I’ve been playing video games since I can remember, and as a young boy I didn’t care much about what type of game I was playing, as long as it was fun it had my full attention. That changed as I grew and I’ve become more finicky about my games and generally avoided ones that look unappealing to me. When I reflect back on the more memorable games I’ve played throughout my life I’m noticing a lot of trends – good and bad – that have been passed down through many titles over the years. Some are fairly recent and others have been around since the days of the Super Nintendo. Some of these trends are rather annoying while others are just meant to be helpful to those who have played video games long enough to know what they mean or why they are there. After all, most gamers are fluent in an unspoken language; a red barrel means it’ll explode if disturbed, a swelling hump protruding from an enemy’s back is a weak spot, three is the magic number, shoot anything that glows, and cracked tiles will drop you into oblivion. There is a reason why we can interpret all of this and why it may seem so familiar to you, because they’ve all been overused. Game developers love to implement something that the player will recognize and find themselves comfortable with; with something new even something mundane a player may feel intimidated by the game. Now I’m not complaining and I won’t list off ways we can fix some of these – these are just some trends I’ve noticed about the game industry the last couple years…
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“Why can’t I get in this vehicle with the top face button?!"
A lot of you may be noticing that even the controls in certain games are feeling a bit familiar. If you were to be playing Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 consecutively for the first time you wouldn’t go through a tough learning curve playing the latter title. Same rule applies for a lot of sandbox games like the Grand Theft Auto series, Saints Row, Crackdown, or even InFamous. I almost want to go back and give Killer 7 on the GameCube another try after I gave up 10 minutes into the game because of the unconventional control scheme – at least it’s something new and refreshing to the genre. I actually missed aiming down the sights of my rifle for better aim when I played Left 4 Dead 2 the other day.
“Gotta get them all!”
Gamers have an obsession on collecting virtual items be it; orbs, jewelry, achievements or what have you. So naturally developers pick up on this fascination and give the consumer what they’re so fascinated about: an assortment to collect on. After all this is the absolute reason why Pokémon was so popular back in the day, and why it still holds a lot of fans to this day.
“Give him a bigger gun! No, make him bigger! …Y'know what? Forget it just put a helicopter in there.”
“Gee, I know what would make this driving simulator a bit better… making it a free roam game in a sand-box style city!”
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You probably just read the above fake quote and smiled or thought about how ridiculous it sounds; well that quote has a punch line: Burnout Paradise. No, that game wasn’t bad – far from it. It was great and it really showed you that a free roam title doesn’t always consist in you running around a city stealing any vehicle of your choosing and killing innocent bystanders just because the most well received free roam titles (Grand Theft Auto/Saints Row) allows you to do just that. I hope developers don’t see this as a way to get away with a terrible plot or awful gameplay; by giving you the “freedom” to do what you want in the setting you’re given. I thank the Gaming Gods that Remedy decided against their original plans to make Alan Wake into a free roam sand-box game and went a head with their linear style that the game probably fits better into.
“I know how to make our single player more fun! Add co-op… why stop there!? Let’s attach some multiplayer into this bad boy!!”
You can’t just read that above fake quote and not think about BioShock 2. Let’s stop and reflect on that series for a bit: BioShock was a beautiful game with an amazing new setting and compelling narrative. What made this title so remarkable was its originality, and I’m not just talking about the story but mainly the setting itself. Now, when they were creating the sequel someone probably realized that our second visit to Rapture wasn’t going to seem as memorable or astounding as our discovery. So, during the meeting that consisted of everyone starring blankly at the white board someone rose up and muttered “Multiplayer?” and there was a unanimous agreement. Multiplayer is not the main attraction when you’re looking at titles like Uncharted 2, BioShock 2, and Metal Gear Solid 4, but these days you’re finding it very much ubiquitous. I can understand the addition of co-op into the campaign of a lot of these games, because for the most part that sounds fun, but for a lot of games that are coming out with multiplayer these days it just seems forced. Obviously many of these titles are urged to add multiplayer by their publisher so that the average consumer would think twice and hard before returning the game back to GameStop to sell back after completing the campaign. But if you ask me co-op and DLC would be a good enough reason for any gamer to keep their title – better than the unnecessary multiplayer tacked on with its hackneyed game modes you can find in any shooter ever made.
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I don’t think the games industry is lacking in creativity or originality – far from it! I have a lot of appreciation for many developers who are working hard to bring their vision into fruition for us to experience and enjoy at home. And with the indie gaming scene growing vastly I have a lot of faith in what this medium can provide for us. That being said I'd like to know what gaming trends Bitmob is starting to get sick of seeing or just noticing.