Are computer games too Bland? {Article}

[Gaffer]

Seems like there was a month or so where there were loads of good games coming out, but at christmas, when I had loads of money to blow, I went to game, and there was genuinely nothing I wanted to buy.

Games definitely becoming more bland IMO.

 

[casey32]

http://www.youtube.com/user/RockstarGamesGB?v=tO0W27D1TrY&feature=pyv&ad=9781515109&kw=la%20noire

 

[Beef1987]

Only games I play nowadays are Call Of Duty, Fifa, and Footy Manager !!
So I wouldnt know

I just refuse to pay £40 - £50 for something I'm going to complete, get bored of, and then trade-in after a week or two.

 

[donkarlito]

Off topic a bit
What games are coming out this year for PS3 that sound or look good

 

[GeorgeMiles6]

the best game i played was GTA Vice City, the story was don and going around doing random stuff was great too.

But Heavy Rain is a great game, i was round my mates while he was playing it and i didnt play but i was watching him complete it...Its like a movie!

 

[Billy]

I'm inclined to agree really. I still enjoy modern games, and there are a few diamonds in the rough, such as Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Heavy Rain, Fahrenheit, Mass Effect, etc.

Then again, I prefer older iterations of Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series too.

 

[FallenWang]

If Dragon Age 2 is anything to go by, gaming (PC at least) is pretty much in the dark ages. More and more companies are reliesing that catering to the casual market is much more profit than actually producing a well polished game. The only company that I really put my faith in is Bethesda, hopefully Skyrim will keep it's support for user modifications.

 

[GodCubed]

There's a reason why Portal is my favourite game of all time (closely beating out illuminaries like Monkey Island and Grim Fandango). Heaps of character, fun, humour and intelligent design, wrapped up in an innovative and enjoyable setting and system.

EDIT: Reading this thread again, you people all fail at life for not mentioning Portal.

EDIT2: Apart from Irish Scouse, he is win.

 

[Irish Scouse]

There's a reason why Portal is my favourite game of all time (closely beating out illuminaries like Monkey Island and Grim Fandango). Heaps of character, fun, humour and intelligent design, wrapped up in an innovative and enjoyable setting and system.

EDIT: Reading this thread again, you people all fail at life for not mentioning Portal.

EDIT2: Apart from Irish Scouse, he is win.

That I am, that I am.

 

[lazlow]

I agree with the bland thing sure , but one thing i noticed over the years is how easy and shallow games are now, i played escape from colditz on my old amiga 600 for weeks and weeks and never got anywere ...i didnt suck it was hard!! , now my 5 yo can breeze through most games.

Playing Dow 2 series atm and enjoying it though ...and the Gta games have a nice mini story pre mission which i find awesome and funny .

Except for wow(i play with a few close friends in pvp ) i shy away from online games simply because most of the player base consits of A.10-15 yo`s screaming Lol u haxxor i pwn u with my uber l337 laz0r skilzz l2p....,or B .15-40 yo`s saying the same thing .

Played black ops once at a friends and 9/10 people were trying to camp each other in corners ,personaly id rather soufle my own ****** than spend my evenings doing that.

 

[shadowsc2]

I thought Assassins Creed 1 & 2 was very good game something different

I agree BTW anyone mentioning strategy games? I think StarCraft 2 is a good example of an exciting and involving story and it can be compared to those of RPG-s. But of course Blizzard developed the game for about 7 years and had an income of 100 mil. dollars a month and thats why I like them

 

[Souty]

My favorite type of game is an RPG Fallout is one of my most favorite game series.

The reason I love them is you can play the story about 5 times (minimum) because of all the different choices you can make in it.

Personally for me I think Fallout with an online mode would be brilliant massive map and completely unknown to what's going to happen. And with the decent amount of interactions available you could just find a good hiding spot with a few mates and take out any passing Noobs and steal their possessions (but a cap on how much you can take so you don't ruin their game) then what you do with it is up to you keep it or sell it on. And the idea continues along those lines with the players mainly responsible to how the game goes ie: Every man for themselves; Or more people come together to keep peace and order but obviously their would still be people who turn and attack.

And it could be based on money as people like to compare themselves to other's and you get more money for certain actions etc...

 

[Raphael.]

Agree with the article and the thing is for me now shooting strangers isn't fun.... and my 1st shooter was MW2...

 

[Kris]

Depends, if you're after an online shooter you need no real connection [obviously]. I still think the single player games [Maybe apart from shooters, although there is the odd exception] have a degree of connectivity with the characters.

Mass Effect being one, and most definitely Halo. I agree with Heavy Rain having a character influence, but it was made with the single player in mind [again, obvious] so I don't see any real comparison between the two.

Even a game as silly as Portal [Woo Portal] has a connection with the character and user. I do think there is a good mix of games out there for both the Single-player and multi-player gamer in mind, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Mass Effect, Dragon Age: Origins, Heavy Rain, Portal, Half Life [Never gets old <3], Splinter Cell and on the multi-player aspect, the obvious shooters, which is the main attraction for multi-player, understandably as it creates a fast paced environment.

So as long as they keep the balance I don't see why it should change, I, for one, enjoy the mix of games available.

ps Nintendo please make a console to battle the PS3 and 360

Edit: Fallout too <3

Edit v2: Gahhh Red Dead Redemption <3

I agree with you on almost everything. I don't think there is that much of a balance though.

Games that focus on the online side of the game rather than the single player side i do get bored with quickly and i would say are bland. I much prefer games with a strong single player campaign like RDR, Arkham Asylum, Mass Effect, Half Life. These games are certainly not bland.

Exactly! They are very few and far between though, considering how big the industry is now.

It's too easy to make money with minimal development on games like Call of Duty, since they're simply lapped up by millions annually. Development costs, duration and complexity have increased massively over the past 10-15 years, which makes making an in-depth game with a great storyline a very expensive risk which takes a lot of time to come to fruition, and when it does you can't guarantee a return on that investment in the volatile video games market dominated by various shades of FPS clones and whoever can afford a great marketing team to stir up lots of hype. As Cliff Bleszinski has recently said, there is no middle class games market anymore, only AAA titles and indie ventures sell millions and are successful at the moment.

As for the actual gameplay side of things, I love a great game with a deep and engaging story which expects you to do more than pew pew your way through set-piece after set-piece, but I can also appreciate a well crafted multiplayer game which requires skill and is well crafted and balanced. What I don't appreciate is the army of similar FPS games with 6 hour campaigns and gimmicky multiplayer with no regards to skill nor balance that are released every year.

I couldn't agree more.

I enjoy a mix of different genres, but I do seem to be spending less and less time playing console games (probably because of FM and this site!). I was really into earlier COD games but have really gone off them due to the problems with the latest version.

I have bought games such as GT5, Dragon Age, Fifa, Final Fantasy but have barely played them, unable to get really drawn into the game. The last game to really connect in such a way was the last Metal Gear, and before that Shadow of the Colossus. I'm actually really looking forward to the next Metal Gear installment and The Last Guardin as a result. It seems that more and more people enjoy the pick up and play games that require little thought. They can become very addictive

There are a lot of amazing titles out there, you just have to dig deep to find them.

The best games are those that keep you interested for the longest time in most cases. Spending 40 quid on a game that lasts just 8 hours or so isn't good enough. That's why CoD is so popular, it isn't because people are like 'Haw haw I like to shoot people' but because the replayability is quite insane. With many people getting more than 240 hours worth of play time on it.

I disagree, just because you can sit like a zombie on COD for hours/days on end doesn't make it a great game. Games like Heavy Rain (sorry to bring it up again) where the story is so compelling and the endings are so varied, you can go back and play it 15/18 times and it can be different, each time. If a game is truly great, you will keep hold of it and play it over and over. Like a good book or a movie.

Only games I play nowadays are Call Of Duty, Fifa, and Footy Manager !!
So I wouldnt know

I just refuse to pay £40 - £50 for something I'm going to complete, get bored of, and then trade-in after a week or two.

Sorry to repeat myself but I will. Games like Heavy Rain (sorry to bring it up again) where the story is so compelling and the endings are so varied, you can go back and play it 15/18 times and it can be different, each time. If a game is truly great, you will keep hold of it and play it over and over. Like a good book or a movie.

There's a reason why Portal is my favourite game of all time (closely beating out illuminaries like Monkey Island and Grim Fandango). Heaps of character, fun, humour and intelligent design, wrapped up in an innovative and enjoyable setting and system.

EDIT: Reading this thread again, you people all fail at life for not mentioning Portal.

EDIT2: Apart from Irish Scouse, he is win.

Another set of fine examples. Grim Fandango is one of the best games around, Lucas Arts before they sold out.

I agree BTW anyone mentioning strategy games? I think StarCraft 2 is a good example of an exciting and involving story and it can be compared to those of RPG-s. But of course Blizzard developed the game for about 7 years and had an income of 100 mil. dollars a month and thats why I like them

Strategy games seem to be dying out like most PC Games. It's a shame but there isn't much demand for them anymore. Age of Empires, Galactic Battlegrounds, Red Alert & Empire Earth were all fantastic games back in the day.

 

[shadowsc2]

Strategy games seem to be dying out like most PC Games. It's a shame but there isn't much demand for them anymore. Age of Empires, Galactic Battlegrounds, Red Alert & Empire Earth were all fantastic games back in the day.

Well yeah but I reckon that they'll be back when new ones come up. And SC2 is very popular and at least it will be played in mass.

 

[Redrup]

I disagree, just because you can sit like a zombie on COD for hours/days on end doesn't make it a great game. Games like Heavy Rain (sorry to bring it up again) where the story is so compelling and the endings are so varied, you can go back and play it 15/18 times and it can be different, each time. If a game is truly great, you will keep hold of it and play it over and over.

You just explained what Call of Duty is to most people, not the single player, but the multi-player. No 2 games are the same, hence why it is so replayable.

 

[madmonkey]

jokes dont tend to travel well across the internet without some sort of emoticon

you dont focus on storyline and characters, along with a seeming majority of players who dont, thinks its a fair deduction.

Spend a bit of time on any games forum, the type of player is changing, call of duty etc caters well to their needs so it sells.

Average Joe, agree time is definitely a huge factor, but you could argue plenty of gamers who happily rather thrash out 8-10 hours on a weekend on call of duty multiplayer, than think their way through heavy rain

I am with you on this one mike,

I bought killzone 3 the other day, and i completed the campaign in just 7 hours. i have very little interest in online gaming so i wasnt very impressed with it, It was a good game, but i became used to longer play time on old games, even the old Mario games could take longer than that 20 years ago.

 

[ajt09]

I never play online shootey games, because as mentioned, it's normally full of stroppy, teenage noobs, who will have a ***** fit at losing their first ever game of something, or if you take something they want. "haha I shoot you dead for that" "erm....okay you saddo. Isn't it past your bed time now?" Give me an RPG/management sim any day, that gives feeling, depth, and emotion anytime. Like the aforementioned Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age, Mass Effect and of course FM.
I normally tend to wait for older games to come down in price, because in some cases, they will still play as well today as they did when they came out.

Edit-not all teens are stroppy noobs before I get pelters btw-I've just come across them many times.

 

[Mike.]

I'm inclined to agree really. I still enjoy modern games, and there are a few diamonds in the rough, such as Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Heavy Rain, Fahrenheit, Mass Effect, etc.

Then again, I prefer older iterations of Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series too.

yeah there are still some out there, but when you look back at what games used to be like, particularly on the PC, you can see the number has dropped, but in fairness the ones that are still pushing it tend to be pretty standout

 

[TheHig]

I think mulitplayer has hurt the gaming industry, it bothers me that the strongest feature on some new games is the online mulitplayer.
I could not care less about online mulitplayer and much prefer a good stroy driven single player game.
Examples on 360

Bioshock - Awesome FPS, not you normal FPS (although its completly ripped off system shock 2 lol)

Mass Effect - The best game on the 360 by a mile

Gears Of War - The single player is action packed and epic enough to be worth it, with out bothering with the multi player

Halo ODST - I loved the atmosphere on this game, the single player drew me in, which was impressive because I hate HALO, dont like Halo 1,2 or 3

The Orange Box - Awesome, Half life, and Portal, what more do you want


Thats really all that has stood out for me on the 360, the rest do kind of fall into the bland category.