Effective Learning Curve

for this blog post I will be choosing 2 games and comparing them. First off I will be choosing a game that when you start the game it doesn't really throw you into the deep end and expect you to play through it without any training first, that game I have chosen is Star Wars The Force Unleashed. The main reason for choosing this specific game are because if you look to the picture to the right then you can see that right at the start of the game, once you have played the prologue, you get put into a training room were the game goes through with you the basic move of how the game really works, shows you how to use the force and pick up objects as well as using those object to throw at enemy units. Then goes through basic combat move whilst using your light-saber.

Now I will be writing about the game which isn't really very good at explaining the controls, it kind of throws the player into the deep end by not explaining the controls and the basics of the game properly. That game is Devil May Cry and the main reason that I chose this game was because whilst playing the games, the controls seem quite complex from the start, the game could do with explaining these controls by doing what Star Wars does and places the player in some sort of training room where the player can get to grips with the controls. This would be very beneficial to player who've never played this game before.

FPS Gameplay

In this blog post I will be writing about 2 first person shooting games, choosing one that makes good use of the first person shooter genre and then comparing it to one that doesn't really live up to the same standards. first off I will be writing about the game which I feel does stand out in the first person shooter genre, that game is Battlefield 3. My reasons for choosing this game are because rather than games similar to it, such as Call of Duty franchise. This game really does give you a real-life feel for what it might look like if you were there, when playing a game like Call of Duty you don't really get that feel like you do when playing Battlefield 3.  

Now I will be writing about a game that is in the first person shooter genre, but doesn't really live up to the same standards as the previous game. Some of the reasons why I've chosen this game are because unlike Battlefield 3, Brink doesn't give the player a real-life feel of being in a war. Also as I have an experience playing this game before, I never really got into it and found it to difficult to play, especially online. But that's just my opinion on the game, other people might have a different opinion on this game and might even prefer it to Battlefield and other first person shooters. 

Multi-Player Game Experience

Most multi-player games make really good use of replacing computer players with human controlled characters, some games do this well and then others don't. So in this blog post i will be comparing 2 games, 1 that does make good use of replacing AI controlled character with human controlled players and then comparing it to a game that doesn't really make good use of this. The first game is going to be a game that makes good use, this game is Call of duty Black Ops 2. My reasons for choosing this game is because of the fact that you can play a mode called "Combat Training" which basically means you can play against computer controlled players rather than playing online with random players, when you're in combat training you can also replace the computer controlled players with your friends, this then introduces team work rather than just playing the game on your own. This is why I think is works well replacing AI players with human controlled players. 

Next I will be comparing the previous game to a game that doesn't really make good use of replacing an AI player with a human player, that game is Resident Evil 5. The reasons for me choosing this game are because when playing the single player campaign you AI player which is your partner always seems to get in the way of when you're playing. When playing the campaign with a friend or even someone else online it does then make the game entirely better. Player work together better and don't get in the way of each other whilst shooting or anything. 

Disapointing Graphics

In this blog I will be writing about a game that its graphics kind of spoil the gameplay and then comparing it to a game that its graphics are really good visuals which help towards the gameplay. So first off the game that the graphics aren't as good as the game itself is Doom 3. I chose this game because of the fact that whilst playing through this game it was really intense, the lighting was perfect for such a spooky game, but when it came down to fighting monsters and zombies they really didn't look as amazing as the gameplay was, don't get me wrong Doom 3 is a fantastic game, but the graphics just let it down. You could improve this but obviously improving the graphics so that it compliments how good the game actually is, improve the graphics just until it looks fairly realistic.

Now I will be writing about a game that its graphic really do compliment the game and make the whole game more enjoyable. The game that I've chosen is Enslaved; Odyssey to the West. Reasons for choosing this game are because as you can see from the picture to the right the graphics are really amazing and the gameplay benefits from this, it does this because of the visuals display broken buildings, cliffs and other aspects which your character has to grapple over most of them in order to progress to the next part of the game.

Effective Interface Design

This blog post will be about what game I personally think has a good nterface design and then comparing it to a game that doesnt particually have a good interface design. The game that I think has a good interface design is from Call of Duty Black Ops. Reasons that I chose this game is because their interface is quite detailed, it has all the nessasary items and eqipment that you would need to know whilst player either online or on the campaign such as how much ammo you have left in you ammo clip and also how much ammo you have left to reload, it also reminds you about your lethal grenades and your tactical grenades and then also your special item which on the picture to the right you can see that the player has a spy camera, when using the spy camera it would come up with a screen where the camera is facing. It also shows you the type of game you're playing and the core limit in the game and then finally it gives you a mini map in the top left corner of the screen which enables you to see where emeny units are in the map when you have certain kill-streaks avaliable or when an enemy fires without a suppressor.

Next I will be talking about a games interface which I think is bad is from the game Resident Evil 6. I've chosen this game because its interface design isn't as good as the one from Call of Duty Black Ops. Some of the reasons for this are because of the fact that everything you need is is stored in 1 little box in the bottom right corner of the game. When I'm playing it I think it's quite hard to read because of the fact that it's all in 1 spot and quite small font size. Creators of the game could change this by either spacing out the required information so it's easier to read or they even could do what Call of Duty Black Ops has done which is to spead the required information around the players screen such as the ammo counter, it's clearly visable and easy to read because it's by itself with nothing crowding it to make it difficult to read.

A game to Change the World

In this blog I will be writing about a game that I think really changed the gaming world, there are hundreds of game that you could pick, but if I'm perfectly honest the game I really think changed the world was Call of Duty Modern Warfare. My reasons for choosing this game is purely for the fact that there wasn't really a main first person shooter that everyone was crazy about, then along came Call of Duty Modern Warfare, this game really re-wrote how to create a decent first person shooter. When playing this game for the first time I always knew that it was going to be a huge success, even when you're playing it and you were loosing you always wanted to stay in and play on as I found it really addictive sometimes. Even though the graphics weren't particularly brilliant, the gameplay was amazing.

Next i will be writing about a game that hasn't really brought anything new to the gaming world, that game is the Fifa series. My reasons for choosing this game are for the facts that it doesn't seem to change, it releases a game each year, all that seems to change is there are different players that swap to different teams and kits are then changed for another year and then most importantly the graphics are then improved

Gameplay Imbalance

In some games you have certain guns that other players deem "over-powered" or "nooby" and then you get some games that are really balanced and there's hardly anything in the game that is imbalanced. So in this blog post I will be writing about games which certain points you would think things are imbalanced and then comparting it to a game the is almost perfectly balanced. The in-game weapon for Modern Warfare 2 is the UMP45 which is imbalanced because player complain that the gun is "over-powered" as you can see from the picture to the right both damage and accuracy are very high, so you can possibly see why player complain about this gu being imbalanced when both thos 2 stats are very high. Also if you attach a silencer to this weapon it could become even more imbalanced because of the fact that it's extremely accurate and powerful plus if you had the silencer then would wouldn't be detected on a players mini-map when firing.

Next I'm talking about a game that I think is balanced, that game is Little Big Planet 2. My reasons for choosing this game is because there really isn't anything that is overly powered for example a gun like I said in the game above. This game always provides new challenges which helps the player achieve more. Considering this game is about creating your own levels it challenges you to create an even better level than you previously did. Another reasons for this game being well balanced is because the designer has clearly made this game so that it tires to appeal to all audiences, it does this by giving the player that chance to either play through the games campaign or even play multi-player and try and create a level with your friends. 

Effective Reward System

There are some games that do reward you for doing certain tasks in games and there are games that don't really reward you for doing for example a mission on the hardest difficulty, but one game that I think does reward you for doing missions if in the game Fable 3. The game rewards you with pieces of clothing for your Xbox 360 avatar, whilst playing the game you must acquire some reinforcements from different allies, when doing this and eventually acquiring them you then get an achievement and also unlock a piece of the special clothing for your avatar which eventually makes up the "kings suit" which includes a crown, upper body shirt, trousers and then boots. Personally I think this is a decent rewarding system because you could get a sense of pride that you've acquired these allies and then can display this on your avatar to show off to friends or other people online. The pieces of clothing can be found in the picture to the right.

I this next part I will be writing about a game that doesn't really have an effective rewarding system, that game is Call of Duty Black Ops. My reasons for choosing this game is because you need CoD points to acquire guns that you've recently unlocked, sometimes players don't have enough points to unlock this weapons, it could be their best weapon and now they have to wait until they earn enough points to unlock it. Another reason is because on previous CoD games to unlock a certain attachment you would need to complete a challenge . For example get 30 head-shots to unlock a camouflage for your gun, on Black Ops you don't get this feeling because all you have to do it buy the attachment and camouflage with the points you earn.

Original Art Direction

In this blog post I will ne writing about games that have a good original art work and then comparing it to a game that doesnt really have good art work. First off I will write about a game that has good art work and that game is Borderlands 2. My reasons for choosing this game is because of the fact its artwork it completly original and not like any other game out there, it uses cel-shading which is different to most game for example Call of Duty Black Ops 2 tries to make graphics to look realistic but Borderlands doesn't do this, instead it creates its own genre of artwork.

Next I will right about a game that I personally don't think the artwork isn't partucually very good, that game is the Tekken franchise. My reasons for choosing this game is because Tekken does have its own visual styles but over the years of developing the game through 8 different titles the visual artowkr hasn't really changed, the only thinkg that has changed is th addition and departure of some characters and also the addition of new levels in which you fight on.

Childrens/Family Game

In this blog post I will be writing about children s games which I feel are good and then comparing it to a game that isn't particularly good. First off, the game that I think is a very good children s game is the Super Mario franchise more specifically . I've chosen this particular game because it's a perfect example of what a children s game needs to be, it's fun, enjoyable, uses bright colours to attract the players attention, has catchy music and most of all it's game-play is very simple to master. Also the game consists of over 50 side scrolling fun without the feeling that there is so many levels because the game makes this fun. Looking at the controls they're very basic in which the game can be played easily rather than a game with controls that are hard to lean, this make the game more enjoyable and fun to play and not having to worry what buttons to press to do certain actions.

now I will be comparing the previous game that I spoke about to a children's game which isn't really very good, that game is Spongebob Squarepants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman, the main reasons that I have chosen this game is because there are many bad points about this game, one of those is that you can do odd jobs within this game which you can do such as delivering food to an address and looking for items that are lost in quite boring environments  but they don't really require much attention to complete them as they are fairly simple to do. Another fault in this game is that the age rating on the game is 3+ but looking at reviews is seems that people say the the difficulty does not represent the age rating of the game, basically meaning that the game is best suited for someone who is older than about 4-5 maybe age 6-7, but that's just my opinion.