Obviously, I'm going to point out how all the new games suck, and somebody is going to reply that it's just nostalgia making me think that, and then some crazy french guy will say that they've always sucked (uncensored foul language). The crazy thing, is that the crazy french guy is right on the points that he touches on, but there are a few that he hasn't.
Quick, tell me if you can tell the difference between the three games in this image without looking at the bottom. That is what experts call a problem. At least with all of the generic games of the past you could instantly tell them apart if they were made by different developers. Today, not so much. This problem I will refer to as shooter cloning, because every shooter game is trying to be exactly the same. I have my own ideas about having a different shooter, which I'll post about some other time.
There's another far more pressing problem in newer games: the graphics. For example, With the newest versions of Microsoft (R) DirectX (TM), you can make games look even more pathetic than this, despite having millions of more polygons-per-frame and much higher system requirements. No, really. Compare that image to the three games pictured in the previous one. At least to me, Bubsy 3D there looks better, not because of polygons or textures or any other crap like that, but because it's actually easier for me to see.
Being able to see is far more impressive to be than having technically better graphics. An example of this from the same developer can be seen in the indie games you've probably never heard of, Shadowgrounds and Trine. Shadowgrounds, which had graphics that were dated when it originally came out, looks better than Trine to me, despite Trine being far more graphically advanced, for the reason that Shadowgrounds is easier to see. In the Shadowgrounds screenshot, you can clearly see how low-polygon the jeep and aliens are, some clipping issues between them, and the low-resolution textures. But in Trine, you have HDR Lighting, Bump Mapping, Cloth Simulation, Transulcency and so many more special effects that I have no idea what they do, not to mention having much higher polygon models and much higher resolution textures. And Shadowgrounds still looks better. Again, when it comes to graphics, technical quality is much less important than aesthetic quality.
A third problem with today's videogames is the greater empahsis they put on the storyline. This is especially evident in Metal Gear Solid 4, which had 9 hours of cutscenes (not an exaggeration). Now, this isn't automatically a bad thing, especially if the story and the execution are good, and the gameplay is great. Deus Ex, Half-Life 2, and Mass Effect are awesome examples of the greater emphasis on the story. Not only did the games have solid gameplay, but they had a great story and told it well.
Despite the good examples, there are also bad examples. Aquaria is one of these. It had solid enough gameplay, but the story was beyond cliche and and its telling was annoying at best (what with 14 monologues occurring within 30 minutes of pressing the new game button). Dragon Age: Origins is the opposite; the story is great, as is the way it's told, but the good gameplay forgot to show up, and in my opinion the game kind of sucked.
Now let's compare within a single franchise: The Legend of Zelda. Specifically, I'll be comparing an older game in the series which I just played through again, Oracle of Ages on the Game Boy Color, and Twilight Princess on the GameCube and Wii. And I'll do it in a table just for fun.
| Zelda Game | Oracle of Ages | Twilight Princess |
|---|---|---|
| Gameplay Qaulity | Very High | Medium-High |
| Story Emphasis | Medium-Low | High |
| Story Quality | High | Medium |
| Storytelling | Medium-High | Very Low |
| My Opinion of the game | Awesome. Get it if you can find it. | It sucks. Don't even bother renting it. |
Making that table was not fun. Blogspot's WISIWIG editor sucks so I had to manually code it in, but that's yet another topic.
Yeah. That's my problem with Twilight Princess. Even though it had good enough gameplay, it put a massive emphasis on a mediocre story that was badly told. Oracle of Ages, had a much better storyline, which was held back only by being on the Game Boy Color. To any Twlight Princess fanyboys and fangirls, if you want me to go into details as to why you're wrong, leave a comment below. Also, EYE-EXPLODING BLOOM. You know exactly what I'm talking about.
The three major problems with today's games, shooter cloning, pursuing technical quality at the expense of visual quality, and overemphasizing storylines that simply aren't that good, have destroyed many an otherwise good game over the years. There is almost no difference between Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Homefront, Killzone, Battlefield, or any other big-name modern shooter. Not to mention that I can't see anything in them. And in games other than shooters, the story is so radically overemphasized that they completely turn me off from even desiring to play the game. If it wasn't for truly great games such as Deus Ex, Portal, Scribblenauts, Megaman Zero, Ratchet and Clank, and Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing, I may have lost all faith in video games and stopped playing them altogether. Well not really; I would have just gone back to my Intellivision, which still works after over 25 years. TAKE THAT 360 FANBOYS!
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