The ultimate factor every
video game is centred around is design. This defines a variation of things such
as art direction, gameplay, genre, demographics, and platform; although as
technology evolves it seems multi-platform gaming has swept the industry.
Factors like narrative, artificial intelligence, level design and player
motivations are also specific elements that are born through the design
process. When comparing the games of the past that are thought as classics such
as Tetris, Pong and Centipede to console classics like Street Fighter, Sonic
and Mario 64 you can clearly see very different games utilising various
technology, at least on the surface. However on closer inspection you can see
that each one has a scoring system, rewarding system and a means of punishing
the player. You can identify these attributes throughout almost any video game
regardless of its time period, genre, platform or technology. I believe getting
the mechanics behind a scoring, rewarding and punishing system is most
important as it defines difficulty and general interest for example, if a game
is too difficult and does not gratify the player it is normal to reject the
game. On the contrary if a game is too easy and smothers the player with
rewards it is also rejected.
Gameplay also plays a
prominent aspect of a successful game especially as whole worlds are created
through the art direction process, to ensure a competitively engaging
environment the game must articulate itself very effectively. Considering
genre, it is very important for anything that explores content such as a level
or open world to communicate the environment very fluently. Giving freedom to
the player is key to explore and engage themselves in the content without
feeling too forced to do so. The solidity of interaction between the player and
the game should also be high priority for example; challenges that need to be
overcome should not be too repetitive. The very popular MMO called World of
Warcraft presents this quite well. Though the game has a huge fanbase it is
known that the quests in the game become very tedious early on whilst playing
solo and the game holds itself together with various instance runs with other
players (player versus environment) alongside PvP (player versus player).
However after playing the game for a decent period of time you find yourself in
a never ending grind fest that is time consuming and tiresome. Furthermore, the
narrative is a very dominant factor when keeping players interested; this is
far more important in games that are not centred on multiplayer or online modes
such as Batman Arkham Asylum and the Uncharted series. Both games provide very
in-depth and thought out story that connects the player into a web of unsolved
problems, providing new rewards, unpredictable twists and gratifying outcomes.
On this level video games can be easily compared to movies because
storyboarding, scripting and acting are found in both media.
Personally
I think game design highly significant because it is the basis of any good
game, a kind of life force that allows for innovative gameplay, original story
and believability that take the player on a unique journey. For me a game has
to be captivating enough to allow escapism to occur because you know a game is
not doing its job if you become bored or not interested. In an industry that churns
out project after project that is repetitive, temporary or a direct clone of
something else it is difficult to produce something that stands out. I think a
well all rounded game that is approaching release is Guild Wars 2, though I
have not played its prequel I hear there is no direct connection between the
two and beta versions show a well all round MMO that could bring new ideas to
the well known genre.
No comments:
Post a Comment