Games are looking and playing good these days – real good. The gap between pre-render and real-time graphics continues to shrink. More stories in more games are becoming increasingly nuanced and engaging. Online connectivity is growing. Winter 2008 saw the release of no less than a dozen games that could be successfully described as masterpieces of their genre. We have not even mentioned the burgeoning success story that is the independent game developer. The result is nothing short of a market crowded with fierce competition. What, then, does it take to succeed in this generation? Is it solid 30 FPS, a beautiful game world, and intuitive controls: a competent game? Or does competency alone no longer cut it?

Our case study is Golden Axe: Beast Rider. Functionally, the game is solid. The scorecoard gives it a passing grade on visuals, sound, and story. Gameplay is fine too. Combat has a robust combo/magic system mixed with titular beast riding. The game invites mastery. Final score: B, 7/10, 3 stars.

I put it down after three hours and sold it on eBay.

It was an archaic ‘lives’ mechanic that forced me to restart an entire level and ultimately shut off the game, but I was forcing myself to sit down and play long before my ‘final’ level began. The game simply did not offer anything worth my time. Sure, combat worked, but it was also tedious and unsatisfying. The story and characters were alright but filled with meaningless fantasy names I had no context to care for. Worst of all, for a game subtitled Beast Rider, riding animals into battle was neither fun nor rewarding. I had better success on foot.

I had to ask myself if continuing with the game was worth my time when Fallout 3, Fable II, Dead Space, Red Alert 3, and Mirror’s Edge (to name a few) were all patiently awaiting.

Today, competency is not enough. The game may look gorgeous and play fine, but so what? Craft an engaging story, develop a satisfying combat engine, and leverage a protagonist that is dynamic and believable, and you might get my attention. Do not expect me to play just because your heroine is big-breasted and three-quarters naked. I might as well play God of War, a game that is not revolutionary by any means but does all of the above exceptionally, not just well.

It is a sort of wake up call for gamers like me who feel pressured to finish their games. Our time is much too precious to waste on games that are middling at best. If it does not engage us, drop it. Developers, put your best foot forward in level design, not last. In this era of quality gaming, you have to pass with honors to make the grade.

Tags: competency, Editorial, Golden Axe

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at 5:31 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.