Same ol’ same ‘ol
I will illustrate for you how much current gaming has not changed, and easily prove that which was, now is (and by that I mean – how little is actually new, changed, different or even remotely as inventive as all the over-excited game reviewers often claim). Whether directly or indirectly, I will provide examples of modern or older games as contrast for referral. Recall also that reviewers will not have a job if there are not any new games to sell, and where does that ad revenue come from? Games have been around since the before 1980′s, right? Somebody has to sell those magazines.
Has everything changed?
Games of every genre need change. Whether by alteration, new ideas implemented – not hardcore wanking fanboys moaning about how “games should be like the old days – how come it isn’t like version 1.0?” Can anyone guess how gamers ever got stuck with endless sequel COD’s or GRAW’s? There is one reason, right there.
If everything is exactly the same as it was – then innovation is DEAD. Consider where graphics would currently be if a large portion of game players had decided long ago they wanted jagged, blurry, pixelated games like the early 80′s. I’ll just bet optometry would be a far more popular career choice now too. So, be clear as you read that I am not talking about adding minor elements like “cover systems” which merely allow a character to attach temporarily to a given spot; I am talking about game fundamentals.
What once was
Part of the problem stems from the fact that any game genre (I will use Survival Horror as an example here) had many new fundamental ideas when it first arrived (like the other genres). Since then – many game developers have either been sitting around soaking up donuts, or are just not allowed to have any creative expression at all. There are a few games that have broken away from the pack somewhat; it’s too bad they are in such a small group. In the FPS genre, for example, Condemned 1 & 2, and FEAR were interesting, (AI wise) where any Silent hill was old, old news. Maybe old not due to plot or action, but over familiarity of an often over complicated game play mechanism, and lousy implementation of what was supposed to be ‘scary’. GRAW (not scary! – a supposed military “sim”) falls into this same exact controls/mechanism trap, where FEAR was more tense due to AI implementation with sound effects and flanking than fear generating, and Condemned did not have brutal fear so much as ‘freaky creepy factor.’
Sounds of something running along the rafters can do that…especially when you become aware you might have to face it later. Maybe just more unnerving than causing fear or terror outright, it did offer the old Resident Evil feeling of of unnerving sound implementation, but that had already been done long ago, and itself was borrowed (read: stolen) from horror movies. However, it was a step in the right direction, from which they departed right away, and moved more into a ‘beat-em-up’ FPS game. What a waste. Condemned 2 was no better, and inserted ‘Quicktime event’ elements, which were more RE-like, but again, detracted from actual fear, being more about beat-downs, and reminded one of the game that they were in with a hammer.
Granted, that seems biased due to action levels required in a typical FPS game, but that is not my point, as many game genres are action based. I simply believe that it is possible to make great horror games (or any other genre for that matter) without resorting to the Call of Duty type swarming ‘brain dead bot formula’ that has become so very popular. Robotron started that, COD stole it. At some level, all games begin to look frustratingly similar, with mere differences in player viewpoint, lighting, textures, sound effects, music, some modeling and ‘when’ the bots show up. But that is not gameplay fundamentals, now is it?
If we use good old Robotron as a ‘standard example’ of “top down” game view, (eliminating all of the ‘sexy’ for a moment) we can easily see that the game creation landscape is not as different gameplay wise as all of the smoke and mirrors sales tactics used to make us believe that it has. Left4Dead can easily be compared using this method, and you will quickly see similarities with COD (or Resident Evil, for that matter) to the point of boredom. Player moves around, bots move in and attack, sound effects, music plays. Change the viewpoint often is then somehow manipulated to become a “different game”.
It’s not as if all the game types currently available have not long existed. Game developers have had plenty of trouble finding new things to do with controls provided, hence the need to develop new controls. Drive, swim, jump, walk, fly, run, shoot, climb, fall, by button – it had all been done…. by 1984. I am as familiar with older games as anyone, and they did have aspects modern games often miss – like great plots, game play and unique ideas, simply because the graphical ability of all platforms at the time left developers without any other recourse. They could not rely on graphics or surround sound to pimp a sale – she was a nasty, ugly frankenmutt, and there was no amount of makeup that could improve her. Simply put: It’s a tough sell when your sales job is convincing a customer that those 4 pixels are a dragon, boobs, or guy with an ax.
