There was a hell of a lot of spectacle today. Submarines surfacing, airplanes crashing, cutscenes directed with the same bludgeon used by Michael Bay, and everybody trying to out-explode each other. The crumbling skyscrapers, spiraling missiles, the crank-it-to-11 destruction: taken in all at once like I have today, it's all starting to blend together. It's not that these games are feeling homogenous - not yet - but that they do seem to be converging in the same direction, and it's one in which the developers are taking more and more control away from the player in order to create these perfect gaming moments that we all love to talk about.
But does it matter if we're saving the planet or saving the Financial District if it feels more or less than same? Even Tomb Raider's feeling ambivalent about how much interactivity to build into its QTEs.
That's why I felt so relieved to sit down in front of Serious Sam 3: BFE and wantonly reduce hundreds of headless kamikazes to chunks of scorched meat. This is what my people refer to as fun.
Above: He looks almost happy
Jun 8, 2011
