acayless's Blogs

As mainly a Playstation player, I can only really comment on games available on this platform but I wonder, what is it that is missing from a lot of our more recent games?

I remember when I had my first PS, a game could really hook you, could pull you in and then become almost impossible to put down, like a really good novel. Games, like 'Wolfenstein' 'Doom' etc were so addictive. The graphics to look at now are shockingly simple, but those games had an X factor that I am finding hard to uncover in more recent games.

We seem to have become too greedy for stunning visuals, and this appears to now mean that either the storyline, contols or the length of the games suffer majorly. Some very hyped games have been riddled with bugs and jerky gameplay. It is disappointing.

While I think there are lots of games out at the moment which scream potential, the journey can often be a real let down and for the price we are paying for these games now, that disappointment hits us in our pocket also.

Many recent games are very repetitive. The trailers for 'Resident Evil 5' just blew your mind as far as graphics go, but the gameplay I have found to be slightly sluggish, repetitive and rather boring in a sad way. Early 'Resident Evil' and 'Silent Hill' games were so atmospheric but also offered a bit of a challenge. None of this... hit X now, or O, or L2 etc.
Even games like 'Tomb Raider', you had to really work out where on earth you were supposed to be going and plan your jumps or you died! A much more real and open environment, which although sometimes would make you want to rip your hair out in huge bloody clumps, you actually felt an achievement when you made it. This is really missing from a great deal of games on the market nowadays and I wish in a way that we could take a step back in that respect.

So I guess maybe, we have made a trade off. A beautiful looking game which may give us delight for a few short hours but bore us silly with the storyline, or be so hard to control, that it makes you wonder why you bothered in the first place. There are always exceptions to the rule but they are few. 'Bioshock' did present us with a really original story, stunning graphics, atmosphere, but a little short for my taste sadly.

Of course we understand that with better graphics, the harder it is to have an open environment, but really, wouldn't it be a lot more fun?
Even if it meant going back to two or three discs for one game, like in the old PS days. I personally think it would be worth having to pop in the next disc, if we could have the full experience. With the technology we have now achieved, games should really be so amazing that you are awestruck...or is it just that we have become numb to the work that goes into these games and are happy to settle for just an okay play?