It has been recently made apparent to me that I am a bitter, jaded bastard who holds games against “too high a standard”.
This surprised me when I heard it. Too high a standard? People will argue that games are a form of art, but still defend bad writing and a complete mis-use of the ability to interact with a story?
Now, don’t get me wrong, I can enjoy waffle like Uncharted 2, Modern Warfare 2 or even a waffle with some nice sauce on it like, say, Assassin’s Creed 2 (excuse my mild amusement that ’2′ follows each title) as much as the next gamer… but all of these are linear experiences with narratives and scripts that, were they films, would barely rank a 7 on IMDB. And these are thrown up as ‘game of the year’ contenders.
No, no, fucking no. My potential game of the year award goes to… uhm…
Sorry, there aren’t any. This year has shown just how derivative and bland gaming can become, even when a half-decent fucking job is done on a title.
The most unique games I’ve played this year are Machinarium and Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!. And as much as I love both of these games and enjoyed them to bits, neither should sit in the ‘potential game of the year’ category. They’re the kind of enjoyable, interesting titles that, were they films, would occupy the space of, say, In Bruges or (500) Days of Summer. Enjoyable, interesting, unique films that are unlikely to end up occupying a space on too many people’s “favourite films ever” list… but will still end up in a few top ten lists.
And yet, in gaming, we heap our highest fucking accolades on the kind of trash that, were it a film, would end up on many film critics’ shit lists.
I’m not saying that these games don’t have their place. Shit, I love sinking some beers and playing/watching the latest blockbuster as much as anyone. But for frag’s sake – stop heaping awards on them as unique things worthy of praise outside of categories like “pretty cool graphics” or “nice scripted sequences that surprised me a bit and made me nearly drop my beer”.
6 Comments
Apparently nobody took half a minute to put two brain cells together to realize that Modern Warfare 2's story is a joke that makes NO FREAKING SENSE. Apparently Infinity Ward outsourced their writing to monkeys. (And no, that's not a euphemism for people in India.) Can't speak for Uncharted 2 as I haven't played it and don't have a PS3 (or any console for that matter).
I know! The plot was silly enough that I wasn't sure if it was trying to take the piss or not. Problem is that getting to the end made me fairly sure it was taking itself seriously.
No joke, it was bad enough that one of my mates stopped playing. He found it "offensively implausible" compared to COD4 (which really, wasn't so bad).
If they'd taken one or two steps further into silly land and turned it into pure parody I might not have minded so much…
Actually, I've seen lots of people complain about MW2's idiotic story. Even those praising the game just skip over it with a "it might not make much sense, but it's an exciting story" or something fatuous like that. And yes, it was particularly disappointing because COD4's single player campaign was well done.
I think your contempt for the year in general might be a bit more meaningful if we understood what games in the past have achieved what you're feeling the newer games aren't.
You're simply providing problems without any semblance of a solution. The first problem is the fact that you haven't actually named what you think is actually game of the year for anyone to actually compare your opinion against. Two games you've thoroughly enjoyed aren't even classified as 'GOTY' by your standards, encouraging me to wonder what IS worthy of such an accolade.
Further, you seem to have some problems working out what it is you want from a video game. Uncharted 2 (imo) is more than worthy of the title of 'GotY' because it combines excellent gameplay (with a few minor quibbles) with amazing writing and fantastic scope. It is a thoroughly entertaining game providing hours of entertainment to anyone who has the console necessary to play it.
Assassin's Creed 2 was also a very good game, despite the shoehorning of an unbelievably crap and superfluous tie-in story line. I enjoyed the MW2 story, but no more than I would a Michael Bay film (pre-TF2) and I personally had many issues with certain aspects of the gameplay.
I think the overall problem is that you expect things from games they typically won't deliver every single year. Not every year is going to have a Doom, a Quake or a Half Life. They're not all going to deliver massive revolutions in the way we play video games. And far and away they're not even remotely all art. Most games aren't created to BE art. They are created for the sole purpose of entertaining and earning mad stacks of cash. Attempting to scrutinise games based on a measuring stick created by ART is always going to result in disappointment, because they typically aren't.
It's not a bad thing though. They're simply catering to their audience. As that audience grows, we might see more games as art – who knows.
Yes, that would be what a rant is. A complaint without a solution.
And no, I can't name a 'game of the year' because I can't think of a single game that's both pushed the boundaries of the medium and told a unique story. In fact, I can't think of any that fit in the latter category, never mind the first.
Not every year can have great games. But the way people are carrying on about MW2 and UC2, it's like they ARE one of these gaming greats. Which is where my issue. Either people have forgotten what brilliant gaming looks and feels like, or their standards are just terrifyingly low.
That's my issue. That people rate these games so high, when they clearly aren't.
Yes, that would be what a rant is. A complaint without a solution.
And no, I can't name a 'game of the year' because I can't think of a single game that's both pushed the boundaries of the medium and told a unique story. In fact, I can't think of any that fit in the latter category, never mind the first.
Not every year can have great games. But the way people are carrying on about MW2 and UC2, it's like they ARE one of these gaming greats. Which is where my issue. Either people have forgotten what brilliant gaming looks and feels like, or their standards are just terrifyingly low.
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