You know, I recently replayed Wolfenstein 3-D recently, and THAT is a perfect game. Here's why:
GAMEPLAY. Too many games are getting themselves caught up in having epic stories with a million characters and plot threads and not focusing enough on what makes a game fun. Wolfenstein has a simple premise: You're a Jewish-American spy going behind enemy lines taking down Nazi's. It's a concept as old as the war itself, but the gameplay still sucked me in. Nothing quite like mowing down a room full of SS with your chaingun. YEARS after having played it, I still have a blast taking down Adolf. And the Jewish-American angle also gives you a sense of purpose for taking down the Nazi's. You're not some Van-Damme knockoff the Allies dropped in to start wrecking shit. Not to say that story and character can't lend itself to the gameplay, but that's EXACTLY what it should do: strengthen the game aspect. I like story and strong characters and cinematic cutscenes, as long as they lend themselves to making the game a better game.
Case in point: Let's go with Metroid Prime. You land on a planet and try to save it from being corrupted by some serious super-radiation. While the game is very fun, I was personally invested in it because the planet once was in control of the Chozo. the Chozo are the race of aliens who raised Samus (that's you) after her family was killed in a pirate raid. Because of your characters' history with the Chozo, and finding out what exactly caused them to die/abandon the planet/etc. via logs and data caches, you as the player become more invested in your mission to stop whatever the pirates are doing and stop the imminent threat of the super-radiation. The game gives you a strong backstory without dumping exposition on you Star-Wars-opening-scroll style. That TO ME is a perfect game.
GAMEPLAY. Too many games are getting themselves caught up in having epic stories with a million characters and plot threads and not focusing enough on what makes a game fun. Wolfenstein has a simple premise: You're a Jewish-American spy going behind enemy lines taking down Nazi's. It's a concept as old as the war itself, but the gameplay still sucked me in. Nothing quite like mowing down a room full of SS with your chaingun. YEARS after having played it, I still have a blast taking down Adolf. And the Jewish-American angle also gives you a sense of purpose for taking down the Nazi's. You're not some Van-Damme knockoff the Allies dropped in to start wrecking shit. Not to say that story and character can't lend itself to the gameplay, but that's EXACTLY what it should do: strengthen the game aspect. I like story and strong characters and cinematic cutscenes, as long as they lend themselves to making the game a better game.
Case in point: Let's go with Metroid Prime. You land on a planet and try to save it from being corrupted by some serious super-radiation. While the game is very fun, I was personally invested in it because the planet once was in control of the Chozo. the Chozo are the race of aliens who raised Samus (that's you) after her family was killed in a pirate raid. Because of your characters' history with the Chozo, and finding out what exactly caused them to die/abandon the planet/etc. via logs and data caches, you as the player become more invested in your mission to stop whatever the pirates are doing and stop the imminent threat of the super-radiation. The game gives you a strong backstory without dumping exposition on you Star-Wars-opening-scroll style. That TO ME is a perfect game.
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