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The Current State of Video Games

by March 9th 2008 12:11 AM CST1 Comments

"Achievement Unlocked." So you did it? You shredded that song to pieces in Guitar Hero. You finally killed that SOB terrorist in Call of Duty 4. Maybe you nailed that ridiculously-tough line in Skate. We’ve all experienced those few short seconds of gaming ecstasy, flexing your proverbial muscles by adding those dozen or so points to your ever-increasing Gamerscore.

It goes without question that Microsoft’s idea of Achievements and Gamerscore is nothing short of genius. Rewarding players for completing difficult tasks makes perfect sense, right? But what should be more rewarding, adding some imaginary points to that magic (yet meaningless) number in your Gamercard or having an enjoyable video game experience? This is where things start to blur, especially with some of the games that have been released as of late. It seems as if Achievements are set in place to push gamers through a game, but shouldn’t gamers want to play through a game’s campaign because it’s a fun and compelling experience? Well, that might just be the problem right there. Games these days, for the most part, aren’t fun and compelling experiences. They’re generally repetitive carbon copies, maybe with a new outfit to differentiate themselves just enough to sell a few copies. The FPS genre is where the finger should be pointed towards most of all. Take a moment and think of all the different shooters you have played recently. There’s a good chance that the majority of them involve aliens threatening the existence of the human race, World War II, or zombies.

Yeah, yeah, so what’s this all mean? It means that we need a monumental game that involves World War II, aliens and zombies all at the same time, right? Wrong. Although that would be epic, what it really means is that we’re living in a new world of videogame “generic-ness.” Take titles like the classic Half-Life or Deus Ex for example. These are far from being generic, but, unfortunately, these types of games are hard to come by nowadays. I know what you’re thinking: “Half-Life (both 1 and 2) involves aliens killin’ ur dudez! It must be generic!” That’s just not true. Although you’re correct in the sense that the games do involve aliens “killin’ ur dudez,” they’re far from being generic shooters. This is because they offer up some of the most immersive and jaw-dropping experiences you will ever encounter in a videogame. Both contain an enticing single player and an intriguing back story. Half-Life 2 is one of the few games that made me stop and say “whoa.” You want a more recent example? Try Mass Effect on for size. Mass Effect has some of the most brilliant dialog I have ever seen in a game.

These days it’s “Halo this and Gears of War that,” and I guess this Call of Duty 4 thing is all the rage. But when should the line be drawn? Don’t get me wrong, Halo 3, Gears of War and Call of Duty 4 are equally-strong titles (as sales have proven) and the first two are, fortunately or unfortunately, the lifeline of the Xbox franchise, but let’s be honest; would they be so high and mighty if it weren’t for their multiplayer aspects? Of course not! The games arguably feature the most run-of-the-mill single players you could possibly ask for! In fact, Gears of War’s back story is more interesting than the game itself!

To tell you the truth, there really is no escaping those common shooter game-premises, but the premise of the game isn’t necessarily the issue. The issue is the way developers manipulate that premise. Don’t panic if your head exploded after reading that. What I mean is developers need to focus on captivating gamers with their games, not making a quick buck by throwing aliens and, for lack of a better term, dudez into a pot and producing yet another typical shooter with a lackluster single player (and in many cases, multiplayer). It’s when you’ve given a player that “whoa” moment that you’ve succeeded. Otherwise, your game simply won’t stand out, and you might just need Achievements to push the gamer through the game. If that still doesn’t make sense, panic.

But how do you captivate the gamer? We’ll use the shooter genre since it’s what we’ve been discussing mainly. By definition, the answer isn’t simple and contains a handful of things: immersive story, interesting weapons, realistic and interactive environments, constantly-changing situations and unpredictable, yet intelligent AI. A bit of uniqueness never hurts either. By combining these things along with others that go unmentioned, you will have a game that is not just entertaining, but is really good. Sadly, most games lack these very fundamentals.

However, all has not been lost. We still have recent titles that offer up first-rate experiences. The games that primarily come to the forefront are BioShock, Mass Effect and The Orange Box. Games like Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway, GTA IV, Left 4 Dead, Huxley and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction all seem like favorable candidates as well. Hopefully, these games will hold true to their promises, and, assuming they do, we may possibly see a recess in this dark, dank and depressing world of generic-ness, if not an end to it.

So, the next time you’re picking up that new game, take a step back and make sure you know what it’s all about before you drop your hard-earned clams. There’s a good chance it sucks. There’s a great chance it’s like the last game you bought, and there’s an even greater chance that you’ll be better off spending the money on a rather large cup of tea and some scones. Because, in the end, scones are pretty damn good, plus, we play videogames to have fun, so what’s the point when we’re fighting through mediocrity in order to gain a few worthless points?