Sat May 29, 2004 11:24 pm by -------
I like a game to be challenging, but not to the point where it's almost impossible. Take the crappy Splinter Cell games for example. That game's unforgiving if you make a mistake of any sort. I don't like that at all. Difficulty and gameplay affect each other. If the game has you constantly sneaking around, the difficulty is going to be ramped up to punish the player if something goes wrong. On the other hand, if the gameplay is just going in guns-a-blazing, the difficulty level tends to be a lot more forgiving. This isn't always the case, though. Being able to choose a difficulty level is KEY in certain games.
The gameplay sometimes hinges on the storyline. If you've got a simple story like Serious Sam, where you have to go back in time to kill aliens and save the world, the gameplay gets simplified. The difficulty level also drops, because you have a bunch of aliens just running at you. Simple, but sometimes, fun. If the storyline is complex like it is in the original Deus Ex, the gameplay and difficulty depends entirely on what the player wants to do. He can go in guns blazing or sneak around without killing anyone. The storyline also has to be interesting enough to keep you hooked. If you don't get hooked on the storyline, there's not much of a chance you'll play the game again.
Control is a major factor in most games. I've played a bunch of games where the difficulty and gameplay and storyline were awesome, but the control scheme SUCKED! Sometimes it was sluggish, other times, too sensitive. Like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I hate it when I barely touch the mouse, and the screen goes haywire. It's not a good thing.
Sound and Music also play a major part in games. For games like Jedi Academy and such, having the right music can put you in the right mood. Sounds and voice acting can be critical, but not really all that important. Well, not voice acting anyway. I like games to take advantage of my 5.1 surround sound system. It makes me more immersed in my games. This is why I'm looking forward to Doom 3. Obviously, I'm a first-person shooter freak. A lot of games that I have, DO make SOME use of my speakers, but not to great degree that I would like them, too. Max Payne, and Max Payne 2 are perfect examples of how to do it right. Freelancer's an example of how it's not done right.
I apologize if I seem to be "analytical" when it comes to certain features in games. I don't expect games to be perfect. But I do expect them to have a little bit of effort in making games more enjoyable and immersive. I've played too many games, like Enter The Matrix, where pretty much everything sucked.
and most of all the gameplay has to be interesting, the more non-linear the better, but I'm not too fussed about that.
