Post by wafflerevolution on Sept 7, 2013 22:05:09 GMT
Genre Benders
By Apathetic_Prick
The most innovative games that I've - and most of us - have played were without question ideas that broke barriers, and not only just inside their respective genres.
Gaming pretty much started off with pong, and in the early days, you had action, sports and puzzle with some text-based adventure.
As soon as the mid-80's had come along though, we started to see games that crossed not only simple barriers like action and adventure (like The Legend of Zelda), but also RPG'ing and puzzles (Zelda 2 and King's Quest respectively).
The main games I'm going to focus on, though, are more recent and less mainstream.
First up is The Elder Scrolls: Arena. One of the biggest, buggiest and most ambitious games ever made.
Arena is a first-person action/adventure/RPG of epic proporptions. The landmass is absolutely huge and despite the bugs, it's actually a fantastic game. While its more notable sequels, Daggerfall (imo, the best in the whole series), Morrowind and Oblivion are just that, in 1993, Arena was a sight to behold.
Too bad you had to drop three grand on a computer to play it, although now all you need is a DOS emulator (I'm a step ahead, I'm working on restoring an older computer). And, it's free; Bethesda has it up for free download on their site.
Arena, interestingly enough, didn't really raise any bars; Ultima Underworld beat it by a year in terms of release, and the Western RPG genre wasn't very influential in the mass market because console gaming was bigger at the time.
Where Arena made it's mark was the combat system (you slashed in the direction your mouse moved in; archery was a no-brainer though), which until seeing Breakdown, I hadn't seen anything similar in modern gaming (although Daggerfall had the same system) and its massive world - which I think was more daunting than inspiring.
It is, however, the first step in the Elder Scrolls series, which is what makes it a more important mention than its much improved sequels.
Syndicate, by Bullfrog is next in line. Syndicate blurred the lines between strategy, RPG and topdown action, but also threw in taxation and micromanagement to further deepen the concept. Not to mention that the character that you play - the corporate paeon - is amoral at best and morally bankrupt when at your worst.
Syndicate's core gameplay - freeroam destruction and slaughter in the area that you're attempting to occupy at the given time - is pretty satisfying, although you will be penalised for gunning down civilians. Note that you're not just there to kill everything in your path; your objectives will include theft and kidnapping and not just mass slaughter and/or assassination.
The game world itself is cyberpunk dystopia right out of a Philip K. Dick novel and the pulsing soundtrack (which interestingly enough only has 5 songs) definitely make you feel like you're in a techno-hell.
It's interesting to note that every system after the NES up to the Panasonic 3DO has had this game ported to it and it was originally released on the Commodore Amiga, so it has actually had a pretty interesting release history.
However, the PC and Amiga versions are by far the more superior ones.
For the time that Syndicate was released (1993(A)/1994(PC), this was definitely a very, very sophisticated action title. Even its console counterparts, regardless of the corners cut were both deep in gameplay and rich in atmosphere.
Cybermage is a fairly obscure FPS/RPG hybrid that has a lot more going for it than most give it credit for. Scripted sequences, vehicles, a basic economy system and gambling. And this was all in 1996, 3 years before Half-Life and 5 years prior to Halo.
And not to mention magical attack powers. It was also really resource heavy, as well.
Cybermage is actually quite light on the RPG aspect, but it is there. The game also has a basic yet effective melee system (as melee plays a large role if you're out of ammo and mana).
The really cool thing about it was how you learned your spells. All you had to to do was be hit by them and then that was it, you knew it. No researching spell books are having to wait to get to a stat plateau (that wasn't there anyway). Mind you, at first it could be quite punishing (as there's far worse things you could be hit by than a Damage-Over-Time lightning attack), but it kept things simple and interesting.
What kept this game back, aside from resource demands, was that the controls were pretty clunky, automatic weaons could only be fired in bursts and it pretty much entered into obscurity the day it came out. Other than that, if you could get it to run, it was a fantastic game. Also, for those that have, I hope you caught the priceless references to Syndicate and System Shock.
Last but not least is this gem of a series. System Shock and its stellar sequel, System Shock 2. System Shock was a very good FPS/puzzle game that had you matching egoes with an A.I. called Shodan. System Shock 2 is an FPS/RPG hybrid that has you doing the same deed, But the concept is definitely different.
In the original System Shock, you wake up on a space station. There's blood everywhere and the crew's been slaughtered. But you're not. The crew has, however, been biologically sustained by the AI because she (trust me, Shodan has a gender and identity) has manipulated the medical equipment to do so. In order to kick her in the chips, you will have to fix circuitry, kill zombies and cyborgs and race through cyberspace to complete your objectives - the main one being to stop Shodan from spraying earth with a drilling laser.
And like most innovative games, System Shock is buggy as all hell. But it's a great game nonetheless and unlike Cybermage, the interface wasn't all that clunky despite the fact that you have more action commands available to you.
In System Shock 2, you select a class, go through basic training and then wake up on a space-vessel that's been almost totally destroyed. In System Shock 2, however, there are no trips through cyberspace and the pace is much, much faster. And ammunition is in far more limited supply.
As you go through the game, you're able to purchase healing items, ammunition, hack replicator terminals and crates (the game's equivalent of a treasure chest) all the while trying to thwart Shodan as well as another threat (created by the scheming cyberhooker) that's biological in nature. And not only that, but by using science skills, you can upgrade your knowledge on your foes which lets you do more damage to them, as well upgrading weapons with maintenance skills (and obviously maintaining said weapons). And, there's even a "magic" aspect to the game (called psionics) which lets you project attacks with your mind an dhte help of a psionic amplifier. Plus there's also healing abilities.
In short, there's a lot you can do in the game.
Whether or not System Shock is an influence is hard to say; the original developer, Warren Spector, went on to develop the Deus Ex games afterward, and developers don't really do much self-influencing so far as I can gather.
Hybrid-genre games, whether they be Strategy hybrids (Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper), RPG hybrids (The Elder Scrolls, Gothic, Ogre Battle) or FPS Hybrids (System Shock, Deus Ex, Rainbow Six [PC only]) generally all have one thing in common despite their differences: They enrich the lives of the avid gamer far more than a straight-up experience. They have lot more to offer the player not just in the world the player walks in, but the shoes that he or she will get to fill. Unfortunately, because - aside from the Elder Scrolls - most hybrid-genre games are not big sellers, they aren't very common and supply may be low from release because expected sales are not high.
So when you see 'em, snap 'em up and hold 'em high for these are the crown jewels of the gamer's world.
By Apathetic_Prick
The most innovative games that I've - and most of us - have played were without question ideas that broke barriers, and not only just inside their respective genres.
Gaming pretty much started off with pong, and in the early days, you had action, sports and puzzle with some text-based adventure.
As soon as the mid-80's had come along though, we started to see games that crossed not only simple barriers like action and adventure (like The Legend of Zelda), but also RPG'ing and puzzles (Zelda 2 and King's Quest respectively).
The main games I'm going to focus on, though, are more recent and less mainstream.
First up is The Elder Scrolls: Arena. One of the biggest, buggiest and most ambitious games ever made.
Arena is a first-person action/adventure/RPG of epic proporptions. The landmass is absolutely huge and despite the bugs, it's actually a fantastic game. While its more notable sequels, Daggerfall (imo, the best in the whole series), Morrowind and Oblivion are just that, in 1993, Arena was a sight to behold.
Too bad you had to drop three grand on a computer to play it, although now all you need is a DOS emulator (I'm a step ahead, I'm working on restoring an older computer). And, it's free; Bethesda has it up for free download on their site.
Arena, interestingly enough, didn't really raise any bars; Ultima Underworld beat it by a year in terms of release, and the Western RPG genre wasn't very influential in the mass market because console gaming was bigger at the time.
Where Arena made it's mark was the combat system (you slashed in the direction your mouse moved in; archery was a no-brainer though), which until seeing Breakdown, I hadn't seen anything similar in modern gaming (although Daggerfall had the same system) and its massive world - which I think was more daunting than inspiring.
It is, however, the first step in the Elder Scrolls series, which is what makes it a more important mention than its much improved sequels.
Syndicate, by Bullfrog is next in line. Syndicate blurred the lines between strategy, RPG and topdown action, but also threw in taxation and micromanagement to further deepen the concept. Not to mention that the character that you play - the corporate paeon - is amoral at best and morally bankrupt when at your worst.
Syndicate's core gameplay - freeroam destruction and slaughter in the area that you're attempting to occupy at the given time - is pretty satisfying, although you will be penalised for gunning down civilians. Note that you're not just there to kill everything in your path; your objectives will include theft and kidnapping and not just mass slaughter and/or assassination.
The game world itself is cyberpunk dystopia right out of a Philip K. Dick novel and the pulsing soundtrack (which interestingly enough only has 5 songs) definitely make you feel like you're in a techno-hell.
It's interesting to note that every system after the NES up to the Panasonic 3DO has had this game ported to it and it was originally released on the Commodore Amiga, so it has actually had a pretty interesting release history.
However, the PC and Amiga versions are by far the more superior ones.
For the time that Syndicate was released (1993(A)/1994(PC), this was definitely a very, very sophisticated action title. Even its console counterparts, regardless of the corners cut were both deep in gameplay and rich in atmosphere.
Cybermage is a fairly obscure FPS/RPG hybrid that has a lot more going for it than most give it credit for. Scripted sequences, vehicles, a basic economy system and gambling. And this was all in 1996, 3 years before Half-Life and 5 years prior to Halo.
And not to mention magical attack powers. It was also really resource heavy, as well.
Cybermage is actually quite light on the RPG aspect, but it is there. The game also has a basic yet effective melee system (as melee plays a large role if you're out of ammo and mana).
The really cool thing about it was how you learned your spells. All you had to to do was be hit by them and then that was it, you knew it. No researching spell books are having to wait to get to a stat plateau (that wasn't there anyway). Mind you, at first it could be quite punishing (as there's far worse things you could be hit by than a Damage-Over-Time lightning attack), but it kept things simple and interesting.
What kept this game back, aside from resource demands, was that the controls were pretty clunky, automatic weaons could only be fired in bursts and it pretty much entered into obscurity the day it came out. Other than that, if you could get it to run, it was a fantastic game. Also, for those that have, I hope you caught the priceless references to Syndicate and System Shock.
Last but not least is this gem of a series. System Shock and its stellar sequel, System Shock 2. System Shock was a very good FPS/puzzle game that had you matching egoes with an A.I. called Shodan. System Shock 2 is an FPS/RPG hybrid that has you doing the same deed, But the concept is definitely different.
In the original System Shock, you wake up on a space station. There's blood everywhere and the crew's been slaughtered. But you're not. The crew has, however, been biologically sustained by the AI because she (trust me, Shodan has a gender and identity) has manipulated the medical equipment to do so. In order to kick her in the chips, you will have to fix circuitry, kill zombies and cyborgs and race through cyberspace to complete your objectives - the main one being to stop Shodan from spraying earth with a drilling laser.
And like most innovative games, System Shock is buggy as all hell. But it's a great game nonetheless and unlike Cybermage, the interface wasn't all that clunky despite the fact that you have more action commands available to you.
In System Shock 2, you select a class, go through basic training and then wake up on a space-vessel that's been almost totally destroyed. In System Shock 2, however, there are no trips through cyberspace and the pace is much, much faster. And ammunition is in far more limited supply.
As you go through the game, you're able to purchase healing items, ammunition, hack replicator terminals and crates (the game's equivalent of a treasure chest) all the while trying to thwart Shodan as well as another threat (created by the scheming cyberhooker) that's biological in nature. And not only that, but by using science skills, you can upgrade your knowledge on your foes which lets you do more damage to them, as well upgrading weapons with maintenance skills (and obviously maintaining said weapons). And, there's even a "magic" aspect to the game (called psionics) which lets you project attacks with your mind an dhte help of a psionic amplifier. Plus there's also healing abilities.
In short, there's a lot you can do in the game.
Whether or not System Shock is an influence is hard to say; the original developer, Warren Spector, went on to develop the Deus Ex games afterward, and developers don't really do much self-influencing so far as I can gather.
Hybrid-genre games, whether they be Strategy hybrids (Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper), RPG hybrids (The Elder Scrolls, Gothic, Ogre Battle) or FPS Hybrids (System Shock, Deus Ex, Rainbow Six [PC only]) generally all have one thing in common despite their differences: They enrich the lives of the avid gamer far more than a straight-up experience. They have lot more to offer the player not just in the world the player walks in, but the shoes that he or she will get to fill. Unfortunately, because - aside from the Elder Scrolls - most hybrid-genre games are not big sellers, they aren't very common and supply may be low from release because expected sales are not high.
So when you see 'em, snap 'em up and hold 'em high for these are the crown jewels of the gamer's world.