Are Games As Fun As They Use To Be ?
As a late comer to this current generation of video games I must say I am some what disappointed with the current generation of games. Look around and the creativity is losing its spark. Developers seem to be more interested in making a game look realistic than worry about the core fundamental of video games, gameplay.
Lets look back at what I feel was the peak of video game development, the N64/PS1 era. To me this was the renaissance of video game development. One only needs look at the titles that came out to see that true classics were in abundance. What I would like to do is compare some of these titles to current titles and show people that for what they were in their era, older games offered a far more enjoyable gaming experience than the current generation.
Metal Gear Solid vs Metal Gear Solid 4
To me this one isn't even close. The first Metal Gear offered a far more enjoyable experience than the latest installment. The 2nd and 3rd titles were far from classics. Metal Gear 4 is an improvement over 2 and 3 but pales in comparison to the original Metal Gear Solid. Who remembers all the great moments it had ?? Plugging your controller into port 2 to defeat a mind reading terrorist, Lying on the floor and squeezing the ketchup out to make it look like you were dead, The 2 different endings that hinged on whether you were tough enough to endure the torture. These little touches added to what was, and still is, a fantastic game. Metal Gear 4 offered nothing like this. It tried to mimic the things that made the original one of the greatest games of all time, not offer anything new. While Metal Gear 4 is an absolutely amazing game I didn't feel the sense of accomplishment, or amazement, I felt when I finished Metal Gear Solid. For its time it offered alot more to the gamer.
SquareSoft vs Square-Enix
I can't believe this, what the hell happened to Square-Enix ? One only needs to look at the titles that SquareSoft released during the PS1 era to see that the current Square-Enix titles are rubbish. Look at what SquareSoft released in the past, Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 9, Chrono Chross, Vagrant Story, all fantastic games. They offered fun gameplay and delivered amazing storylines. Even in the PS2 era we had Final Fantasy 12 and Kingdom Hearts. If Square marketed it you could guarantee it was good. The current crop of Square-Enix games is absolute garbage. I pray that Square-Enix gets their act together and really make Final Fantasy 13 and vs 13 masterpieces because gaming needs Square-Enix to succeed.
Resident Evil 1, 2 And 3 vs Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 5 is another current gen game that was pretty good. But a lot of people, myself included, didn't feel like it was a "Survival Horror" game. Which is pretty sad considering Resident Evil spawned the genre. At its time Resident Evil 1 and 2 where eerie games that really made you feel like you were playing through your worst nightmare. If anyone can remember the first time playing the 3rd installment and the many encounters with Nemesis then you can understand what I mean. You should be frightened through every inch of the game. If there is to be another Resident Evil they really need to rethink where they want to go with it, because if they don't then it will be a great franchise gone the way of the dinosaurs. And we don't want that.
In conclusion, I believe that gaming really needs some fresh ideas, and not motion sensitive controllers or things like this. We need fresh gameplay ideas. We need revolutionary gameplay, more than revolutionary graphics You can ice a cake and make it look pretty. But if the cake itself is stale then it doesn't matter how good it looks. One bite and you will spit it out. And that's how I feel about a lot of games today.
I certainly got more into games during the n64 era. I put this down to time and financial restraints, as well a maturity. Back then when i dropped $120 on perfect dark i was gonna play it enough to get my $120 out of it because i might not get a new game for a long time.
Having no obligations other than school helped as well
These days when i can buy any game id like if i put a title in and dislike it like i did with warhawk i might never come back to it. The N64 gen was awesome ^^
I think I'm the only person on the planet that bought MGS4, played it for about 15 minutes and sold it. Everyone raves about the game. I believe it's that good I just got really turned off by the bonus DVD that tried to explain to me the history of MGS and all the characters and plot twists. I was so confused I didn't want to play a game anymore that I didn't have a clue what was going on.