Tag Archive for 'Realism'

‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ Game of the Year

Published
on December 22, 2008
in Review
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Grand Theft Auto IV nabbed the 2008 Game of the Year slot in Time magazine, the New York Times, the Spike TV Video Game Awards, and in other critical lists, and for good reason.

Rockstar’s newest crime simulator definitely attempted something different than its predecessors. It cast off the minigames and bicycles of San Andreas in favor of realism and immersion. Instead of playing off the strengths of the series, it tried something new and risky.

A lot of what Rockstar attempted with GTA IV failed — the relationship building aspect was distracting and the open world did not fit with the linear storytelling, to name the largest flaws — but it failed in a fantastic way.

Even though your interactions with the world are fairly straightforward, they involve and engross the player. Driving and shooting through the beautiful, vibrant, living playground of Liberty City feels fun and strangely realistic.

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REVIEW: ‘Far Cry 2′ Falls in the Uncanny Valley

Published
on November 26, 2008
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Far Cry 2 features a number of inventions and improvements on first person shooters and attempts to bring more realism to the genre. By doing so, it slides down into the uncanny valley where any artificiality stands out as fantastic.

The game was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, the same studio behind Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six: Vegas, and Far Cry: Instincts, but shares nothing with its predecessors. No Jack Carver, mutagens or feral powers.

Gameplay in Far Cry 2 is more like Assassin’s Creed than anything. Chose from nine different mercenaries and make your way through an wide open African nation fired up in civil war, doing story missions for different factions or finding side quests and blood diamonds.

The world feels natural and realistic, especially from the player’s perspective. You never leave the first person view, even during cinematics or when driving a vehicle, and you always have a visual representations of your actions.

The mercenary’s hands pick up uncovered diamonds and knock on doors. Lose to much health and you have to pry bullets out of your leg or snap bones back into place. There’s no on-screen radar, just a map and GPS that function as part of the mercenary’s inventory.

This style of gameplay eschews a detailed HUD in favor of immersive elements. Its very detail oriented but it works and brings a high degree of realism to the African world of Far Cry 2.

But however realistic, Far Cry 2 is a flawed picture of reality and enters a sort of uncanny valley where every deviation from expected realism is a glaring error. When the normally inventive enemy AI stops and stands there looking dumb it breaks the illusion even more than in an average video game.

Even devices that make gameplay more convenient — like universal ammo for all assault rifles, fixing a shot up jeep with a few twists of a socket wrench, or the helpful moving icons on the your map — seem out of place.

The writing for Far Cry 2 isn’t bad, but the voice acting is horrible. Most characters sound like robots and their sentences are clipped together. It sounds unnatural and kills the otherwise realistic mood.

This expectation of perfect realism is a problem for games that strive for immersive verisimilitude, and something that future titles which attempt to put fit gameplay elements into the game world will have to overcome. Still Far Cry 2 is a big step in a good direction for FPS games and a worthwhile experience.

‘Grand Theft Auto 4′ More Realistic Than Predecessors

Published
on February 28, 2008
in News
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A preview of April’s “Grand Theft Auto 4″ at VideoGamer.com shows a departure from the almost cartoony gameplay of the past few iterations in the series.

Damage to cars affects their performance: get in a head-on collision and your car will slowly grind to a halt. Tanks, airplanes and bicycles are cut in the interest of realism. Niko, the game’s protagonist, gets text messages when he fails a mission. The world itself is more realistic, with destructible environments and animated crowds of pedestrians who do more than walk up and down the street.

A lot of what made the previous GTA games so fun and engaging were devices like the star count that could be called unrealistic, but the article is quick to point out that these aren’t being left out.

Still though, GTA 4 is no Holodeck. During my few hours of hands-on time I experienced plenty “oh yeah, this is still a game” moments that reminded me that, despite Rockstar North’s efforts, Liberty City still plays by virtual rules.

Pull a gun on a random bystander, perhaps someone casually walking down a street, or withdrawing money from a cash machine, or sitting on a bench reading a newspaper, and they’ll either run away or cower - and that’s it. Cause death-filled carnage in an area, drive the cops absolutely crazy, escape their line of sight and search radius (visible in the mini-map in the bottom left hand corner of the screen) and then return to that area, and everything will be returned to normal. Fail a mission and you’ll be sent a text message offering you the chance to reset and retry. I’m not criticising the game here. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t expect a virtual world simulation. Liberty City is quick to react, but it has a hard time remembering.

Liberty City is still a world open to experimentation. The violence is over-the-top, and satire and humor are ever-present.

It remains to be seen how much of the game will be influenced by this struggle for realism. Hopefully we’ll see a good modern crime story instead of a retelling of “Scarface” or a rap-infused gangbanger mess. Either way, I think the added realism will make what has already proven to be an incredibly immersive series even more so.

Also, Rockstar will be careful to not include a scrapped sex game in “GTA4.”