Friday 25 January, 2008

GAMEPLAY:

This time around, since I knew that the multi player was more fun I just got some friends and played. It was basically an hour of comparing this game to a more recent FPS, Halo.

The most evident flaw was that you could not aim and move at the same time. This was a problem to most people because it trivialized the whole FPS ideal.

For many beginners, this would be a good thing because this shooter, with its auto aim is a lot easier than halo. However, because of my experience with more recent FPS games the gameplay was not desirable.

Another flaw was the lack of variety in the guns and the levels. Compared to Halo, everything was just more simple, including graphics. I remember that back in the day, this games graphics were one of the best, but now it is just not as fun to play.

DESIGN:

All in all, the design of the game for its time was great. It brought out a new genre of gaming and being the first, of course had to have flaws.

One basic design flaw was the fact that you cannot jump off of a level. The only way to get down is using the stairs. The programmers did not leave any freedom of movement, like the games of today.

The levels in the game are also extremely basic. They do have secret passages and areas but all in all, the level design was very simple. It is also very difficult to aim in this game, which is why the auto-aim is useful. However this makes it almost too easy.

The game even in its lack of graphics and gameplay was still able to hustle up some conflict. There is still the usual "smack talking" and excitement that takes place in most FPS games. This is probably because that genre of gaming is able to engage any player because of the idea that you are shooting someone down.

Personally I would not change this game much if I was alive back when it was made, but now I would definitely improve the graphics, and improve all the flaws that the programmers did not think of back then.

All in all, a fun game of its time, but thats about it.

This is a decent gamelog. More exploration of the gameplay mechanic would improve it. Some examples of questions you could have answered: What sorts of enemies are there? Were there objectives to the levels, or just doom-style kill-everything-and-get-to-the-exit? Were there bosses? Was there a story, and how was it told? That sort of stuff.

- Ian Rickard (your TA for this assignment)