Originality is the spice of life. If not for outside-the-box thinking and some brave person taking chances, we would never have gained some of our greatest societal treasures. Progressive thinking is what allowed luminaries like Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Edison, and Albert Einstein to open up the mysteries of the world and pave the way for the rest of us following them to lead a more enlightened existence. Without originality, we would not have wacky games like Katamari Damacy, epic games like Final Fantasy, or timeless games like Tetris. Many people are currently waging war against gaming companies for taking the safe route and sticking to tried and true formulas that have proven to be successful. To a degree, those that fight that battle are right. Taken to an absurd degree, repetition can become stale and boring, but given the right circumstances, the gaming industry can build on previous game experiences while also exploring new territories.
If you have been keeping up with all the E3 hubbub circulating around the lazy river that is the Internet, you should know that sequels are the cat’s pajamas this year. Practically every Nintendo announcement was affiliated with Mario, Metroid, or sticking your finger in a clamp. Okay, maybe that last one isn’t a sequel, but it is pretty terrible. Sony’s most exciting announcements dealt with God of War 3 and Uncharted 2. Even Microsoft’s focus on the gaming realm was on Rock Band: Beatles, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Gears of War 3 and a previously unannounced Halo title called Halo: Reach. Add Assassin’s Creed 2, Bioshock 2, Modern Warfare 2, and Left 4 Dead 2 to that list and you can see that now, more than ever, sequels are the bread and butter of the gaming industry. I have to admit, my initial kneejerk reaction was to swear profusely at my computer screen. “Can’t they do anything original these days?” I thought. To a degree, I understand and still hold part of that sentiment still. However, I think it’s important to remember the focus of most of these titles: fun video games.
Now, I am not ashamed to say that on occasion I am “that guy” when it comes to video game narrative. If a game attempts to present me with a worthwhile story, I will try to harvest every ounce of literary nectar out of it until it has shriveled away into nothingness. Sometimes though, I have to remind myself that story is not the only reason that I play videogames. I didn’t start playing the NES as a child for deep, emotionally involved narrative; I was jumping on turtles and saving a princess. While some of the original games that spawned these major sequels had great stories, a lot of them were just fun video games. And unlike books and movies, video games are in the unique position of being able to incrementally improve on previous experiences efficiently. For every Call of Duty game that is made, something is upgraded. Every Halo brought about new weapons and more solid gameplay. In a sequel, the story may lose its way, but that doesn’t mean that the game gives up the ability to be good on the gameplay front.
Sometimes good games have terrible stories (I’m looking at you Gears of War) and sometimes they have great stories. However, if the Bioshock sequel rolls a critical failure and ends up pitting Splicers against the forces of an anthropomorphized race of sea turtles (actually, that sounds kind of cool), it doesn’t make the original Bioshock any less awesome. If worse comes to worst: you could really make an impact by just ignoring the sequels altogether. I really do crave something new and exciting, and I think with the number of emerging indie studios and the resurrection of simplistic retro franchises, we really will get something special soon that will be a watershed in gaming history. In the meantime though, I shall hold out my hope and simply try to enjoy these games for whatever they offer to me. Focusing on what could’ve been may ruin the joy that we currently have available to us.
PlanetXbox360.com has posted this editorial, written by a reader, for pure entertainment purpose; the website does not agree/disagree with anything said in it.
