Video Game Design Analysis
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Assassin’s Creed III’s narrative is unprecedented in scope and in ambition; it is a major triumph, decidedly epic in construction. Consider most obviously the opening prologue, total manifestation of epicness. Spanning roughly five or six hours in length, it is fair to describe the prologue – and by slight extension the entire narrative proper –
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Alongside the Assassin’s Creed series, the Far Cry games serve as Ubisoft’s flagship. The games’ collective acclaim and popularity is easily understood, for each individual game is brimming with enjoyability; player engagement is immense, whether speaking of the earlier Far Cry 2 or the later Far Cry 5. Such player engagement has undergone expected expansion
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Close to the Sun’s art direction is easily its finest achievement; the core explorable environment, the ship Helios, is striking indeed. It would be totally inaccurate to describe the space as beautiful – or, more rightly consistently beautiful. For beauty is frequently rejected, rejected in favor of atmospheric, almost oppressive moodiness. Reflecting this, the exploration
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Self-expression is an integral component of many video game experiences, for self-expression fosters immersion and intensifies the player / player character relationship; all parties involved benefit, absolutely. Robust morality systems, when properly and respectfully implemented, expand opportunities for such self-expression. On one level, any given player is forced to grapple with, say, equipable armor and
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Coffee Talk: Episode 2 possesses an astonishing degree of charm and heart; the game’s defining attribute is its overflowing sincerity. At the heart of this charm, this sincerity, rests the core narrative, a rather profound construction indeed, frequently dwelling upon profound matters and featuring traditionally profound characters – all throughout are successes. Complementing these inherent
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Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a self-styled horror title which is rarely horrifying; rather than being defined by tension and dread, the experience is defined by a damning boringness – dull forgettability abounds; player engagement is fleeting. Much boredom springs from the environments explored, mundane and boring all, the environments collectively characterized by their
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Multiplayer games are thriving in the present moment, and their widespread popularity and success is easily understood. Foundationally, multiplayer titles offer experiences absent and forever absent in the conventional single player title – a rift exists, multiplayer games oftentimes capable of profounder player engagement, for in a multiplayer title the player is engaging with a
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Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor’s core narrative is severely fragmented – multiple disparate narrative threads are explored in turn, though ultimately those explorations are fruitless; the game absolutely overreaches. Narrative missteps are foundationally frustrating and upsetting. But narrative missteps which arise from immense ambitions are far more frustrating and upsetting. And so it is here,
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Assassin’s Creed is defined by its rigidness, firmly adhering always to structure – the narrative especially is formulaic, is mostly unambitious and unengaging in nature, characterized by failure. One major failing – a further display of ambition’s absence – is observable within the secondary characters; or rather their lack. Save for the player character Altair,
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Deadly Premonition’s open world environment of Greenvale, Washington is defined by a pervasive dreariness – the sun’s presence is scarce, as eerie grey skies dominate. Eerie grey skies such as this are upsetting individually, but when that dreariness is paired with other sources of dreariness, spectacular – troubling – are the results. And so it
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Kona’s world-building is a major triumph, a major source of creativity – the decision to situate the narrative in frigid, isolated northern Quebec was bold indeed, and ultimately all the potentialities inherent to that location are seized upon and exploited to maximum effect. Here, snows and snowy wastes predominate, as do fierce winds, sharply reduced
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Jade Empire’s central narrative is a profound specimen, alternating between innovativeness and derivativeness. Many failings – the greatest displays of genericness – are intimately wrapped up within the player character. In the narrative’s very opening, the player is provided the opportunity to select a character class and a character model – the developers apparently nurtured
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Video game difficulty is an understandably divisive matter, heightened difficulty repelling some players, engaging others; it is difficult to regard the subject with ambivalence. Those who do embrace heightened difficulty settings often do so in search of exhilaration, catharsis. Exhilaration and catharsis both are discoverable in tamer, more tranquil experiences to be sure, but they
Games With Grey 