Comments on: (Please don’t) Take me down to the paradise city http://www.criticalgamer.co.uk/2009/10/08/please-dont-take-me-down-to-the-paradise-city/ Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:26:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Sayyiduna http://www.criticalgamer.co.uk/2009/10/08/please-dont-take-me-down-to-the-paradise-city/comment-page-1/#comment-1126 Sayyiduna Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:13:32 +0000 http://www.criticalgamer.co.uk/?p=1948#comment-1126 Your article started out so promising, and yet, it became a complete letdown by the last paragraph. I suppose my biggest issue is that you specifically target GTA. A commentary on the quality of the city notwithstanding (I'm biased, I loved the game) I think you're looking at the open-world trend from the wrong perspective. Grand Theft Auto III did not "start" the open-world craze, but it did open-world well enough that game developers embraced it as a way of emphasizing player freedom and emergent gameplay. In this case, the open-world city environment is part of GTA's "pedigree" and essentially the cornerstone of the entire series. Criticizing GTA for being set in an open-city environment is like criticizing Starcraft for using worker-driven resource gathering or taking issue with Bioware over conversation trees. Either way, you're diminishing a classic series-defining mechanic based on the relative quality of clones or other developers that have implemented similar mechanics to varying (or lower) degrees of quality. I also seem to recall GTA IV's competitive multiplayer modes being particularly interesting due to the myriad unique environmental features. A moss-ridden boatyard with a load of boarded up buildings full of alcoves to shoot from and a bell tower above a college dormitory from which to snipe are just a few of the more amusing environmental locations available. Not to mention that several missions involve rooftops or tall buildings as optional routes, in some cases changing the entire dynamic of the mission (Truck Hustle comes to mind.) You also neglect the rather elegant change of purpose Alleyways received in GTA IV; they became an invaluable tool for escaping police and many of them had unique series of obstacles or environmental features. Many buildings also had interior stairwells, elevators, ladders, and other ways of accessing balconies or rooftops. I would rather prefer that developers didn't waste years of development time developing interiors for every building when, honestly, most people aren't going to explore every interior in the game, probably sticking only to areas where they shop or complete missions. Are you sure that you're not levying criticism against a game you haven't really played or explored beyond the story or side missions provided? You can see a lot of interesting things when you tread off the beaten path for a while.. A city is an ideal place for such exploration (GTA IV being a rather excellent example of a city in a videogame) that few developers have managed to get right (as your examples of poor implementation testify.) Your article started out so promising, and yet, it became a complete letdown by the last paragraph. I suppose my biggest issue is that you specifically target GTA. A commentary on the quality of the city notwithstanding (I’m biased, I loved the game) I think you’re looking at the open-world trend from the wrong perspective. Grand Theft Auto III did not “start” the open-world craze, but it did open-world well enough that game developers embraced it as a way of emphasizing player freedom and emergent gameplay. In this case, the open-world city environment is part of GTA’s “pedigree” and essentially the cornerstone of the entire series. Criticizing GTA for being set in an open-city environment is like criticizing Starcraft for using worker-driven resource gathering or taking issue with Bioware over conversation trees. Either way, you’re diminishing a classic series-defining mechanic based on the relative quality of clones or other developers that have implemented similar mechanics to varying (or lower) degrees of quality.

I also seem to recall GTA IV’s competitive multiplayer modes being particularly interesting due to the myriad unique environmental features. A moss-ridden boatyard with a load of boarded up buildings full of alcoves to shoot from and a bell tower above a college dormitory from which to snipe are just a few of the more amusing environmental locations available. Not to mention that several missions involve rooftops or tall buildings as optional routes, in some cases changing the entire dynamic of the mission (Truck Hustle comes to mind.) You also neglect the rather elegant change of purpose Alleyways received in GTA IV; they became an invaluable tool for escaping police and many of them had unique series of obstacles or environmental features.

Many buildings also had interior stairwells, elevators, ladders, and other ways of accessing balconies or rooftops. I would rather prefer that developers didn’t waste years of development time developing interiors for every building when, honestly, most people aren’t going to explore every interior in the game, probably sticking only to areas where they shop or complete missions. Are you sure that you’re not levying criticism against a game you haven’t really played or explored beyond the story or side missions provided? You can see a lot of interesting things when you tread off the beaten path for a while.. A city is an ideal place for such exploration (GTA IV being a rather excellent example of a city in a videogame) that few developers have managed to get right (as your examples of poor implementation testify.)

]]> By: KrazyFace http://www.criticalgamer.co.uk/2009/10/08/please-dont-take-me-down-to-the-paradise-city/comment-page-1/#comment-261 KrazyFace Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:59:39 +0000 http://www.criticalgamer.co.uk/?p=1948#comment-261 I know what you mean. When I first got myself into the city from Jak & Daxter's second run (I think) on the PS2, just the fact that cars could fly was refreshing enough to spend a while nicking them! Something a little bigger, without loading screens for visiting forrest areas or large lakes (maybe even under water?) would be cool. Rather than just reams of 'side walk' to cruise through, I'd like to see new worlds or even an alien city in space would be enough of a refreshment. La Nior sounds cool! I know what you mean. When I first got myself into the city from Jak & Daxter’s second run (I think) on the PS2, just the fact that cars could fly was refreshing enough to spend a while nicking them! Something a little bigger, without loading screens for visiting forrest areas or large lakes (maybe even under water?) would be cool. Rather than just reams of ‘side walk’ to cruise through, I’d like to see new worlds or even an alien city in space would be enough of a refreshment.

La Nior sounds cool!

]]>