Game 1:
Escape From Butcher Bay
1. Tetrad
- Story - The game has a very engaging story if you are familiar with and enjoy the "Riddick" movies such as Pitch Black or Chronicles of Riddick. The game is essentially like a video game sequel to the movies. As such, a lot of work went into the story, which follows Riddick attempting to escape from prison.
- Aesthetics - The aesthetics of this game were very good for its time, it certainly attempts to have very realistic looking scenario and characters during gameplay and the cinematic sequence are actually very well done. The aesthetics form a very coherent theme, the look is very much as you expect from the movies.
- Mechanics - The mechanics of the game essentially involve you exploring areas of the prison, talking to different people, gathering items, and dispatching enemies. Since the game is about escaping from prison, a lot of the mechanics are around stealth, which is actually Riddick's strong suit in the movies, and taking advantage of darkness since he is able to see. Sometimes outright combat occurs and it is rather satisfying.
- Technology - The game features stunning graphics for its time on the Xbox platform. It featured various lighting effects, realistic character models (you play as Riddick and Vin Diesel's likeness is used)
2. Balance
The game is quite balanced, I feel, as I am generally not very good at completing the challenges in this sorts of games. However, I was able to beat the game while I have struggled in several points for a short time but never having to spend in ordinate amounts of time solving a puzzle or defeating an enemy. It also had a lot of balance between interesting game play and the cinematic sequences, I did not feel it had too little or two much of both, it was probably about an even split. For a game meant to be a sort of sequel to a movie, I think this was a good approach
3. Emergent Properties
The game has a few emergent properties in that you gain new options by gathering new items; however you can choose to solve most problems involving enemies in a variety of ways such as fighting them directly or choosing a more stealth based approach. However, though there is some level of exploration available, primarily the scenes are setup to drive the storyline.
4. Interest Curves
There is a lot of pacing in this game, again probably due to it being very story driven. There are moments of intense action followed by respites of going around and exploring any learning new details via dialogues with various unsavory characters you may meet.
5. Enjoyment
I very much enjoyed the game because I was able to beat it without a tremendous amount of frustration and found each level to strike a good balance.
Game 2: Red Dead
1. Tetrad
- Story - The story of Red Dead was interesting. It is set in the 1800s in the Old West. It is a "Spaghetti Western" style homage. You play as a gunslinger and it has the sort of story you may expect for a western.
- Aesthetics - The aesthetics are mostly very well done, having a very Western movie style effect. In fact, there is a "grainy" film style effect in many places. It uses its theme well.
- Mechanics - The mechanics feature a very simple combat style system. I believe were settings to increase the difficulty of the combat and aiming but I played with the easier settings. It is a game that is very easy to quickly learn and begin playing. Each level followed a similar forumla
- Technoloy - The graphics of the game were advanced for its time, having been featured on Xbox and Playstation platforms.
2. Balance
I felt the game could have been better balanced. There was not enough "side quests" or diversions from the main tasks and sometimes it the aesthetics make the player want to have more things to do in the game. It was heavily geared as a shoot'em up.
3. Emergent Propertes
I feel this is another lacking aspect of the game, other than increasing abilities or changing the style of weapons, there were no emergent or interesting and unexpected ways of playing the game or ways to deviate from the path the player is set upon.
4. Interest Curves
The game primarily follows a sort of linear curve of interest. There are moments of very intense battles near the end of a level with the beginning of the levels featuring simpler battles. It essentially built linearly.
5. Enjoyment
The game was still enjoyable because the aesthetics were very well done, the mechanics were simple, and I was able to change the difficulty settings to suit my ability and actually finish the game without inordinate frustration.
