7 Commandments
Cracked has set forth their laundry list of complaints regarding modern game design. I don't agree with it 100%, but for the most part they are dead on.
Here's an abbreviated version with my own comments:
#7. Thou shalt let us play your game with real-life friends.
- This has become a bigger deal as of late. Stupid COD4 and it's lack of split screen co-op. Thank god for RB6.
#6. Thou shalt not pad the length of your games.
- In college I wanted my games to be 20+ hours of narrated entertainment. These days I'm looking for less than 10 hours of story.
#5. Thou shalt not force repetition on the player.
- I hate checkpoints.
#4. Thou shalt make killing fun.
- "Gordon, the whole world has been taken over by a race of malevolent aliens. All of humanity is depending on you. Here's a goddamned crowbar."
#3. Thou shalt admit when enough is enough.
- Escort missions are never done correctly.
#2. Thou shalt make sure your game actually works.
- Obviously
#1. Better graphics do not equal innovation and/or creativity.
- However nice graphics do create atmosphere. Depending on your game immersion may make all the difference. Bioshock is one off last years best games because of its environment.
Here's an abbreviated version with my own comments:
#7. Thou shalt let us play your game with real-life friends.
- This has become a bigger deal as of late. Stupid COD4 and it's lack of split screen co-op. Thank god for RB6.
#6. Thou shalt not pad the length of your games.
- In college I wanted my games to be 20+ hours of narrated entertainment. These days I'm looking for less than 10 hours of story.
#5. Thou shalt not force repetition on the player.
- I hate checkpoints.
#4. Thou shalt make killing fun.
- "Gordon, the whole world has been taken over by a race of malevolent aliens. All of humanity is depending on you. Here's a goddamned crowbar."
#3. Thou shalt admit when enough is enough.
- Escort missions are never done correctly.
#2. Thou shalt make sure your game actually works.
- Obviously
#1. Better graphics do not equal innovation and/or creativity.
- However nice graphics do create atmosphere. Depending on your game immersion may make all the difference. Bioshock is one off last years best games because of its environment.
posted by mattjustmull | 3:04 PM | permalink
2 Comments:
I can't read cracked.com from work, on account of it being blocked, but the list seems sane enough to me.
#7 I like both multiplayer gaming and single player gaming, but I've been exclusively single player for almost two years now, mainly due to lack of time and other priorities.
#6 Games should last as long as they last. Padding the game to force additional hours is as bad as clipping the game to cut out enjoyable or crucial plot points. Let a game be what it be.
#5 100% yes. One thousand yesses. I'll second your checkpoints with jumping puzzles. Then again, Tetris is pretty repetitive, and it had quite the following.
#4 I would expand that to say "Thou shalt make X fun" where "X" is any part of the game. What's the point, otherwise?
#3 See #6
#2 Yes
#1 I'm still a fan of the tile graphics from the Ultima, Age of Enlightement era. Those were revolutionary games, and it had nothing to do with the graphics. I felt immersed, but I was 12 at the time. Some of my favorite graphics are from Dungeon Keeper II. Incredible, and nowhere near realistic. The artwork was fantastic.
The author actually puts jumping puzzles under #3, but obviously #5 applies as well.
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