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Joined: 03 January 2004
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It really took me a lot of time and thought about this, but I'd like to get this off my chest. This how I've been differentiating the contrast between good games and bad games. All the good games that I've played met all these expectations and performed them perfectly. If anyone else would like to list what they prefer in good games then do so. This is listed in order of my opinion in importance and overall significance.
PLAYABILITY - This is a vague topic, because it includes so much. Basically what playability is in my opinion, is that there should always be a steady flow of gameplay. I should always be able to notice the progress I am making. (This can be acheived in so many ways, like simply ending the level and jumping into the next, or even just saying ''Well done!'' every time you do something right) Long key hunts and backtracking contricts the flow of gameplay. Good games are constantly making progress as you go through without any impossible confusing puzzles, just basic ones that are easy to catch on to. Basically, I should always be doing something fun in the game. I can almost never get sick of fighting enemies so long as I am provided the resources to do it. If I have to fight barrages of enemies without the ammo and health thrown at me from time to time, it becomes more frustrating than fun. Progress should not be hard to make. It can be challenging, but at least be understandable. All conflicts should have possible solutions, even if the solution is to ignore the obstacle and find another route. The possible solutions should not be too impossible to find, they should be openly provided to you enough so you dont need a magnifying glass or a guide to find it, but not so easy that you dont even need to try. Thats pretty much how playability goes.
PHYSICS - It wasnt until I played Half-Life that I realised how much I am impressed with how the physics engine operates. The more closely objects behave like they would in real life, the more I am impressed. I prefer ragdolls over animations because they are simply more lifelike. I never thought this would be such an important factor, but there was never a game I played that had an amazing physics engine but was still bad.
AUDIO - It wasnt until I got into modding that I realised how important this is. Music has got to fit with the game and the situation that is happening. Halo pulls this off perfectly. Everything has to make a proper sound. The more things that are making its proper sounds, the more I am impressed. I use a lot of loop soundfx in my mods for this reason. Other situations in games, where some sounds can actually add to the fun of a game. Like if there was a sword fighting game, and everytime you went to fight someone, and your strongest sword sounded like "ting. ting. ting." when you attacked people with it. And when yor enemies died, they just go "umph" and fall down on their knees. You really dont feel powerful. But if you sword sound like "<<SWOOSSH>> CLASH!!!" when you hit people, and when they died theyd go "BLEAAARRGH!!!", it would make your fight seem more intense and efficient. I also dont like the game to ever have moments where it is dead silent. Reality has too much sound to have any area not produce any sounds. The balance of sounds has to work right too. Guns are ultimately much louder than things like wind, a door opening, or bulletcases falling. However, when a gun is not firing, you should be able to clearly hear wind, opening doors, and bulletcases, etc. Important factor.
GRAPHICS - It wasnt until earlier this year that I realised how unimportant this is. At earlier ages, I would think, "WOW that game looks so realistic I have to have it!". This is not the case. As much as high quality graphics are impressive, they serve very little purpose in making a good game. It helps, but very little. I still play doom to this day. Dooms enemies are shown by sprites with 8 different perspective angles. I still prefer those sprites, even if they are not realistic, it is good enough for me. The more graphics become more and more detailed, the less imagination is required to enjoy the game. Which I believe is possibly making the video gaming world dumber. Now a game has to at least produce an image that still remotely looks like the object its supposed to represent. (like Atari's 8 pixel stick figures - that easily represent people) But if it looks too impressive and nails down every aspect of detail, then the game does all the imagining for you. A real shame really. Graphics still need to be there, but they dont have to be that great.
That's all I've got for important game features.
| *Papercut Pro-Murder. Legalize Crime. |
Edited: 27 January 2007 04:21
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