My brother always says that we got our video game preferences completely backwards. I happen to be the geeky brother who has a degree in computer science and works in IT. My brother is an art major with limited patience for technology, and no great love for mathematics or science. Basing on this description, try guessing what is the favorite video game genre for each of us?
You may think that being a programmer I have analytical mind that would be naturally drawn to strategy games. You would be dead wrong about this. The only way I can play a strategy game is when it has a good storyline in the campaign mode. One notable example was Homeworld 2 which captivated me for a while with the cool universe, and interesting storyline. But as I was playing I wished that there would be less annoying RTS combat between the cut scenes. I ended up doctoring my save files to add hordes of powerful ships to my fleet, so that I could just mindlessly blast the enemy and get on with the story.
When my brother saw that he told me that I’m insane. You see, he loves RTS games and for him I was spoiling all the fun. Hell, I didn’t care – I just wanted to find out what’s next. I’m drawn to interesting story lines, mood and fluff. I also love mindless action that allows me to unwind. I like to kill things, and blow stuff up to take a break from coding.
I guess it makes sense in a way. Since I’m in analytical mode most of the time at school or at work, I like to loose myself in mindless carnage or be captivated by gripping story. The artsy-fartsy dude on the other hand probably likes to exercise his analytical muscle when he is not in the creative mode.
Since we have completely different tastes in games, we do not share or exchange that much – not unless we discover a really awesome game, or a RPG/MMO we both like. But every time we buy new games we have the same exact exchange.
He always looks at the cover of my brand new FPS and rolls his eyes. “All these games are the same” he says. “Graphics have improved, but the gameplay has hardly changed at all since Quake.” I could argue with him about this, but he is right in a way. We get better physics, better AI, more destructible environments, vehicles, scripted battle scenes, etc… But we are still essentially playing a similar type of game. There has been no earth shattering paradigm shift in the FPS world yet. The same could be said about RTS games. The basic formula has changed very little since the time of Command & Conquer.
It seems that we game developers have boxed themselves in very rigid categories: FPS/GTA Clone, RTS/Turn Based, RPG/MMO and Other. The other category includes all the franchise sports and driving games. Conservative game design is safe and it pays the bills. Innovation is risky.
But there is hope. I impatiently wait for Spore which is one of the most innovative games in year. It breaks down the genre borders, offers from different gameplay styles at different stages in the game. And it gives the players complete freedom in shaping and customizing the game to their preferences.
I recently saw a video of Valve’s Portal – a FPS puzzle game that employs a funky gun that creates trans-dimensional portals on walls. The idea is very simple – you shoot once to open a hole (for example above enemy’s head). Shoot second time to open a portal connected to that hole (under a heavy crate, which then will fall on your enemy). Combine this with good level design, and you will have hours of gameplay that’s radically different than traditional FPS action.
Why am I excited about both Portal and Spore? Why did I pick these two out of a whole mass of potentially innovative games? Because I think their design allows for emergent gameplay, which may soon become the new driving force in game design. You start with an interactive sandbox in which the player can make decisions about how he wants to play the game. Spore is unique because the whole game is based around this idea. But you do not need to go this far.
Portal is a good example of this. All you really need to do is to provide the players with a simple game mechanic (portal gun) which is bound by some rules (game physics) and let them figure out interesting ways to exploit it. Since you can place your portals anywhere let’s you experiment, and try different things. There might be an obvious solution to the puzzle (drop the crate on the robot) but then again, nothing stops you from doing things your way. Maybe you want to trap the robot in an endless loop? Maybe you wan to drop him into that fiery pit in the other room.
Games which offer emergent experience have that elusive quality that developers often fail to capture – replayability.
[tags]games, innovative game design, spore, portal, valve, emergent[/tags]
