year I feel that games are on the brink of an evolution. It seems that more and more games are beginning to embrace the open ended game play style that is normally relegated to the RPG front, such as Sacred 2, and more are starting to incorporate a more involved and deeper storyline, also normally associated with the RPG genera, but more akin to games like the Baldurs Gate series.
The evolution I see happening is one that will make games more complex overall. I used to view RPG games as the most complex kind there was; seeing as how you can customize a char, have your actions have repercussions on the world, etc, it is easy to see how they are complex compared to a game where you just point and shoot. But now those more simple games are starting to get these RPG elements, and they win big awards for doing so. Last year Bioshock won game of the year, and while it was liner in nature, it had a very good storyline to it. This year I played through an expansion to Crysis that had a story parallel to the original and made that story line much better. Right now I am playing Far Cry 2, which has more of a story than most shooter games, but it has fully taken on the open ended aspect.
I am going to assume that Star Craft 2 is going to have a very good story line to it as well, which is something that the real time strategy games have not had much of.
It seems that more and more people are wanting their games to have a great deal of customization to them, as well as a great story. I read an article early this year that talked about how companies are starting to hire a lot of writers for their games because of people wanting them.
For me personally I am starting to not want to play a game if it does not have a good story line to it, especially if it is going to take me a while. I can still play through like a shooter that gives 8 hours of play time even if there is no story. Sacred 2, while I love the game, has to me the huge flaw of a terrible story line, so much so that I would say it basically does not have one. I think the intro and ending movies tell you more about what is going on than while you actually play.
Maybe I am wrong though and there will only be a few games that come out and have all the elements to be great, but I really hope that we are on the brink of something great here and that future games will really start to wow us all at every turn with wonderful stories, loveable characters, open ended worlds to explore, etc.
The evolution I see happening is one that will make games more complex overall. I used to view RPG games as the most complex kind there was; seeing as how you can customize a char, have your actions have repercussions on the world, etc, it is easy to see how they are complex compared to a game where you just point and shoot. But now those more simple games are starting to get these RPG elements, and they win big awards for doing so. Last year Bioshock won game of the year, and while it was liner in nature, it had a very good storyline to it. This year I played through an expansion to Crysis that had a story parallel to the original and made that story line much better. Right now I am playing Far Cry 2, which has more of a story than most shooter games, but it has fully taken on the open ended aspect.
I am going to assume that Star Craft 2 is going to have a very good story line to it as well, which is something that the real time strategy games have not had much of.
It seems that more and more people are wanting their games to have a great deal of customization to them, as well as a great story. I read an article early this year that talked about how companies are starting to hire a lot of writers for their games because of people wanting them.
For me personally I am starting to not want to play a game if it does not have a good story line to it, especially if it is going to take me a while. I can still play through like a shooter that gives 8 hours of play time even if there is no story. Sacred 2, while I love the game, has to me the huge flaw of a terrible story line, so much so that I would say it basically does not have one. I think the intro and ending movies tell you more about what is going on than while you actually play.
Maybe I am wrong though and there will only be a few games that come out and have all the elements to be great, but I really hope that we are on the brink of something great here and that future games will really start to wow us all at every turn with wonderful stories, loveable characters, open ended worlds to explore, etc.