Graphics do not Make a Game!
Blogged in Games by Matt on Monday May 23, 2005So I was thinking earlier, that it seems to me that most game developers and publishers have lost all concept of what a good game is. These days it seems people care about only one thing, and the thing is Eye Candy. Don’t get me wrong, good graphics are a great thing, however it’s not what makes the game.
For example, let’s take Doom 3. Doom 3 is an amazing looking game, perhaps the best they come, but Doom 3’s gameplay is where it crashes and burns. If anyone has ever played Doom or Doom 2 then they will feel right at home with Doom 3. While this might not inheritly be a bad thing, the fact is it’s 10 years later, and games need not follow that formula.
Doom 3 consists of walking down dark, eerily lit corridors to be jumped by three or four monsters in a pre determined spot at a dramatic part in the game. This continues on for the next 12 hours, until you beat the game. Oh let’s not fail to mention the whole Find Red Key to Open Red Door part of Doom 3. Hello, John Carmack, we were doing this
back in Doom.
Sure Doom 3 is an amazing looking game, it’s just the same old crap over and over. Then we have Half-Life 2, amazing graphics, amazing story, and amazing gameplay. Some may argue if Half-Life 2 looks better then Doom 3 or not, but this isn’t the point. Half-Life 2 is a solid single player experience, and the multiplayer in the form of Half Life 2 Death Match or Counter-Strike Source is great, albeit Counter-Strike is old and boring to me now. The multiplayer in Doom 3 consists of four to eight people, duking it out in a deathmatch in a DARK level. I’ll choose Half-Life 2 anyday.
Now to continue on with this rant. Let’s look at the two leading MMORPG’s out now. We have Everquest 2 with it’s “faux realistic” graphics, while World of Warcraft goes for a more stylized, cartoonish approach. Now EQ2 may look more realistic, but WoW is a much better game by 10 fold. Not to mention that I much rather prefer the stylized, cartoonish graphics that World of Warcraft has.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Leave a Reply