Video Game Design
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The surge in popularity and influence of indie video games in roughly the last decade and a half has fundamentally altered the video game landscape, fundamentally bettering it, greatly increasing diversity, the diversity of experiences communicated. It was not too long ago that the experimental attributes which typically characterize indie games were regarded with relative
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Catherine’s central narrative is wonderfully captivating, dwelling upon such mature themes as love, marriage, the obligations one owes their lover. At the heart of this maturity is the protagonist and player character, Vincent Brooks, an endearing individual who frequently displays profound depth, in a perpetual state of conflict, dedicated to his long-time girlfriend Katherine McBride,
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Far Cry 5’s open world environment of Hope County, Montana, is frequently of a beautiful, atmospheric sort, expertly capturing life as it is lived within one distinct region of the vast, diverse United States, and all throughout the developers embraced sincerity, authenticity. Much technical excellence permits the developers to achieve this vision; draw distances are
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Soma is abounding in frightful, compelling atmosphere, atmosphere which results in a perpetual sense of anxiety and uneasiness – though rarely sheer dread. The central explorable environment is a series of linked complexes, situated far below the surface of the churning waves of the vast Atlantic, the time being the early twenty-second century. Understanding these
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Far Cry 5 is incredibly atmospheric, boasting rich world-building and environmental diversity, which together heighten the joys of exploration, central to the overall experience; the decision to situate the narrative in rural, decidedly American, Montana was a bold one, being a radical departure from the game worlds featured in earlier Far Cry titles; the potentialities
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Oblivion’s central environment is abounding in beauty and wonder, characterized by considerable diversity, which communicates a sharp sense of largeness, largeness which is, ultimately, rather illusory – by today’s standards, Cyrodiil could be seen as impossibly small, though Oblivion compensates for this smallness by the crafting of a very compelling, almost inviting and tranquil, atmosphere.
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Dishonored is characterized by robust world-building, its lore rich and well-developed. At the core of this setting is the city of Dunwall, the crowing jewel and the heart of a far flung, once prosperous, empire; prosperity has partially departed, owing to the introduction and domination of an invasive plague, bringing with it devastation, tarnishing somewhat
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Aesthetically, Valiant Hearts: The Great War is wholly remarkable and memorable, boasting rich, highly detailed environments and rather charming character design, a design which absolutely clings towards the light hearted. But just as there are light-hearted attributes, some more mature environmental designs are also in place; deep, labyrinthian, trenches are explored one moment, the player
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It is quite staggering to consider the meteoric rise of DLC and expansion packs within the video game industry in recent memory, their influence long mounting and continuing to mount. Much of this ascension is of course tied to the Internet, while similarly important are console dashboard systems, like those popularized by the Xbox 360;
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As is characteristic of much of Gearbox’s recent work, the environments in Bounty of Blood are overflowing with creativity, the central planet of Gehenna atmospheric, imaginative, and immersive. Western stylings are boldly embraced, browns and oranges holding a position of prominence in the color palette, while much of the landscape is sunbaked and bright in
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The Sinking City’s central location, the derelict Massachusetts town of Oakmont, is like a place lost to time; geographically isolated and absent from any maps, it has developed into a microcosm of sorts, largely unaffected and uninfluenced by the wider world, this isolation also resulting in the formation of a wholly unique society; Oakmont’s citizens
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What Remains of Edith Finch’s central narrative is paradoxically profound and straightforward, straightforwardness stemming from the narrative’s construction, profundity stemming from the nature of the themes discussed: poignant matters such as one’s relation to the past, one’s obligations to family and to the self – these complex themes are abundant, the one great linking constancy
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In almost all aspects of its design, The Sinking City strives for innovation, and mostly meets with success; some iterative design principles inevitably find themselves within the title, but the very existence of such wide-reaching ambition is indeed commendable. Atmospherically, the title is singularly remarkable – not necessarily beautiful, but abounding in moodiness, the central
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Save for the early years of my existence, when the Playstation 2 and the Xbox were the dominant home consoles, video games have consistently released at the same price point – sixty dollars, that price being established and accepted with the release of the Xbox 360 back in 2005. Given the poor present state of
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With its painterly attributes and bold usage of vibrant color, Child of Light is a singularly beautiful title; whimsicality dominates; creativity abounds. In addition to being visually arresting, the game world is brimming with considerable environmental diversity, each distinct location having its own identity, evoking different sensations, different emotions. Deep, cavernous oceans are explored one