Many games claim to be the best of it’s genre, you will certainly find their descriptions littered with buzzwords like ‘unique’,’sandbox’,'cutting edge’. Of course many of a games features don’t appeal to all players and one persons holy grail is anothers poisoned chalice, Pinning down the qualities that make a game good isn’t a simple task.
I, like many, have sat and played a countless number of games over my gaming history, with a varied mixture of on/off line, single/multi player games. I like to feel my hype-amour is well worn & rusty at the edges, taking a game on it’s own merits not those pumped out by the PR machine.
I’m interested in what elements people find makes a game good, what makes it stand out from the crowd. I plan to list the elements of those games that have given me something different and the items that make you coming back for more.
I’ve highlighted games that I believe fit the bill for the game qualities I like. To make life easier I had to split out MMOs from other games due to their unique natures.
Non-MMO
- Pretty graphics is a poor substitute for good gameplay
- Too much dependence on the hottest new engine or graphical twist, games should be just as fun running on the lowest settings as well as the top settings (Assassins Creed)
- Re-playability
- Whether you dive back into a new game straight away or in 6 months time, it’s the interesting and exciting elements that draw you back in, these tend to be RTS games that I have long term addictions with. (Roller Coaster Tycoon, Dawn of War II )
- Make it tough not impossible
- Nothing is more annoying than getting deep into a game only to get stuck on a seemingly impossible area, Left4Dead is good example of this in action, the Director controller manages overall gameplay making adjustments on the fly to enhance the overall player experience.
MMO
- Not level dependant
- Games that don’t care about max level in a traditionl sense, where there is still plenty of content once you get to the maximum level. (Guild Wars)
- I also found the idea of a game were levels don’t equal more power, just increases the diversity of the avatar and game-play (Guild Wars, Planetside)
- Enjoyable without Goals
- I enjoy a game were I can play for 6 hours straight and not really achieve anything, but I can still walk away with a smile. Entertaining games that make the time fly.
- Grouping with friends of any level/skill
- As gamers become more social it’s only natural for them to want to play alongside friends both online and real-life, systems and methods that all (Planetside, City of Heroes)
Both
- Realistic achievements
- Increasing more game ship with a slew of merits that drive players to go out of their way to obtain a predetermined goals.
So what game elements appeal the most to you?
What drives you to fireup a game time and time again?
A big thank you to Dok, for the 360 bought for Rach and I as a wedding present, very unexpected and
I had to admit I have been avoiding purchasing one before now, mostly due to the expected impact on our time. But honestly who am I kidding, it’s all very cool. The SEGA MegaDrive collection is wonderful and we soon got stuck in playing Golden Axe, Streets of rage, Sonic and Altered Beast.
We joined in with the Console club on Tuesday for many laughs and crashes on Burnout : Paradise. I’ve played a few hours on Halo 3 and Gears of War 2, but I struggle with the first person perspective on the controller and long for a mouse and keyboard.
I’m sure I will struggle over games that are released on both the XBox and PC.
My lines can be clearly drawn for some genres but blured for others, for example Racing and Beat ‘em ups are always more fun on consoles, but as a said I do prefer PCs for FPS’s.
Which games do prefer on the PC and which on the console?
I was shocked to see that it has been 2 months since my last post, it certainly hasn’t felt that long.
So to quickly recap on my most recent activities:
The wedding
Saturday 30th May was mine and Rachs wedding. It was a very small affair with around 40 guests mainly family members, on one of the hottest days of the year. I’m happy to say that everyone including us had an absolutely wonderful time.
The Scan
On Thursday I went with Rach for the 12 week scan of our baby. We are apparently expecting a ninja as the little one was jumping and moving around like crazy. Everything is looking good and we are looking at a date in December,
The Birthday
On the 3rd of June I matured to the ripe old age 30. I’ve never been one to fret about my age and one birthday has been much the same as another. It seems that 2009 sees me all grown up, married and with a little one on the way.
Big kid at heart slowly growing older.
Fingers crossed I can keep up my blogging.
Published on
March 27, 2009 in
Games.
On the back of the Van Hemlock podcast this week I really should give Eve a second chance again.
I tried Eve for a brief period and lost interest quite quickly, but I’m considering revisiting the game after the 11th free expansion altered the new player experience to be smoother with improved tutorials. Eve has always been a game that interests me but I think the underlying reasons behind it maybe due to the classic Sierra Homeworld series and Tachyon games. I do like the space theme and thought Eve would be a great MMO to get into. My fault I suppose, it is tricky going into a new game without bringing along a list of expectations and I certainly did that.
So I plan on giving Eve another try in the near future, hopefully with the re-mastered introduction it will be a little easier on me and my expectations.
A general catch up post to cover my general lack of inconsistency.
Well the last couple of weeks have been very hectic but I’m going to try and write a little something down.
On the weekend 7/8/9th me and Rach headed to the big smoke, after a quite annoying train ride we were pretty much exhausted and after a whistle stop tour around the rather awe inspiring St. Pancras station, we hit the hay quite early. On the Sunday we met up with a large and varied assortment of folks from different places. Much nattering was done and although the pub we had gathered in offered food, our plan was to hit WagaMamas for our nourishment needs. As typical as the weather is in the UK the once sunny skies filled with heavy clouds and our 10 minute journey was undertaken in vast downpours, but the food was rather tasty as promised, so it was worth it.
We took a stroll and visit a Gosh Comics where I picked up a couple of nice titles and then we continued onto Forbidden Planet. The home of so many shiny things.
It was really nice to put faces to the rabble that normally exist in electron form over the interweb.
Gaming
In the past few weeks there has been a light scattering of Left4Dead with Rachy and more recently Dok, I really do enjoy the game and can’t wait for the expansion to arrive.
Our weekly adventuring team in City of Heroes is fast approaching level 40 and I’m looking forward to the Taskforces and content in the final 10 levels, which I haven’t seen before.
I’m still playing some Dawn of War 2, mostly on campaign mode still, only seeking into multiplayer games occasionally, the game is certainly well thought through and my 2nd run on the campaign is still quite fresh. I think the customisable characters allow for some very different play-styles between games.
I’ve also been playing a couple of Java games as my flu/cold/lergy meant I didn’t feel like playing anything that needed to much concentration.
Films
Well I’ve finally seen Watchmen on Monday just gone. I really enjoyed the film adaptation and thought most of it was as true to the original as could be expected, superseding my exceptions at times. After a post-viewing discussion with Dok I think I nailed down one of the elements that I felt wasn’t as obvious. In the film as in the book the threat of nuclear war is made quite clear, but I feel the book illustrates the populations anxiety and the heightened sense of impending doom.
Reading
I’ve not read lot in the last few weeks, Rachy got me Batman : The Killing Joke which I found a wonderfully dark and gripping storyline. Thanks to Rockjaw for suggesting it on the Limited Edition podcast a few episodes back.
