Video Game Design
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Black’s central narrative is painfully simple and derivative, being devoid of any ambition, any desire to innovate or offer anything novel. The framework is a protracted interrogation, the protagonist and player character engaging in forced discourse with his military superior, who shows no sympathy, instead being a figure of crassness – he is, in short,
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Games with robust customization systems are traditionally highly compelling, those systems primarily used as a tool of self-expression. It would be unfair and inaccurate to state that games devoid of such systems are somehow lesser in quality than games which do boldly feature them – they are simply different, perhaps more focused. Still, the inclusion
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Bulletstorm’s narrative dangerously straddles the line between the endearing and the obnoxious, featuring highly juvenile writing and oftentimes bizarre – yet imaginative – phraseology. Fortunately, the endearing triumphs over the irritating – Bulletstorm has a considerable degree of heart, has its own distinct identity, embracing humor fiercely, and mostly departing from more mature, gritty themes,
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Little Nightmares is frequently a very beautiful game, its environments deftly evoking sensations of anxiety and dread; tension abounds, eeriness is deliberately and fiercely sought. Much of this eeriness stems from the bold interplay of light and dark, an interplay most marked towards the narrative’s opening, where darkness is particularly abundant; dark, large, and sometimes
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Rise of the Tomb Raider boasts a highly compelling narrative, abounding in mature themes, discussing such matters as dedication to the self, to family, to society. At the center of the narrative is the fabled Divine Source, said to contain the secrets of immortality, and thusly heavily desired, sought by those with altruistic motivations, and
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Aesthetically, Bastion is a masterpiece, its environments often singular in their beauty, abounding in creativity and whimsicality. Much of this beauty stems from the bold usage of color, vibrant greens having a very prominent presence, resulting in an almost inviting atmosphere, suggesting tranquility, bliss. But the color palette is multi-faceted – it is not monopolized
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In recent memory, video game length has exploded exponentially, much of that expansion attributable to the rise in popularity of the open-world genre, now dominating the landscape; no longer is it sufficient to tell a complete, coherent, and moving story, but now instead an impression is in place that a larger game is a better
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Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is painfully generic in all aspects of its design, and this genericness is most observable in the title’s narrative, wholly unoriginal and lacking in any real innovation or ambition. Worsening this genericness is the barebones nature of the narrative, merely existing as a framework for the gameplay, which is prioritized to
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Mirror’s Edge Catalyst’s open world city of Glass is abounding in creativity, its environments oftentimes singular in their beauty, perpetually engaging and arresting. The game’s greatest displays of creativity stem largely from the bold, liberal usage of color – tranquil blues and violets have a prominent presence, as do striking yellows; everywhere is vibrancy; everywhere
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Creatively, Deadlight meets with repeated successes, displaying much visual inventiveness, innovative and arresting in its presentation. Much of this innovation stems from the game’s highly stylized cutscenes, boldly adopting a comic book aesthetic, with clever usage of color, an emphasis on the interplay between light and dark. In a stroke of creative mastery, and fostering
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Far Cry 3’s Rook Island is frequently beautiful, anchored by much technical excellency. Draw distances can be impossibly long, mountains and valleys visible always, save when enveloped in some thick jungle canopy, blotting out the skies, the surrounding geographic structures. This expansiveness, when it is on full display, does bely somewhat of a failing, as
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Grinding as mechanic is most prevalent in the role-playing genre, though in recent years, and as the industry as grown, the mechanics of grinding have spread, tinging titles which had heretofore spurned them. Still, the trope largely originated from, and was made popular by, role-playing games. In certain of these titles – many entries of
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Wolfenstein: The New Order’s narrative shows a complete absence of ambition, the core motivation capable of succinct expression – topple the Nazi regime, fight back against the abundance of power won with success in World War II, a success maintained and built upon, Nazi powers extending far beyond Europe, their machinations and barbarities affecting all.
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Much of Outlast 2’s narrative is delivered in a fairly conventional fashion, narrative developments achieved through documents found scattered about the game’s principal environment, a vast, untamed desertscape in the heart of Arizona, possibly long forgotten by dent of its geographic isolation. Clever flourishes are attached to these documents, the various authors imparting their own
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Outlast 2’s narrative is characterized by a calculated vagueness, manifold questions arising, no concrete answers ever provided. The opening sees a husband and wife duo – Lynn, an investigative reporter, and Blake her cameraman partner – traveling by plane over a vast Arizona wilderness in the darkness of night, vision greatly obscured, the commanding environmental
Games With Grey 