Games of 2007: A Debate by Mail

By Vermouth

Vermouth,

I’m glad we agree on the whole concept of “Game of the Year” being less a coronation than a discussion of game trends of the year.

I also appreciate you joining in my praise of Puzzle Quest. I probably would agree that the game couldn’t carry its own genre, but hey, that’s okay. Afterall, we’ve already established, I think, that neither of us can play enough games to declare anauthoritative “winner.” I mentioned already that I haven’t played Portal, and here’s the part where I have to mention I haven’t played much of Planet Puzzle League either. I mean, I’ve played it at some Best Buy kiosks and really liked it, but couldn’t find a place for it in my budget.

So, sure, Puzzle Quest might not be the best puzzle game released this year, but as a response to your “style-as-substance” argument, it certainly is a great example of a game immeasurably helped by the charm its style brings to
the table.

Finally, I can’t help but award Puzzle Quest as my game of the year, as I mentioned: it is the game I’ve played the most this year. Maybe next year, that should be the only criteria. The results would certainly be interesting, but after a couple of those features, I think the readers would be sick of you awarding Baldur’s Gate II another GOTY.

Switching gears to the addition of your honorable mentions: I’m actually upset that I haven’t been able to play Super Mario Galaxy. The game looks like it is a lot of fun, and I think for many games, that’s been missing. Though I suppose the idea of fun may not be the best measure of a game’s worth.

As for Crysis, considering the system requirements to run the game as the developers intended…maybe we should wait until 2010 before discussing it. I mean, maybe by then the recommended specs will be the base-level specs for most new machines. I’m not sure what this trend of cutting-edge PC games actually does to the PC market. I mean, great, these games push the envelope, but a very small percentage of gamers can see them at their best. Whereas games released on a console all have to play on the same hardware. That’s probably better off being a discussion for another article though.

Moving on to the eight-hundred pound Big Daddy in the room, BioShock:

I agree, essentially, that my criticisms of BioShock fall largely into the two areas you’ve defined. So, as you did, I’ll take them in turn.

BioShock is the Diet Coke of hybrid shooters. That’s not a bad thing. In many ways it has cut down on the unnecessary calories contained in System Shock 2 and Deus Ex, but that also means the taste is off. I mean, if a restaurant offers Coke and you order the coke, and they serve you Diet Coke, you don’t go: “mmm, this is great,” you go: “Uh, can I have a
coke?”

Okay, moving away from the Coke analogy.

I don’t think you can compare Deus Ex to BioShock, though I do think you can compare BioShock to Deus Ex. Comparing graphics between the two games borders on sophistry. We’re talking about games separated by almost ten years of technological and artistic advancement in games. If you want to talk about the immersive qualities of each game, you have to look at them within their particular zeitgeist. Back in 1999, Deus Ex wasn’t the prettiest game on the market, but it was good looking and compared to your other options, was pretty damn good in immersing the player in its bleak cyberpunk environment.

BioShock is in a similar situation. BioShock may not be the absolute prettiest game on the market, or have the best graphics, but they do what they do, create the atmosphere, very well. Now, you might not be able to do art-deco right with ten year old tech. However, that isn’t to say that current-gen tech couldn’t make Deus Ex even more atmospheric that
BioShock.

As to the NPC chatter, while there wasn’t as much in Deus Ex, there was still plenty to listen to, especially in UNATCO headquarters, Hong Kong, and New York City.

Now, the combat in Deus Ex is tricky for me. I understand what you are saying about using the Dragon’s Tooth weapon, and I know a lot about sniping enemies and hiding. However, those are largely choices that you yourself make. You don’t have to play that way, obviously you could spec yourself out to be the reincarnation of the Terminator, if you wanted to. So…for me, those aren’t valid criticisms, as I wanted to play as the creeping sniper.

Regarding the game as not a great FPS: sure, it might not be a great FPS, standing up to the likes of Half-Life or other games released at that time. You’re also probably right that BioShock is better at being a more satisfying FPS experience. The flip-side of that coin is Deus Ex is a far, far better RPG, Western-Style, than BioShock was billed to be. So, I think that criticism is something of a wash.

Moving on to the difficulty of BioShock vis-a-vis the Vita-chambers. Well, first, yes, let me acknowledge that the spiders in Baldur’s Gate ended my affair with that game. Certainly, encountering overly difficult areas or not have a firm grasp on the play mechanics can end a game before it begins. Thinking about that a bit further, have you seen the Half-Life 2 data from steam? A ridiculously low number of people have played those games to completion, and the episodes are really short.

Getting back on topic though, the Vita-Chambers could have been worked a bit differently, or changed to fit the rest of the game a bit better. By this I mean, you can hack or bribe every came in the machine, no? Why didn’t the Irrational people make the Vita-Chamber act like every other machine in the game? Would it have been so game-breaking to have to pay to use the machine? How about linking machines in each area so that the more you use, the more you have to pay? Wouldn’t the added convenience provided by the Vita-Chambers rationalize the added cost and fit perfectly within the Ayn Rand-esque dystopia they created?

If you didn’t want to pay, couldn’t you try to hack them, to differenet effects? I think it would have been very clever to have some gene tonics that allowed you to get bonuses from hacking the Vita-Chambers. Overdrive on life or EVE or damage or something. Balance that by making the hacking sections a bit more difficult than your typical vending machine.

Would any of these suggestions fundamentally alter the difficulty of the game as to keep people from seeing the ending? I don’t think so, but what are your thoughts?

Finally, no, I haven’t been able to play Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines. I was very interested in the game, but my poor PC can’t handle much beyond WoW these days. Even my beloved WarHammer 40k: Dawn of War expansion packs are causing the system to choke. Which is sad because I want to march an undead metallic army all over the living.

- Head881