Innovation: Not what the market really wants.

Recently, The Order: 1886 got was shown in the form of a full gameplay video. Visually, the game is stunning. Sure, it isn't very colourful, but it really is on the level of CGI quality.

However, no game is safe from negative 'opinions' and this was no exception. 2 minutes of gameplay brought out the hypocrisy of the gaming community. Not as much on this site as sites such as Neogaf and especially (goddammit) Youtube.

Common complaints were; 'Looks like another generic third person shooter' and 'Next gen graphics, on a last gen game'.

But what do you want? That's a question to the whole gaming community. What do you mean by 'Next gen gameplay?' Ask someone that and they won't be able to give you a straight answer that isn't obvious like better AI or bigger worlds. Because we're getting that anyway.

The funny thing is that people were also ready to wait for Watch Dogs to get dashed into the bargain bin. People literally cancelling pre-orders because of graphics or resolution. Don't get me wrong. Graphics matter. 1080p native matters (and I'm sure Watch Dogs is just unoptimized for the PS4 and XBO compared to the last gen consoles), for me at least. But what I don't get is when people flip flop. One second, graphics is the only reason people want a game, the next, when the game has awesome graphics, it's all about gameplay.

People scream innovation, but how many times have you seen an indie game just being looked over? How many times have you seen people talking about wanting sequels to games that have already had many sequels before?

The most important part of the point I'm making is: Sales.
Every year, the same series come out with new instalments. And every year, they're almost copies of their predecessors, with slightly improved graphics.

Innovation doesn't seem to be the number one priority for the vast majority of the market, as many claim it to be. Even IF sales decline slightly, it doesn't change the fact that stuff like COD is one of the best sellers year after year.
I'm not really an innovation nut to be honest. I do however draw the line when I see a sequel that looks like it's prequel with a re-skin.

Please tell me your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for reading!

[maniacmayhem]

For me I would like to see, more branching story lines that TRULY change the story and the outcome of the game.

I want to see environments that can be changed or destroyed by the players action and it drastically changes all manner of gameplay.

Perhaps weapons that have full customizations, magazine size. Maybe mixing certain gun powders to create specialized bullets.

Also other little things like, less loading times, better UI, new ways of displaying the HUD, Menu and sub-menus, the little things that may make a huge difference.

These are just some of the "innovations" I would like to see off the top of my head.

Just some thoughts of what I would love to see in these next gen games besides just great graphics. The Order looks great but at the moment and from what little we have seen the gameplay does look ordinary.

Is that a bad thing? No, the game still looks fun.

My only complaint, very small complaint is the no multiplayer. Games like these and especially The Order with it's steam punk style and old setting would have been great for a different kind of multi-player experience instead of the usual future warfare we are getting.

[NewMonday]

on the first game they need to focus the budget, hopefully the game is a hit and they can grow the team and add MP experts.

[s45gr32]

Resident Evil 3 had gun powder mixtures to make specialized bullets. System Shock 2, the older Fallout Games, pretty much old school fps had weapon customizations. The HUD that set the standards for last generation games was the Getaway, no maps use the turn signals of say car or instincts to drive around London. Hide to heal yourself, use cover tactics. Stranglehold, and the Red Faction series were known for its destructible environments more recently Battlefield 3 and 4 have destructible maps that affect gameplay. How about flowing hair that can get on fire or trap in say door. How about a game like the Beautiful Mind movie.

[maniacmayhem]

Awesome, I would also like more games that use the types of gameplay Eternal Darkness used on Gamecube. There's this one part where the sound gets really low and I thought it was my TV so I kept turning my volume up and BLAM, the noise goes back to normal at this freaky part, scared the sh*t out of me.

Also features from Metal Gear Solid where Psycho Mantis read your saves and told you about it. That to me was jaw dropping impressive.

It's not necessary "innovated" but these types of ideas go outside the box and that is what I like to see in future games.

[Godmars290]

But we're not talking about older, 3rd or 5th gen console or PC titles, we're talking about the current 8th gen and high profile/big budget PC projects. Games which mimic a cinematic experience rather than ones which try to implement cinematic elements into gameplay.

Like I said before: the team behind the Order 1866 are more about making a movie with semi-interactive moments rather than a game.

[randomass171]

The Order looks dang gorgeous. And I think a lot of the hate it's getting will be put to bed when they show more of it. I remember a lot of the first impressions for Mario 3D World were lukewarm, but people really wound up loving the game in the end. It will be no different with The Order. I do think they need to find a way to address the multiplayer issue: maybe put in local coop multiplayer? It just seems weird that the player will have AI characters doing exactly what the player does but no option to have my friends play as them. But again, this is all very preemptive since the game is no where near its launch date.

[Godmars290]

It looks gorgeous, but from what I'm hearing from the devs, its yet another case of someone wanting to tell a "dramatic" story and sacrificing game play to do so. Of making something with a loosely connected 3rd person shooter between cutscenes.

@NewMonday:
And all of those games told their stories through cutscenes. Pre-sctipted scenes, which in whole or part, took full control away from the player towards a foregone conclusion or ending.

And I'm not calling those games bad, not really calling this one bad, just more of the same if better looking.

[NewMonday]

some are jumping to conclusions on the "sacrificing" part

this is still an action shooter and being immersed in the action is part of story telling. games like Uncharted, tLoU and Bioshock were built on the foundations of wanting to tell a great story.

try out the R@D GOW PSP games available in the collection, these guys know how to make a good game don't worry.

[Godmars290]

Also: what is the point of recommending the GOW PSP titles - They're GOW games!

They say nothing of what R@D are capable of as game makers on their own IP, just that they can do a good job with someone else's.

[NewMonday]

the game design they did themselves.

R@D are not Nintendo, Valve or Platinum games, but they are certainly no Crytech.

I trust them to do a good job and it is up to them to convince you not me, but I'm confident they will change your mind.

[BitbyDeath]

Gameplay looks pretty much the same as Uncharted to me and i'm fine with that.

[NYC_Gamer]

I would love for huge publishers to take risk and bring us different software in terms of gameplay/art direction/story/characters..Th at won't happen because the majority of customers are happy with sequels along with copy&paste..

[uth11]

Is it really the same group of people complaining about graphics on Watch Dogs and gameplay on the Order. Don't make the mistake in thinking the gaming community speaks with one voice.

For all the negative comments about Watch Dogs, it broke sales records. You are just hearing a vocal minority

[DefenderOfDoom2]

to uth11 , I agree with you . WATCH DOGS is having great sales because they marketed the game to people who do not watch YOUTUBE videos about video games, and do not go to video game sites like this! Those people are the core consumers who support the video game industry! Us bloggers and people who comment on these sites , get the buzz going for the maintstream gamers! Even if we complain about a game we are still talking about the game, which gives the game more exposure! Hence ,we are all promoting video games for free! The video game studios will give us a trailer and then we go to work , by complaining and debating what is in the trailer! FRONTLINE on PBS even did a episode on how we promote on the internet for the big entertainment studios, for free!! But i am still having fun ,leaving comments on sites like this! So no complaints here!
As far this article goes, we do want innovation! The problem is the mainstream gamers who support the video game industry do not support video games like WOLFENSTEIN NEW ORDER! The game is getting great reviews from just about everybody, but because it has no MULTIPLAYER most of the mainstream gamers will ignore WOLF. N.O. and just keep playing CALL of DUTY MULTILPLAYER ONLINE!

[memots]

yeah a couple of my buddies are like that, Thats all they play. Its really sad.

I told this story before but i tried to make them play Killzone 2 or 3 and they wouldn't play it.
Is reason was "I wouldnt know what to do"
I literally laugh out loud, The control are the exact same .. wtf ..
They just want the same comfortable setting easy pick up and i am good type game kinda like Titanfall now.

[s45gr32]

The market doesn't want innovation hmmmm guess someone missed the kickstarter projects. Video game projects published by gamers; such as, The Stomping Lands a dinosaur mmo game yay!!!! for years and years gamers have impatiently waiting for a dinosaur game. Now gamers are getting one, then there's Among the Sleep a survival horror game from the view of a 2 year old boy also published by gamers including myself. Chivalry a non-dragon, non-wizard, non-elf, non-dwarf thank god medieval game. A multiplayer online gaming experience of human kinds ancient warriors from English Knights to Japan's Samurai also published by gamers. Consortium a heavy story rpg????? also published by me and other gamers. Darkwood a game about surviving the elements, including death from hypothermia no zombies, monsters, ghouls, or any automatic/manual weapons except spears, rock knifes. Pretty much survive the wildlife also published by gamers. Again sales don't tell the whole story. Kickstarter projects have proven that gamers want something different. Modders have also started the whole exploration genre or as some gamers like to call walk simulators. Like Dear Esther was a mod for Half Life 2, The Stanley Parable was also a mod from half life. Mobas also came out from modders like Natural Selection a mod for Half Life. Modders are PC gamers that modify or improve a game granted by the game developer to use their tools. So the market is getting some innovative games but not from mainstream corporate greedy bastard game published games but from PC gamers aka modders, and from kickstarter proyects were the gamer not a corporate publisher publishes the game

[iceman06]

While I totally agree with your contention. You have basically proven the point. Regardless of all of what you listed, it took outside funds and outside people to spur this innovation. The market is driven by the masses. These more innovative projects are funded by the core. It's really sad, but the core gamer has always been the kickstarter for the mass market. As you stated, the "greedy corporate bastards" aren't into perceived risks...which for them is ANYTHING that hasn't sold (or been tested to sell) multi-millions. Innovation isn't dead, but it's a damn shame that it has to be demanded, supported, and funded by those that don't truly have the means to reach the masses...where the money is truly made.

[s45gr32]

Yeah I agree is the core gamers mostly PC gamers that are trying to bring creative innovative games to the industry. The masses and mainstream video game publishers want the same old same old.

[DefenderOfDoom2]

Also a really great "youtube" video to watch talking about this topic is "The Great Framerate Non-Debate" by TOTALBISCUIT, which was uploaded to "youtube" yesterday!

[Wni0]

Realistically developers are not going to do much with Next Gen tech besides graphics. I would love to see all that effort spent into making truly next gen enemy and allied NPC intelligence. Each fight at this point has no excuse to play out the same way every time. I'd also like some improvements to level design in a way that makes branching paths and creating your own path essential, instead of a gimmick (Go this way or Go that way.)

[iceman06]

IMO, you pretty much nailed what the "NEXT GEN" should be about. Graphics are a given in any new generation. However, more effort put into AI intelligence or realistic physics, etc. Those are the things that turn that pretty picture into a living, breathing world. That's what I am patiently waiting for.

[MacDonagh]

I guess people define "next-gen" differently than others. For me personally; story is far more important for "next-gen" than graphics will ever be. I believe that gaming in terms of storytelling has stagnated to a point where the games that are currently on hold until 2015 are so generic that it's impossible to get excited for the same old story. There is hardly a compelling narrative that is interesting enough for me to be engaged in the hyperbole whatsoever.

In terms of gameplay; what has been shown for the Order 1866 is generic, colourless and nothing that really does anything for me. It was also the same with Watch Dogs which really didn't interest me at all because it looked like to me what Ass Creed would be like if it was set in the modern-day or the future with an equally piss-poor story to go along with it.

I wouldn't have had any qualms with either title if either of them weren't heralded as the "next-gen" or the future. Sony decided to hype those titles to such an extent that the hype ultimately undermined the games when their lofty claims of the "next-gen" fell flat. For either game to be less than 1080p 60fps at this point is laughable; especially in light of the claims of how both the PS4 and the Xbox One are competent machines that are capable of reaching those levels.

People have forked out big money for these machines and to find them lacking is a really big shame. That isn't to say that they aren't capable in the future of optimizing later games to put out the magic 1080p, 60fps that people have been asking for but that's a moot point now.

People were sold on these consoles on false pretenses and it's shameful. I'm lucky enough to have a powerful (well, it does need some upgrading) PC to play some of the more eccentric titles that have been released but what I find most unforgivable was that I had to get a Wii U in order to experience a new way to play games. I never thought that I would have to go out and buy another Nintendo console since the 64 and yet here I am; bitching about a console that I don't regret getting.

I placed a level of trust in the previous hardware such as the PS3 and the 360 in order to experience new and unique stories that couldn't be gotten on a Nintendo console but all I got in the end were shallow, pedantic stories that lacked in ambition. Right now; I find it rather unsettling that the one of the few (and there are a good few!) games that really had me enthralled was a game called Deadly Premonition. A game with Dreamcast graphics but attempted to tell an ambitious story within a town where you could explore, and talk to the various eccentrics in the town.

When a game with very little budget outperforms and downright shames the competition; you know that something is amiss here and whether or not it's because of the amount of investment is forcing developers into playing it safe is another story together.

[s45gr32]

As far as story in games go the PC has been at the forefront of mature intelligent heavy story based games that really make you think. For example "To the Moon" a story about marriage, love, and the willingness to do anything for the person you married even if that person is mentally disabled. "Gemini Rue" a story based in the future, the importance of memory, regret, and drama. Games that while not graphically impressive, or pushing the technical visual splendor really bring very strong, very mature, very intelligent stories to gaming.

[MacDonagh]

That's so true. To the Moon was such an impressive title to me because it did try to tell a story that was different and unique compared to the slew of lackluster games that have come about. I've not checked out Gemini Rue but I will have to eventually. Unfortunately I have the biggest backlog of games right now that I can barely make time for myself.

One thing that has struck me about story telling in games is the core problem of ludonarrative dissonance. An example of that would be when a game such as Uncharted for example, has it's main character kill a lot of people with little or no consequence or any impact in the locked-in main narrative. I understand that the technology isn't there to adjust to the main character's actions but this is supposed to be "next-gen" right?

Here's another example. Take the Watch_Dogs game for instance. Now you can go and hack people, drain some poor schmuck of $16,000, despite him only getting $17,000 a year, while you are chasing a fella who robbed some old biddy of her purse, displaying hypocrisy on the grandest scale. If game developers want to get serious about next-gen; there aught to be some severe consequences when you act hypocritically or wrongly. The Witcher series would be a decent example of having to deal with the consequences of your mistakes for instance.

[Imalwaysright]

I have seen and experienced for myself improvements from one gen to another since I started gaming in the SNES/megadrive era and I don't see any problem for gamers to ask and expect a next gen experience especially for a game that is being as hyped as The Order is. Maybe if those that are saying "next gen starts here" would just shut up there wouldn't be these kinds of reactions towards The Order.

As for the improvements that should be done I think that AI would definetely be one of them. I remember those TloU teasers showing how great the AI was, only to be let down by it when I was playing the game. I would consider a next gen experience a game that would be able to pull that off.

[DefenderOfDoom2]

I agree with all the comments about getting really good enemy AI ! But i saw a speech with NED LEVINE, one of the lead developers of BIOSHOCK , And he said the developers of very far off from having the amazing AI we all want ! He said the developers are trying really trying hard , but the tech is just not there yet ! Little by little i think they will get there.

[Picnic]

For once , I think that the greyish graphics on this game are not going to be a boring style choice. It's painting a picture of grimy old London and it'll just make the little colour details stand out more like the shine off a gun barrel. With its tight corridors it looks like it's taken some inspiration from arcade games too rather than solely from the likes of big adventure shooter games which are also evident in its style.