What makes a game interesting and fun to play?
By Jason Freeden
Is it the catch phrase that gets the reader interested in the game? Is it
the writers spunk that makes the reader get up and buy the game immediately?
These are all possibilities, as to why game reviews help sales for the game.
A video game is a form of entertainment, and in order for someone to know about
a game, they can either buy it and play it themselves, or they can read a review,
and see what the writer has to say about it.
What do I look for in a game review? I look for overall performance. Gameplay, and music, not so much in the graphics category. You can’t go wrong if you have good graphics that go along with the gameplay and sound.
I look for eye catching phrases in a game review. I want the writer to have
similar interests in the game that I would have. If it is a Nintendo game per
say, Shoot em up to be specific. I would want the writer to write about the
gameplay first. It has to be about gameplay. Graphics come way after gameplay.
If you don't have the gameplay, then graphics can't do it. You want the play
to be smooth, not choppy. Some examples of how a good shoot em up game would
be smooth...
1. You walking through the level and switching guns, you don't want the gun
to just change, you want to see the person put the gun in it's holster, and
take out another one. That is an in depth way to make a game good.
2. When you shoot the gun you want to see the bullets come out of the gun,
and stay on the wall(if your shooting at a wall). Enough blabbing with gameplay.
Music
Music is a good part of the game as well. If you don't have a soundtrack the
game can get boring. Plus you want to hear the effects of the characters in
the game. Final Fantasy
has an excellent soundtrack, and I wouldn't be the only one to say that. That
is what makes Final Fantasy an epic game. Uematsu, the creator of music for
Final Fantasy, did a great job, and inspired people to buy Final Fantasy for
the music it holds. I know a lot of people that bought Final Fantasy just because
of it's music. That is what I look for in a game. Gameplay and Music. Graphics
are a plus but they don't have to be perfect.
If you are walking through your favorite game store, and you see a game you
like, or you see a sequel that came out of your favorite game, you obviously
want to pick it up and play it right away. Sequels are by far the way to market
a game. Sequels continue the game, and add more to the story. My favorite video
game being The Legend of Zelda, has an epic storyline. There has been many sequels
to the game, and Nintendo
continues to make them.
If you only had games that were made once and never thought of again, the gaming
environment would get pretty boring, in my opinion. Gaming is a hobby, not everyone
is into them, but Gammer's neeed to see that the game has reputation and
that developers are continuing the theme.
Moving on
Moving on to other topics, sequels aren't the only thing that make a game interesting.
Extras make a game interesting. How you play the game, make them interesting.
If you used a controller to play a game every time it would get pretty boring,
so the gaming industry invented other ways to play the games. An example being
a driving game. You can buy a wheel, peddles, even a car seat if you are that
hardcore. That makes the game more interesting and fun to play because it actually
feels like you are driving a real car. Nintendo uses it's Game Boy Advance to
connect to the Gamecube to add as a feature for maps, and extras for certain
games. That is connectivity in gaming and it is interesting and makes a game
more fun to play.
Replay Value
On to the last reason on what makes a game fun to play... Replay Value, if
a game doesn't have great replay value, then the game is played once and never
played again. Many games now a days have a lot of replay value. The main reason
being, MMORPGS are being made. The replay value on a Massive Multiplayer Game,
is high because there is endless gameplay, and you can always find something
to do.
Everquest is a good example. You can literally spend hundreds of hours walking
around, hunting, talking to other people, etc, and not get bored of the game.
That is why more and more MMORPG's are being made. There are so many genres
of games out there, and so much to talk about, but only so much can be said
at a time.
Until next time, this is Jason Freeden signing off.
