1: I agree completely. I think that women are far more attractive wearing
good clothes than bikini suits. I don't have a problem with 'sexy', but
you can have sexy females without them being half naked (or skin tight
clothing). And really, the 'look how many steriods I have taken' look is
repulsive. (For an example of what I think is good style, take a look at
the film Willow).
2: I agree to a point. I think that the stories that they are using are
over used, however wholesale rejection is not necessary. Keep about 20%,
throw away the rest.
3: No way. I don't play games where I am not the good guy. I really hate
the way that current films, litriture, and games think that by demeaning
the main character they are making a good story. Take for instance
warcraft. Warcraft 2 was brilliant, had a great story, and felt solid
(though it could have done with a little better game play). Warcraft 3
took a great product and sullied the good side, made the bad side a little
more bearable, and added two new not very attractive sides (and still left
it with the same gameplay).
I think that epic is desirable, but it doesn't necessarily make a story
epic by saving the world etc. What makes a story epic is the difficulty in
doing the assigned task, even if it is mundane (but not too mundane).
4: I completely agree, brick bat is still fun, a lot of these flashy new
games aren't. However you can make brickbat more fun by adding great
graphics, but the foundation still has to be there.
5: Again I agree. If I am playing a game it adds to the atmosphere if all
the story is given as I procede through the game. The atmosphere is ruined
if it suddenly cuts to a film.
The two best non story games I have played in my opinion are Age of
Empires 2, and counter strike: condition zero (unfortunately I can't play
over the internet and I have only one computer that can run cs:cz on my
lan, so I haven't had the pleasure of playing other people, and that
opinion is based purely on playing bots. However, AoE2 multiplayer rocks!)
The main features are rock solid gameplay, and great AI. These are very
replayable.
And as for storyline base games I think the quest for glory series, and
warcraft 2 are the best I've played. The main factors are great story,
high imersion, and a very graduated diffuculty (really easy to get into
but every step up was a bigger challange but not impossible). Their
gameplay also didn't let everything else down. However only a very small
amount of replayability. There are different story paths to follow, but
basically play once then move on.
So I think the things that make a game good are different for each game,
depending on the design of the game. One thing that all good games have,
is that they do most things well, and some things really well.
Dominic McDonnell
Not how to do a save game, but how to save the game industry from itself. This is a very interesting commentary on the current state of the game industry.
http://www.games.net/features/104208.shtml
Try to keep the flames down as low as possible and remember not to take flames personally.
Bob Pendleton
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