Nuke Nuketown?

Anyone who is familiar with Call of Duty: Black Ops knows about Nuketown. Nuketown is a multiplayer map that is extremely small, it resembles an average american neighborhood complete with two homes, a backyard, school bus, and lots of mock civilians in the guise of mannequins. Players fight each other on what is according to the story, a suburban nuclear testing ground. Personally, I hate this map, it is incredibly small and players basically take turns either gunning each other down in a narrow car filled street, or ceaselessly firing from one house into the other.

While I dislike the map for its lack of tactical versatility, and the constant threat of enemy players spawning directly behind me. I have come to realize that the majority strongly disagrees with me. Every time I play COD and Nuketown is an option, players almost always choose to play it in favor of the other maps offered. Not only do they choose to play it, but after the game is finished, players exercise their option to replay the map. I cannot think of any other map that gets played and replayed with such frustrating frequency. It is lucky for me that the map can't be played indefinitely, for if it was an option, I have no doubt that 90% of games played would be within the confines of everyone's favorite neighborhood warzone.

Now the question is what does this mean and why are players so obsessed with such a small and simplistic map? Ultimately I think it is because Nuketown succeeds in giving COD players what they really want, and that is Action and lots of it. For these players, the score is mere trivia and enemy fire is just that inconvenient factor that forces them to respawn. This doesn't make these players necessarily foolish, it just means that they are playing the game for different reasons than me. To their credit, these players appear to be playing the Game, Purely to have fun. In this case, Fun means pumping round after virtual round into other players and watching them as they Die. Perhaps not the most civilized of activities, nonetheless it tells us what I have already come to suspect. That most players are not terribly interested in complex plots, level design, and proper game balance. Instead, they hands down prefer a reliable instant mindlessly chaotic Action delivering game. In this regard they can count on Nuketown to deliver time and time again.

Please...No More Origin Stories

Origin stories are boring, I don't care what the character was like as a kid, or how much of a chump he was before he decided to become a badass. Unfortunately the origin story seems to be at the zenith of it popularity, and with the upcoming "Green Lantern", and "Thor" releases, I see no end in sight. Apparently, every super hero film thinks they need to devote the entire movie to explaining to me the circumstances surrounding our heroes rise to fame. Let me spare everyone the suspense, your hero starts out as a total chump, and is either emotionally scarred by tragedy and thus motivated to dedicate his life to stomping bad guys, or he receives a "divine blessing" and stumbles upon an external force that empowers him to stop being such a doormat, cue feelings of inadequacy and initial rejection of responsibility.

Financially I understand that it's beneficial for a movie to drag its feet in advancing the plot, it allows for a story that should take 45 minutes to be turned into a trilogy, thus more cash. That aside I wish studios would stop the nonsense, and actually focus on entertaining us. I have stopped viewing "Super Hero" movies whether they be based on Marvel, DC, or Indie characters primarily because of "Origin Syndrome". Their are plenty of movies that give you almost no explanation of the characters origins yet succeed tremendously in creating a compelling character, aided in no small part by the suspense created by not revealing the mechanisms behind our characters motivations.

Movies like the Predator, Gladiator, or Blade, all succeed in dumping the audience into the thick of the action with minimal explanation of their past. These characters talk with their fists and throughout the course of the film we usually learn along with the other supporting characters, the true capabilities of our protagonist. These movies show you what the character is rather than providing a constant stream of inane justifications in the hope of convincing the audience that the supernatural events portrayed in this fictional universe are some how plausible.

If you look at a film like the Predator, you never are provided with any sort of narrative as to his origins or capabilities. All you see is that he came from outer space and is armed to the teeth with high tech weaponry. Based on his Actions, and the realizations of Ahhnold, you learn that the Predator is some kind of zealous ritualistic hunter on a human hunting safari. If anyone wants to know what happened during the Predator's childhood to drive him to kill, skin, and make trophies of human skulls, just go ask any of the current "Super Hero" film directors, Im sure they would love to bore us with a three part examination of Predator culture.

Kill the Campers

Call of Duty Black Ops is a great game, but the most common complaint is that it takes "No Skill", this is because of the advantages offered to players who "camp" and because of the ability to kill enemy players extremely quickly. Detailed below are five very simplistic fixes, that I think would make for a more balanced and skillful competitive experience.

1- All automatic weapons should require Two more bullets to kill their targets. This would give ambushed opponents a better opportunity to escape or at least return fire. It would also force players to better compensate for recoil due to having to fire a longer spray of bullets and force players to demonstrate adequate control rather than just "luckily" achieving a kill in a single burst of fire.

2- Light Machine Guns automatically benefit from the "Deeper Penetration" (giggles) perk. In their current rendition, LMG are vastly inferior to other weapons. They make your character slower, aim down sights slower, have increased recoil, and slower reload times. With built in "deeper penetration" they would be more useful in their role of providing suppressive fire even against targets in cover. Also with the addition of increased kill times, a LMG's greater ammo capacity would prove more useful.

3- Remove reload canceling. Currently players can choose to reload and then during mid reload, they can cancel their decision by double tapping Y, and continue shooting. This is tacky and allows players to reload at times when they shouldn't without suffering any consequences. Once you have removed the magazine from your weapon you should be forced to continue to reload before firing again.

4- Add delayed radar. Too often in Black Ops outcomes are decided by players respawning behind each other or ambushing each other for instant kills. By adding the radar system utilized in the "Sticks and Stones" gametype, players will be alerted to the location a player WAS at and not their current location. This would do two things; it would prevent players from being easily ambushed by respawning opponents, and it would make "camping" less effective by revealing the campers location while only betraying a moving players previous location.

5- Make the "Camouflage" perk only available to snipers. The sniper rifle is less effective in Black Ops due to the removal of the ability to effectively "quick scope". Regardless of the merits of "quickscoping", this would allow snipers to perform their prescribed "camping" role with greater effectiveness.

These simple changes could make a game like Black Ops retain it's fast paced and tactical qualities that have made the COD franchise so successful, while allowing for an increase in competitive value.

The Triumph of Simple Games

While remaining an avid fan of video games and a self proclaimed student of conceptual video game design. I have found that in many ways, games have come full circle. Old Arcade and NES games were often built upon very simplistic concepts, this owing both to technological constraints and the need to connect to audiences who could not be expected to perform the complex maneuvers required by most modern games. The advent of the I-pad, I-phone, and mobile gaming has opened up the gaming world to a mixed audience of seasoned gamers and total amateurs alike. Because of the diversity of these audiences, it is apparent that now more than ever, successful games need to be both intuitive and simple. The allure of these elements is in their ability to provide instant entertainment and allow the player to intuitively sense the games objective.

The game Angry Birds has become a ubiquitous tool of entertainment both among adults and children alike. Its great success can be attributed to the utter simplicity of its design. Give anyone this game for the first time and within ten seconds they will be able to ascertain that the goal is to slingshot the birds so that they knock over the structure that contains the pigs. The only game mechanic the player controls is in adjusting the strength and trajectory of their “angry bird”, and the only goal is to knock down the structure.

In analyzing this game I have begun to see the merits of severely limiting the scope of games, in favor of the focus on establishing a clear player goal combined with a pleasurable game mechanic. The thrill of these games is akin to bouncing quarters into a cup, they lack the depth and complexity of modern console games, but they deliver a simple pleasure without any confusion and without the need for any special training.

Based on these principles I have gotten to thinking of a multitude of extremely simplistic games. The difficulty often comes in reigning in ones imagination and ridding the games concept of any extra complication. A few examples of these conceptual creations will make an appearance on this site shortly, following my upcoming duel with the technical difficulties of web design. Stay tuned

Bringing Back the FUN

If you look at old NES games and especially games played in the arcade, you will see a common denominator. This common denominator is essential to experiencing FUN, something that seems to be sorely lacking in the majority of modern games. Pac-man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Contra, Goldeneye: all these games are treasured pieces of video game history and in all of these games things moved FAST. If you were to play any of these games in slow motion they would be a lot easier and considerably less FUN. We grew addicted to these games because they required precision and timing amongst a screen full of chaos. When Pac-Man is being chased by angry ghosts, he has precious few milliseconds to decide to turn left or right, but a successful escape brings a sigh of relief from the player and spectators alike. This is what made these games fun. For the competitive crowd it provided a challenge and for those who simply play for enjoyment, the FAST paced chaos made for some heart racing moments.

Todays games have lost much of this magic, developers are more concerned with Micro-managing a games mechanics to the point that when all is said and done, you are left with a spoon fed and overall dull experience. In the spirit of fairness or more cynically, the pursuit of a larger demographic and increased profits, developers have made games easier and SLOWER. This applies especially in regards to shooting games, but I think it applies equally well to Games in general, as a pervasive theme. Rather than assuming the role of a Commando left to his own wits, most games now have the player assume the role of a tourist, ushered around from site to site and occasionally ordered to perform monotonous tasks like killing mindless enemies or flipping a glowing switch.

This spirit combined with the modern “Facebook” perspective that everything must be social and universally accessible has poisoned the core appeal of numerous game genres. If we look to a game like Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64, we can see a masterpiece constructed with blocky graphics and a scary amount of “Auto-Aim”, a dreaded word for many fans of FPS. Despite this, the game is truly entertaining primarily because of it’s fluid and extremely fast paced nature. When played competitively, fast maneuvering is the key to the game. Juking opponents and weaving in and out of position provides more entertainment than the now Universal “Aim Down Sights” mechanic of modern shooters.

Simplistic game mechanics are a lost art in console gaming, in an age where everything must come packaged with a complex story and layered multiplayer progression system. Rather than appeal to everyone it is my opinion that developers should really consider making more simplistic games with less of an emphasis on production value. This can only be done by offering the player something FUN, not necessarily deep or balanced, but fun. Give players a fast moving spaceship with a set of laser beams Instead of another shooter where one trudges at the speed of a shopping cart.

Ultimately Games are meant to be enjoyable challenges, this joy comes from the excitement and the anticipation of the unknown and the completion of an arduous task. When the puzzle comes already solved or the race is ran at a snails pace to accommodate the slow, you do the participants a disservice. Revive the challenge, Heighten the Intensity, and you will see the bells and whistles happily ignored. I am confident there is still a viable market for FUN.

Shotgun or Shotput?

Shotguns in First Person Shooters are a staple weapon. Almost every game with guns includes some form of shotgun. For many they are the most exciting weapons to use and for others they are cause for considerable dismay. First lets look at why they are such pleasurable tools for some.

A shotgun is a close quarters weapon so it appeals to players who prefer to get close to the enemy, in order to do so the wielder must maneuver constantly to get into proper position. So in general, shotgun users are players who can’t sit still and want to engage other players in Decisive combat. This brings us to our next point, shotguns if nothing else are Decisive weapons which despite their bullet “spread”, require precision. The rate of fire for shotguns is very poor when compared to almost any other weapon, but this lack of ROF is compensated for with stopping power. By nature shotguns are high risk and high reward weapons. A successful hit usually grants the user the instant gratification of a kill and a missed shot most often means death.

So why are Shotguns so misunderstood? The answer is the shotgun “camper”, or more appropriately, the concept of “camping” in general. Like in real life, an effective strategy when using a shotgun is to defend a specific location, and so standing in a corner with the gun pointed at an entrance is quite an effective strategy. Though this holds true for almost any weapon, shotguns are particularly lethal because of their ability to kill in one shot. To combat this, game developers have continually decreased the range of the shotgun to the point where in most FPS, I can literally throw a Shotput farther than the maximum range of most video game shotguns. This certainly makes the shotgun a less than effective weapon and furthermore, it exacerbates the problem. By limiting the weapons range so absurdly, the only really effective strategy becomes to “camp”.

Game developers would be better served by making a shotgun more equivalent to it’s real life counterpart. If one were to triple the range of shotguns in most FPS, the weapon would become less controversial. The weapon should simply become weaker and weaker at range. Close range (within 20 feet) the weapon should be a one shot kill provided the bulk of the “spread” hits its target. Outside of this range the weapon should be a 2 shot kill up to 40 ft, and up to 60 ft the weapon should be a 3-4 shot kill. Why would this help? It would allow the player to use the shotgun, like a gun, and not a glorified spear. Players would both consciously and unconsciously engage others at greater ranges and rely less on simply pointing the gun at open doorways. It is the range limitations of the weapon that ruins its gameplay potential.

I have not singled out any games specifically but let me make a point by using an example that the vast majority of FPS players are familiar with. The Model 1887 shotgun in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The very mention of this weapon will ignite controversy on almost any game forum, but it remains a fantastic example of the noble shotgun gun awry. The range, damage, and rate of fire of the Model 1887 is actually perfect. Keep your guns in their holsters for a moment more, please take a deep breath and listen. The range of the weapon is very comparable to real life, at close range one shot will kill you and at greater ranges it will only maim the target. Its power is counteracted by its very slow rate of fire, a miss with this weapon means almost certain death. The hatred generated by this weapon is due to the horrible design decision that let you wield two of them at once or in game terms “akimbo” (yes I know that this term is itself incorrect, I didn’t name it). Asides from the fact that it is utterly ridiculous to dual wield shotguns, this made it so that the power of the gun even at range was inordinate and they required very little precision because of the double spread. At this point their slow rate of fire was no longer an adequate disadvantage, and there constant use threatened to derail the game.

After ruining the game for many, the developers patched this issue by doing…..Guess what. They greatly reduced the range of the weapon. For those that can remember, a single model 1887 shotgun was not a gamebreaking threat, even with its considerable yet realistic range and power. It was an effective if underpowered weapon. Had there never been the ability to dual wield this weapon, I think it could have served as a model (no pun intended) for what a shotgun should be in a game. A weapon with a limited lethal range and low rate of fire, but deadly if used precisely in the right hands. Stay tuned for my next post which will detail how to bring back the Fun that is sorely lacking in todays games.