Beware, rant ahead.
I've been playing PC games for a very long time. For the sake of this rant I'm going to keep my comments to 3D games, so no 2D or text based games apply. I remember when Castle Wolfenstein first came out, and not to long after that Doom. These were soon followed by a slew of copy cat games that added game-play features to differentiate themselves. The graphics were still very primitive. Ah, the time before dedicated video hardware acceleration.
Now graphics wise they have really come a long way. Things look almost real, and in some cases "hyper" real (the blood splatter has gotten a little out of hand in some games). But with the rare exceptions the game play and the ability to interact with the environment has lagged way behind. Anybody remember System Shock 2? That was published in, what, 1996? Now we have Bioshock and there is a lot less to do in that game. And no new ability to interact beyond picking up boxes and dropping them. And don't get me started on not being able to climb up on anything higher than your waist. I was truly baffled when the gravity gun in Halflife 2 was touted as a wonder.
Why is it that games like Assassin's Creed are the very rare exception to the idea of being part of the environment. Don't get me wrong Assassin's Creed has a lot of flaws, but it has an almost unpresidented ability to climb things, and heck, there is even a button to "gently" push people out of the way. Where as games like Fallout 3 simply give you a cooler way to shoot things.
I want MORE. The artists that construct the environments spend so much time creating it and yet in many instances you barely get to see any of it close up. I think we've gotten to the point where we should be able to do more in a game than just shoot at things. In most adventure games your playable character is someone special, or at least that's what they keep telling you, but quite often you can't do many of the simplest things that as a physical human you take for granted. And that includes looking down and seeing your feet, yes Halflife 2 I'm talking about you. I remember playing F.E.A.R. for the first time and gazing with wonder at my feet. That's got to say some thing when having feet is a "wow" event.
So I keep hoping that I'll find that new game that will give me everything, great action and the ability to interact with my surroundings.
I've been playing PC games for a very long time. For the sake of this rant I'm going to keep my comments to 3D games, so no 2D or text based games apply. I remember when Castle Wolfenstein first came out, and not to long after that Doom. These were soon followed by a slew of copy cat games that added game-play features to differentiate themselves. The graphics were still very primitive. Ah, the time before dedicated video hardware acceleration.
Now graphics wise they have really come a long way. Things look almost real, and in some cases "hyper" real (the blood splatter has gotten a little out of hand in some games). But with the rare exceptions the game play and the ability to interact with the environment has lagged way behind. Anybody remember System Shock 2? That was published in, what, 1996? Now we have Bioshock and there is a lot less to do in that game. And no new ability to interact beyond picking up boxes and dropping them. And don't get me started on not being able to climb up on anything higher than your waist. I was truly baffled when the gravity gun in Halflife 2 was touted as a wonder.
Why is it that games like Assassin's Creed are the very rare exception to the idea of being part of the environment. Don't get me wrong Assassin's Creed has a lot of flaws, but it has an almost unpresidented ability to climb things, and heck, there is even a button to "gently" push people out of the way. Where as games like Fallout 3 simply give you a cooler way to shoot things.
I want MORE. The artists that construct the environments spend so much time creating it and yet in many instances you barely get to see any of it close up. I think we've gotten to the point where we should be able to do more in a game than just shoot at things. In most adventure games your playable character is someone special, or at least that's what they keep telling you, but quite often you can't do many of the simplest things that as a physical human you take for granted. And that includes looking down and seeing your feet, yes Halflife 2 I'm talking about you. I remember playing F.E.A.R. for the first time and gazing with wonder at my feet. That's got to say some thing when having feet is a "wow" event.
So I keep hoping that I'll find that new game that will give me everything, great action and the ability to interact with my surroundings.
