Deciding how to Rate: Video Game Reviews
Oct 03 '00
Video Games are such a complex subject. I know that statement will raise some eyebrows as the cranks and pulleys begin to operate in the heads of those who have never enjoyed the depth, invention and sheer brilliance that can be experienced within the digital world of modern video gaming. Relax and allow the tension to drain from your poor little catepillar eyebrows, this was a serious statement and there is much truth behind it.
Gone are the days of the two buttons with jump/shoot capabilities. The simple, puerile days of the video gaming world where the biggest challenge was crossing a boiling lava pit while also avoiding blazing fire balls being hurled by an angry dragon, all to save a princess. Such innocent days. Long before the head exploding fun of the Resident Evil series or the strategic depth of games like Rainbow 6 or Tiberian Sun (PC).
Games were comparatively simple in concept during those days (of course not all of them were i.e. games like Shadow Gate that I can't figure out to this day). Although at times they were back-breakingly hard and drew buckets and buckets of sweat from your back while also removing hours from your young lifetime, they were built upon rudimentary concepts and usually required great feats of hand eye coordination mixed with cat-like reflexes to be toppled.
Not no mo'.
Now-a-day's games are not only deeper conceptually, graphically and interactively but they are vast and incorporate an immense amount of elements that must be considered for completion. No longer can you rely on your quick reflex jump button and knowing how to avoid enemies to get through a game. After hours and hours of playing you can find yourself fully immersed in a 3D virtual world, becoming familiar with the environments and engrossed in the gameplay and artistic quality of the surroundings.
Artistic?
Many who don't play video games don't realize how tied into art they are. Witnessing or playing a game like "Out of this World by Interplay, will quickly bring one into awareness of the videogames artistic worth. The creators went to great lengths to create a world that would invoke in the imagination of the player (or viewer) a feeling of a desolate, foreign world that was cold, brutal and (by our standards) strange and mysterious by using certain colors, lighting, music that was sensitive to each situation and shadows. Every viewing of a game like this can be an appreciation for art. Yet, not only are you viewing this art, you are interacting with it and affecting it in a way that has never before been possible.
When reviewing a video game it is important to convey the artistic quality of the game. Combining the music, feel of the control, graphics, lighting and overall theme of the game you can convey to your reader a sense of the games vitality therefore helping them decide whether or not this is an endeavor they want to pursue.
When I wrote my Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future review, I tried to pull my favorite elements out of the game to completely portray the general feel of it all in writing. Some may find it appealing, some my find it boring. They can make their decisions from what I have written and I have helped them along.
While the atmosphere is a great factor it is important to discuss the control of a game when reviewing it. Control can completely ruin a game from the beginning. I had been looking forward to playing Omikron: The Nomad Soul since the release of the Dreamcast and have only recently had the chance to rent it a couple of weeks ago. The first twenty minutes of my play time were greatly hindered by the quirky camera angles, the sluggish, unresponsive movements of the character and the general failure of the control system. I tried but I couldn't get into the game. The terrible controls were ruining it for me early. Sometimes a bad control system can be overlooked but it definitely subtracts from the overall enjoyment and atmosphere of a game.
Just as important as the control is the Gameplay. The same way that a book can become boring and directionless so can a video game. When a game is composed of more atmospherics and deep thinking solutions then the gameplay isn't so much of an issue because you are going to spend large amounts of time simply trying to understand whats going on anyway. But in action, platform, RTS and other sorts of event oriented titles, it is important that the developer creates the game in such a way that it will move along fluidly. When they fail to do so it is not hard to lose interest halfway through the game.
For instance, "Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver" was was often criticized for its lack of direction and purpose at times. While playing, it can be hard to know what your next objective is and after searching and searching without finding it, many (including myself) would become bored and move on to something else. For people who don't have countless hours in their day to explore some huge game world without producing results, it is easy to abandon such a vague game. Although Soul Reaver is a great game, its gameplay can factor into whether or not you want to even begin playing it at all. Some people love games to have less direction, to be created on a non-linear platform. I can really appreciate this too but only under certain contexts, like that of Ecco.
The Story. It is debate-able whether or not the story-line is the most important factor in a game. I personally don't believe there is any factor that is more important because failure with one can ruin all the rest. The control system of Omikron ruined the entire game for me regardless of the successful establishment of a dreary futuristic world and the interesting story-line.
So, do I think the story is most important? No. Do I believe it is important? Yes. Especially now-a-days when it seems that the developers are passing around a story-making cookie cutter. When a game comes out with an original story line it is definitely worth taking note. Recently many of the RPG's released are created with this recipe:
1 Aloof, mysterious, taciturn young man, with spikey brown or blond hair
1 Tough, Tom Boy-ish girl with bright eyes, a weird weapon, an attitude and an outright crush on aforementioned taciturn young man.
1 Wispy, elflike lady with a forlorn look and a secret crush on aforementioned taciturn young man.
1 Mystery character that appears every once in a while and intrigues all the above mentioned characters.
1 Cute little animal.
1 One huge villain who is trying to create havoc for no reason other than evil.
In the midst of the love triangle formed by the first 3 characters we all learn that Guys don't like girls and girls are constantly chasing after them. Guys like to fight in stupid tournaments that are held in random towns just to see who is the toughest fighter. And that video game developers are suffering from a lack of originality or motivation.
There are so many things you can do with an RPG. First of all, how about branching out to other parts of the world besides Europe and Japan. Nearly every single RPG is created in a Medieval European backdrop. What about the Middle East or Africa, South America, India, Russia. How about leaving out the romance? How about including other ethnic groups in the games more often than for the big dumb brute (side kick from FFVII), or just making them the star of the entire game? How about making RPG's in huge modern cities or futuristic cities like Shadowrun for SNES, with science fiction themes instead of the same old castles, dragoons, caves, islands, kings, magic, swords etc........
Where's the originality? The last Sony RPG, "Legend of Dragoon" was nothing but a rehash on everything that has ever been done in an RPG. It took you guys three years to make this?!! I guess 2 years and 51 weeks were spent on the actual construction of the game and the rest of the time was spent on the story (1 week).
It is really upsetting but I guess that's another review. My point is, when you write a review about a game you should convey to your reader your thoughts on how interesting and captivating the story is.
What I have written above is but a fraction of what a video game is composed of. There are so many elements to the equation of enjoying a game and it becomes more and more complex each day as more and more genres are created and new concepts are given birth to. If you don't play games and would like to, there was never a better time to begin. If you do play games, I hope that my review has helped you to look at you games even deeper than I am sure you already do. Thanks for reading.
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Epinions.com ID:
samadust
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Member: Douglas Flowe
Location: USA
Reviews written: 182
Trusted by: 94 members
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