No other game that has come out so far has been as complete as The Last of Us. The story, gameplay, characters, world, all make up for one of the most absolutely complete experiences in modern gaming.
Each aspect of the game compliments one another beautifully.
Ellie and Joel our two protagonists are your typical surrogate daughter to a father that had lost his daughter. (We actually watch that happen in the first 20 minutes of the game) Through this relationship, we’re given a window to a much more subtle story telling than many are used to in video games.
The world of ‘The Last of Us’ is post apocalyptic, but in the most beautiful way. Plant life springs through the cracks of buildings, and animal life roams through the world. Even when the story reaches it’s darkest points this post apocalyptic world is just so beautiful you can’t help but look at it.
The game play is a mix of scrounging up materials, and a third person shooter with survival horror elements. Ammo is scarce and sometimes the best option to take is to avoid combat altogether.
That’s what works so well about the ‘Last of Us.’ Everything works in conjunction. Gameplay reinforces the world and genre of the storytelling, and the characters are shaped by the setting and experiences of the game and the player is fortunate enough to see the progression of all these aspects while playing the game. Allowing me to easily claim ‘The Last of Us’ as the most complete game ever made, at least so far.
Bioshock was and remains a masterpiece in terms of Video Games.
Did it have a weak third act? Yes. Was the final boss terrible? Yes. Weren’t both the “good” and “bad” endings ultimately disappointing? Yes.
But what Bioshock was able to do so well was that it was able to tell a story through minimal cut-scenes and used the absolutely terrific atmosphere of Rapture to tell a story through game play.
I could freeze my enemies with a plasmid (power inducing gels) and then I could shatter their bodies by hitting them with a wrench. I could light a splicer (enemy) on fire, and watch as said splicer runs to a pool of water to put out the fire, once in said pool of water I could use an electric plasmid to finish them off.
Choice became the theme of the game, and allowed for this meta commentary on the state of games. Player choice, the active involvement in shaping outcomes is the visual story being told by Bioshock.
The story took a more cynical approach by forcing you to do a ‘fetch’ mission basically telling you “while you have choice, you’re still forced to do the whims of the game’s creator” which I hope opened the eyes for developers to realize that we have yet to reach a game that allows you ultimate player choice, but maybe we’re not so far off, from complete gamer choice.
I love the Metal Gear Solid series, and many, many, other Gamers do as well. Hideo Kojima banking on that love created Metal Gear Solid 4, a 20 hour cut-scene with 5 hours of actual game play, and many of us loved it.
The reason being: nostalgia.
Hideo Kojima, director of the Metal Gear series, allowed for flashbacks, callbacks, and even allowed gamers to visit Shadow Moses (The setting of Metal Gear Solid) in Metal Gear Solid 4. Players were finally able to play as Solid Snake, not since Metal Gear Solid 2 have we played as Solid Snake and even then it was for only 1/6 of the game before we were forced to play as (ugh) Raiden.
It’s like Kojima had the epiphany that the game that for some (like myself) was something we wanted to visit again, but with enhanced visuals, and with a bit of experience. Visiting Shadow Moses in Metal Gear Solid 4’s fourth act, not only brought with it nostalgia, but a melancholic feeling of closure.
Unfortunately, in the autumn of this year we had to face the realization that our culture, as a whole, isn’t as inclusive as we like to think it is.
You’ve heard of Gamergate and you’re probably sick of hearing it, and I’m sick of discussing it with friends.
Instead I want to discuss the ideal that we should be able to give the same critical eye to Video Games as we to movies, and television.
Both of these mediums have plenty of work left in terms of creating women that are as multi-dimensional as the male leads, I’m looking at you ‘Hannibal’ (great show, though), but strides have been made, and critiquing in those two mediums isn’t as toxic as trying to point out misogynistic tendencies in Video Games.
Felicia Day, Anita Sarkeesian, and Zoe Quinn, have all received Death threats from gamers. Regardless of what you think of their beliefs, nobody should be receiving death threats.
We’re gamers. Our whole deal is to be as inclusive as possible. So, when gamers like those three ladies are threatened by what I believed to be one of the most welcoming cultures in media, I can’t help but become a little upset, and question said inclusiveness of playing video games, I just hope I’m not wrong.
Nintendo may be the weakest of the big three in terms of releasing quality games on a consistent basis, but there’s something that Nintendo understands intuitively with games like Mario Kart, Mario Party, and specifically Super Smash Bros., and that is people want to play with each other.
Super Smash Brothers on the Wii is the best form of multiplayer interaction in the medium. Super Smash Brothers like Dark Souls is a throwback to the way video games should be played, and the aspect Smash Bros. addresses is local play.
Video games like Call of Duty have a great multiplayer component, but that component is great for playing with strangers from across the world. There’s a disconnect when you can’t trash talk your friends, trash talking with strangers can quickly devolve into nasty and (unfortunately) homophobic remarks. So, the remembrance that you’re playing with humans is reinforced and the trash talking is with friends, and teaming up with buddies to take out Oscar, who insists on demolishing everyone with Princess Peach is oh, so satisfying.
Super Smash Brothers is a party, and I plan on inviting myself to Nintendo’s latest shindig in the coming months.
Dark Souls is hard. That should be stated and put upfront as many game reviewers have been clear to point out. Dark Souls is also one of the purest throwbacks to old school video games in the medium.
Dark Souls is all about trial and error. You will die, and unlike many games that pick you up and place you back where you immediately left off *cough* Prince of Persia (2008) *cough* you will return to a checkpoint in the form of a bonfire, and another thing is all those enemies you may have already cleared from before will also respawn.
There requires a lot of thought and encounters must be handled with deft maneuvering, but most importantly the game is fair, hard, but fair.
The controls and the world will be learned by trial and error, and a very clever mechanic was to allow other gamers to hint, through the use of messages on written by one another on the floor, to fellow gamers about using specific items or to avoid certain enemies as well.
The sense of community in Dark Souls which is for the most part a Single player experience is one of the biggest surprises to come from that game.
Uncharted 2 did a lot of things, it revitalized and helped re-brand the PS3, when the ps3 desperately needed a reboot, but what it did most importantly was give video gamers a popcorn flick in the form of interactive entertainment.
That’s huge!
Video games are expensive. To not only be able to enjoy a video game, but to be able to play a game that others can enjoy by simply watching is just such a cool idea.
As a kid I would constantly go over to my cousin’s house just so that I could watch him play a video game. Some were incredibly fun to watch like Metal Gear Solid, while others most certainly cater to the single player experience.
Uncharted, specifically Uncharted 2, have made it fun to simply watch a game being played. A lot of the comparisons Uncharted 2 received upon initial release was that it was basically a Tomb Raider rip-off, but the other comparison constantly being made was that the game was a lot like watching a spiritual successor to Indiana Jones, and that’s a cool experience to have.
The experience is so similar that when my little sister first watched me play the game, I paused the game to leave to work and the first thing my sister asked when I got back was “to play that Indiana Jones game”
Gamers were excited for this game. Really excited.
The first ‘PoP’ game to come to the PS3 and the Xbox 360 had so much anticipation built up, the previous games were one of the many highlights of the PS2 and Xbox era. The Prince of Persia games were known for the use of time manipulation to deal with platforming puzzles, and combat that incorporated platforming acrobatics, and Ubisoft (publisher) showed with 2007’s Assassin’s Creed that they understood next-gen open world platforming.
Aww, yeah
On top of that the images previewing the game looked like this:
So pretty
So, an established franchise moving next-gen, a previous game that showcased the publisher understood how to use platforming on this next gen, a visual aesthetic that to this day would excite any gamer, and it ended up disappointing, you ask.
Unfortunately, that’s a resounding yes.
The reason Prince of Persia was such a disappointment was because it didn’t take any influence from Assassin’s Creed besides the controls. There was no creative approach to platforming, the game forced you to follow a set path.
Follow the only clearly marked hand holds you say? Ok.
Instead of allowing you to try and find your own way to marked checkpoints a ball of light would point out the only painfully obvious path you had to follow.
Beloved time manipulation of the prior games is replaced by Elika’s (A.I companion) special powers. Oh, by the way these ‘powers’ don’t let you die. What I mean is if you do manage to miss a clearly marked hand hold, Elika will simply pick you back up giving you another chance, with no consequences whatsoever. You will never see a game over screen.
The reversal of time in the previous games let you see where you made your mistake by, well, rewinding. You were encouraged to retry by viewing your mistakes, but the sands were limited so if you kept screwing up without learning you’d have to reset the level. With Elika you’re just placed back prior to where you messed up. The internal stakes in a gamer’s head is diminished considerably.
Another key factor missing from the prior games is the creativity in combat, sure you can use acrobatics again, but I was able to defeat most enemies and ‘bosses’ with a three-button combo.
‘Bosses’ there are four ‘bosses’ in the game and you will fight each one three times. THREE TIMES!!! What kind of twisted ‘3rd times the charm’ lesson is this?! The only changes in each instance is an increase of health with receiving slightly higher damage from each hit. But, don’t worry even if you die Elika will make sure you don’t have to fight the boss all over again, instead maintaining any damage you’d previously inflicted.
Well, at least the game is beautiful Dan, right?
You know that first image I placed here that showed the beauty and lush greenery of the world, that was used to initially entice gamers, is actually only achieved after you’ve cleared an area that previously looked like this-
Yes, this is what the game looks like 80% of the time. I mean jeez, even Gears of War had more splashes of color.
The disappointing part of this or of anything really, is the missed potential. The new Prince is jarring at first, but a welcome respite to the former Prince that took himself too seriously. Elika is an A.I companion that doesn’t impede game progress, and is instead a very useful partner for the duration of the game, and just when the game seems to understand Elika and The Prince’s dynamic is a plus, the ending does it’s damnedest to disappoint you there too.
My parents don’t know much about games, but my mother bought me this game for the PS3 knowing I was a fan of the PS2 classic, and not being able to unabashedly enjoy what was such a thoughtful gift was the biggest disappointment this game brought me.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is the most important game of the 7th generation of consoles.
It’s not the best, but it’s the most important.
Call of Duty 4 didn’t change the wheel. It was a good looking game, but looks-wise wasn’t anything that couldn’t have been seen on a PC at the time, but for consoles these were well pardon the pun, game-changing. The characters in the game looked like people, like people! They weren’t photo-realistic, but what a visual jump! Guns had enough detail that it was obvious an M4 and Famas were clearly different weapons.
Dem graphics tho’!Dem muddy graphics tho’!
The online play was good, but was nothing new to anyone that played Counter-Strike or Halo. It did popularize perks, though. The RPG element that made the online play so addicting. You know when you grind in an RPG just so you can unlock a golden or shiny version of the same object/pokemon you already own? Modern Warfare did that for a mass audience, and we loved it.
It’s single player was basically a generic action shooter story line. Don’t let a terrorist launch a nuke, save the world, yadda, yadda, yadda. This allowed for an appeal to action-movie junkies that opened the flood gates for ‘casual’ gamers. No longer were ‘nerds’ playing games, but the general public had begun to accept that video games were a visual medium that was only going to become more and more commonplace.
Call of Duty 4 was and remains so important to general gamers, because it was the complete package gamers were expecting of the new consoles at the time.
By simply being incredibly important in a number of positive ways such as; increased graphic fidelity, sense of community through online play, and bringing games to the non-gaming public. It did popularize one polarizing aspect in the gaming industry. DLC.
Call of Duty 4 was worth spending 60 dollars on, the idea of DLC (Downloadable Content) was steadily becoming an acceptable norm for console players, Activision (Publisher of COD) released different game maps for additional cost, and continued to profit off of gamers long after they’d purchased the original game.
This I believe being the biggest negative of Call of Duty’s popularity. This would eventually lead to some game publishers like *cough* Bandai-Namco *cough* having over 40 dollars worth of content in ‘DLC’ to unlock content that was already on the disc. ALREADY ON THE DISC! You already have the content on the disc, and you’re expected to pay extra to unlock it?! Sadly, this would’ve happened eventually, but with Call of Duty 4’s popularity, DLC became a regular feature of the gaming experience that much faster.
The quality of Call of Duty 4 can and should certainly be questioned.
It’s importance should not. Modern Warfare changed the way gamers view games, and changed the way games are made for gamers.
*Note: I’m fully aware the game above my head is the sequel to COD4: Modern Warfare. Let’s just pretend it’s COD4, okay? Thanks*
Defining Games 