TAG 17: entertainment
MANY A GOOD GAME WHAT MAKES A GAME GOOD?
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ver since the very first arcade cabinets, video games have become a huge phenomenon worldwide, from the single player classic Space Invaders to the huge eSports tournaments today, but what makes a game ‘good’?
Video Games As a Medium
Video games, as a medium, stand out against other platforms such as movies or books, because of their very unique characteristics. While often blamed for a number of supposed adverse effects, video games offer an experience like no other. The way video games can use the immersion to tell a story is drastically different to other mediums. A similar example is that a movie could simply be words on a screen for 90 minutes, and while that may be all well and good, they haven’t used the platform to its potential. Horror is a genre that works especially well with video games. When you have a character in a movie walking down a dimly-lit corridor, it’s hard to care for the character. When you, the player, choose to walk down a dimly-lit corridor, you start to fear what could be there with you. It’s a lot more terrifying because you’re doing it to yourself; a very unique characteristic of gaming that is not present in other media. One example of a game that uses the capabilities of the video game platform is The Stanley Parable - a game where the story revolves around, and adapts to, the way the player progresses through the game. 54
Tag ‘17 had the opportunity to speak to professional game reviewer and YouTuber, Jon from ManyATrueNerd, for his perspective on recent and upcoming games, where gaming is going, and what makes a ‘good’ video game. It was concluded that a key part of what consistently brings people back to gaming is how personal it is. The immersion of a video game is unparalleled by any other form of media, and it simply boils down to how you, the player, perform the role of the character as you see fit. It is incredibly rare to find a game with only one way to play it (Dear Esther comes to mind), but even games that tend to be relatively similar through every release such as Call of Duty have different ways to play. Jon has “always had a fondness for a fertile canvas, rather than just a story that the game is telling [you]”. He feels that “gaming’s great stories come from when we start doing things that other media can’t do, and interactivity works very well”. The other hugely significant factor in whether some may consider a game ‘good’ by today’s standards is
replayability. Few people pick up a game expecting to play it once and be finished with it, never to pick it up again. A large proportion of upcoming games like Sniper Elite 4, Next Car Game: Wreckfest, and the long-awaited Star Citizen are all great examples of games you’ll come back to. Maybe you’ll defy the dynamic destruction of Next Car Game: Wreckfest and try to keep your car intact throughout a race, or maybe you’ll run through Sniper Elite guns blazing. Whatever you choose, that is the point - you get a choice that you wouldn’t get through other creative platforms.
“A game that is accessible yet deep is the foundation on which great games are built.” “The story you’re writing for yourself in a big universe will always be better than anything the game can pitch at you” - Jon, ManyATrueNerd Written and designed by ben ralph