Meg
Well-known Member
I was thinking about this today, and decided to write a short essay about it. I hope you guys like it.
Engagement vs. Spectacle in Games
I recently bought Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. I played the first two games years ago, and figured I’d give this one a go. It was cheap. So I started playing the multiplayer first and was having a good time, but after a while I decided to check out the campaign. Even though I didn’t really care for the story in the second game, I was curious to see what happened next. I figured I’d play through a short and sweet campaign that I would have some fun with, but soon forget about and go back to the multiplayer.
I could barely even get through the first hour. Something just wasn’t clicking. All the elements of the past two games were there: crazy, intense action, fast paced gameplay, over the top set pieces. But despite all that, I wasn’t having fun. When I stopped playing and put the controller down I just kind of leaned back and thought: “What just happened? Why don’t I like this game? In fact, why do I kind of hate it?”
Over a week later and I still didn’t know. Then I started playing Lumines: Electronic Symphony for the PS Vita. I instantly got into it. After playing for about a half hour: it clicked. I was interested in the game I was playing. I wanted to keep playing more. I was engaged.
For those who don’t know, Lumines is basically Tetris with some modified and extra gameplay mechanics. But at its core, it’s a game about falling blocks and you’re trying to get the different colors to form bigger blocks. That’s about it. At a glance, Call of Duty has a lot more going on, but a closer look reveals that it isn’t much more complex that Lumines. In a way, it’s even less complex.
In Lumines, you have to think fast and move faster. You can see which blocks are coming up, so you can plan. But you need to keep moving. Call of Duty has a lot going on in its surroundings, but that’s about it. Call of Duty games have spectacle. They are big and epic on a surface level, but underneath all that is mind-numbing gameplay. There’s no thinking needed. No strategy. The player is ushered down a linear corridor and told exactly what to do and the exact time they need to do.
While I can understand why some people would get swept up in the moment and have a great time blasting through levels, I didn’t. I wasn’t engaged at all. I didn’t really feel apart of the game. I felt like I was watching a ridiculous action movie that occasionally asked me to push a button.
I didn’t feel any sense of accomplishment as I played. There was just nothing to it. Amazing how a game full of so much action and craziness could be so boring. The fact that I managed to play for not even an hour instead of just ten minutes is impressive. On the other hand, I played Lumines for well over two hours and only stopped because I had other things I needed to get done. But I’m looking forward to playing it again.
Call of Duty on the other hand? Well, the multiplayer is a stupid, good time, so I’ll play more of that. But the campaign? Don’t count on it.
Engagement vs. Spectacle in Games
I recently bought Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. I played the first two games years ago, and figured I’d give this one a go. It was cheap. So I started playing the multiplayer first and was having a good time, but after a while I decided to check out the campaign. Even though I didn’t really care for the story in the second game, I was curious to see what happened next. I figured I’d play through a short and sweet campaign that I would have some fun with, but soon forget about and go back to the multiplayer.
I could barely even get through the first hour. Something just wasn’t clicking. All the elements of the past two games were there: crazy, intense action, fast paced gameplay, over the top set pieces. But despite all that, I wasn’t having fun. When I stopped playing and put the controller down I just kind of leaned back and thought: “What just happened? Why don’t I like this game? In fact, why do I kind of hate it?”
Over a week later and I still didn’t know. Then I started playing Lumines: Electronic Symphony for the PS Vita. I instantly got into it. After playing for about a half hour: it clicked. I was interested in the game I was playing. I wanted to keep playing more. I was engaged.
For those who don’t know, Lumines is basically Tetris with some modified and extra gameplay mechanics. But at its core, it’s a game about falling blocks and you’re trying to get the different colors to form bigger blocks. That’s about it. At a glance, Call of Duty has a lot more going on, but a closer look reveals that it isn’t much more complex that Lumines. In a way, it’s even less complex.
In Lumines, you have to think fast and move faster. You can see which blocks are coming up, so you can plan. But you need to keep moving. Call of Duty has a lot going on in its surroundings, but that’s about it. Call of Duty games have spectacle. They are big and epic on a surface level, but underneath all that is mind-numbing gameplay. There’s no thinking needed. No strategy. The player is ushered down a linear corridor and told exactly what to do and the exact time they need to do.
While I can understand why some people would get swept up in the moment and have a great time blasting through levels, I didn’t. I wasn’t engaged at all. I didn’t really feel apart of the game. I felt like I was watching a ridiculous action movie that occasionally asked me to push a button.
I didn’t feel any sense of accomplishment as I played. There was just nothing to it. Amazing how a game full of so much action and craziness could be so boring. The fact that I managed to play for not even an hour instead of just ten minutes is impressive. On the other hand, I played Lumines for well over two hours and only stopped because I had other things I needed to get done. But I’m looking forward to playing it again.
Call of Duty on the other hand? Well, the multiplayer is a stupid, good time, so I’ll play more of that. But the campaign? Don’t count on it.