Video games have a tendency to attempt a grand finale during their last acts, giving us a large, epic battle against something we have been preparing for the entire game. Sometimes, these moments come out of nowhere, but sometimes it leads to a final act that is exact what we might expect it to be. And yet, games rarely deliver. Final acts in games are generally bad, and even some of your favorites might suffer because of it. In the long run it might not matter, but to leave the player with an unsatisfactory or lazy conclusion might ruin their feelings on the entire game in the long run. Generally speaking, final acts in games tend to be missing something that everything prior to them did so well. READ MORE
Narration is not something you often see in games. For fans of film, narration as a means of exposition is something that is not unheard of. In games, especially outside of cutscenes or story moments, is not something that is often explored. At least I thought it wasn’t, until I played this year’s indie darling, Bastion, and discovered my love for narration all over again. Of course, Bastion is a much smaller game that doesn’t leave as much open in terms of exploration or choice. It made me wonder, could Bastion-style narration work in an open-world game? READ MORE
You grab your equipment, strap on the utility belt, and make sure your cape is adjusted all before putting on the mask. You are a superhero. Actually, you’re not, but you really want to be. Games have been trying to get players into the role of superheroes for years, but very few have actually been able to accomplish that feeling of truly being behind the mask. It’s not an easy task to accomplish, although some recent releases have proven that, with the right ideas in place, you can make the player believe he has powers too. READ MORE
Games these days are often compared to feature length films in terms of writing and presentation. Unlike movies, games have more components beyond mere storytelling quirks; they are interactive, allowing for the story to become more in-depth and personal. None of this is new, though. We all know about how games and films can compare and just why the constant comparisons are, quite frankly, completely off base.
Where the two do compare is how the creators intend on grabbing hold of an audience. READ MORE
Imagine you’re sitting down one day, enjoying another gaming session with the latest new release. You find your character on an important mission to prevent the assassination of some sort of important political figure. You have two ways to approach the situation: go where you think the assassination attempt will take place and try to stop it there or, using intelligence you gathered earlier on in the game, track down the group planning the entire thing. READ MORE
