The Power of Game

It has been said many times that games have moved on. That they're no longer about finishing an objective and getting the highest score (though there's nothing wrong with that). The medium is so powerful these days that designers can practically direct a game like a film.

Back when things were all innocent and 2D, we might have felt a little bit for the R-Type craft as it fought through The Evil Bydo Empire, and we would have chuckled at Guybrush Threepwood's attempts at becoming a real pirate, but that was about it. A good game back then was about innovation, about squeezing the most out of what little hardware there was. The original Prince of Persia (no not Sands of Times kiddies, the one way before that) was a small game with a simple premise: get out of the dungeon alive in 60 minutes. But we felt for the Prince, because of the way he squeezed the technology. His movements were so realistic that if you had a heart you'd feel every slice, every drop, and every impossible jump.

But now we have hardware that can do anything. Seeing really nice graphics is exciting for a few seconds, but then you start wondering what else this game has to offer. Nintendo has had this philosophy for a while now, choosing to remove themselves from the "my console can draw more polygons than yours" race and focus on making new ways to interact with a game. And with their DS and Wii systems, they have not only done that but have done it with so much success that they are now right on top of the console market, the spot they lost more than 10 years ago when Sony introduced the PSX.
If anything, this proves that people are willing to move beyond the "simple" game and experiment outside of the box.

Still, every now and then you get a game that on the surface looks like another worn-out genre. To the uninitiated eye the game will look no more than the ones before it. But the creators have set out with a vision, with a way to actually make their game stand out, and it is this that makes playing games such a joy. When a game chucks something at you more than realistic looking water, when it actually envolves your mind and emotions and heart, that's when you know you're playing something special.

I am writing this because yesterday I experience just that. But before telling you about that I want to mention Team Ico, the Japanese game designers are experts at making games that are nothing more than simple clones of others, but can hook you emotionally and never let go. I've mentioned Shadow of The Colossus here before. Their first game, Ico, puts you in the role of a 12 year old boy and a girl who don't understand each other. Both are trying to escape a grim fate, and without each other can't survive. Telling you more would be to ruin it, but if you do get a chance to play it, then don't miss out.

Yesterday I finished Half-Life 2: Episode 2. Delayed for nearly over a year, Episode 2 continues the story of Gordan Freeman and the resistance against The Combine forces in City 17. Anyone who's worth their salt in gaming should by now have played at least Half-Life 2. It remains one of the finest examples of FPS gaming ever made.

Episode 2 does a lot of things right: the game play is tightly executed, the graphics have been updated tremendously, and the story advances in a good, controlled pace. But it's the ending that was executed with so much style, and by ending I mean the last level. Defending a base against a very heavy attack (I won't ruin it for those yet to get there), when you finally get it done you suddenly realise that your heart had been racing, you're palms are sweaty, and your breathing was laboured. A huge sigh of relief came out of me when I finished. You genuinely feel sorry for anything destroyed during the attack.

Then just as you relax to watch the ending sequence, something happens. Something that you can do nothing about but just watch (taking control away from the player is a very effective way of suddenly turning the cards around in a game - one moment you're nearly indestructable, the other you're nothing more than a viewer) as the events unfold and the game ends. Leaving you emotionally drawn-out and anticipating Episode 3 rabidly!!

Excellent game design is what Valve are all about. Anyone who's played Portal to the end will know exactly how good they are at creating game endings, and of course Team Fortress 2 should be taught in universities as an example of the best balanced design ever created. To that, I salute you Valve and every other game designer that has the balls to drag us from the balls and not let go.