Does realism make a good game great?

[Antlovesabi]

Graphics continue to get better as the years go by (usually). Storylines are grasping peoples emotions and utilizing moral choices to draw players into the game (again usually). Glitches are becoming a thing of the past and all together games are more realistic in many ways. Do these new games draw you in and make you want to play them more or would you just as easily spend your hours playing games like pac man, mario, sonic or space invaders. Should get a mixed view from the different aged of gamers.

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

I don't think that realistic games are the way to go. Gaming'll lose alot of the fun it used to have, if it turns to realism.

 

[YukoValis]

Old school here and NO. As I said long ago if a game was circles and cubes it can be an awesome game. Give it a great story, flawless control and graphics don't mean anything.

 

[ma55ter_fett]

depends on the game, a photorealistic second-life does not intrest me, a photorealistic half-life could take my money.

 

[issacization]

depends how realistic.

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

Definitely not. I want my fantasy world to be as unrealistic as possible. I want the right to play cel-shaded games. We don't need realism if the setting doesn't call for it. Even things like Call of Duty don't need to be to-the-letter realistic, or else we'll just die in two hits like in Counter-Strike.

 

[Jumplion]

It entirely depends on the game and how it's trying to be depicted. Is the game detailing the horrors of war and trying to make battles suspensful while respecting the "war is hell"? Go ahead for realism.

Is the game just trying to let you blow up shit without fear of consequence? Realistic may be one way to go at it, but mostly the unrealistic side goes with that.

 

[wolfy098]

No...
just no...

 

[Pillypill]

no, well graphics wise yes (thank you 'macksheath').
But a lot of games would be made rubbish if real world physics was applied to everything.

It wouldn't even work in things like MW, 'cos you can only take one shot in real combat before you're dead or air lifted out of there. Or crippled for the rest of the mission.

 

[Antlovesabi]

Graphics yes, Storyline yes. When it comes to game mechanics i think this is the problem. Graphics do have to matter, if a new game came out and the characters were just rectangles you would complain or simply not buy it(for those who bother to read reviews)

 

[ZeroMachine]

It's all relative to the games themselves. Here's a good example:

I'm currently playing Majora's Mask. There are quite a few glitches in the game. They're minor, but they're there, and most have to do with sound issues because I'm playing it off of the Collector's Edition Gamecube version, and the game is damn near impossible to emulate perfectly.

When comparing the glitches in Majora's Mask with glitches in more modern day games, it's rather odd. Although the glitches in, say, Oblivion are probably as small or the same as the ones in Majora's Mask, they stick out WAY more.

Plus, older games, to me at least, always felt more... complete. Before I started Majora's Mask, I beat Ocarina of Time, and even though it was probably the 40th time I've beaten that game, I felt more accomplished than I did when beating games like Mass Effect, Halo 2 and 3, and even Half Life 2 Episode 2.

There are some exceptions to this, but I'd honestly say that for the most part older games are better. Is this nostalgia speaking? Well... most likely. But I stand by nostalgia. It's always been a good friend.

Now, to answer the idea of "realism making a good game great", let's again use Majora's Mask. In that case, FUCK no. If it was realistic, the Woodfall Temple would consist of an entry way and then a worship chamber, not tons of puzzles and traps and enemies. That'd make the game boring beyond belief. While in games like CoD 4, I think it could actually spare to be a bit more realistic, and it'd be more fun that way. Let's say they added a new damage system sort of like Fallout 3's, and you need to find a medic in order to shoot right again. It'd be cool.

Now, if you're talking graphics instead of gameplay, well... usually realism makes things harder to recognize, while games with a stylized art form are more easily remembered. I'm never going to remember what 99% of the soldiers I fought with in CoD 4 look like, but I'll always remember Sgt. Johnson's. So, I'd say it takes a mix. Be realistic, but make sure you put your own spin on it.

 

[Sonicron]

Only in respect to graphics, and even in that sector realistic graphics are an acceptable sacrifice. In games like FarCry and the likes realistic graphics work, but only then (imo).
Concerning gameplay and story, I want games to be as UNREALISTIC AS POSSIBLE. I spend every day in a very real world, as do we all, and seeing how I play games to take a breather from that exhausting everyday drudgery, any games which claim to be super-realistic won't even grab my attention.

 

[LivingInStereo]

Well I agree that realism works but generally, at least for me, I find that un- or hyper-realism is more memorable, and that I'm more likely to come back to it.

 

[Antlovesabi]

I can't say I want a game to be as unrealistic as possible because i honestly don't. A mixture is always nice and to me the storyline matters in any game, whether it is a FPS, a RPG or anything else. I can understand what ZeroMachine is saying when he says older games seemed more complete, but they were realistic in there day. Games are always gonna get more realistic until a time when they are life-like.

 

[Antlovesabi]

I would post some images of models i have made but the only one i am proud of is the computer tower (my avatar)

 

[Flour]

Realism makes a good game worse.

The closer something comes to being realistic, the more people start to compare it to real life(yes, even when shooting aliens). So the second the audio falls out of synch, the player gets stuck behind a rock or when it's impossible to jump over something, the game will be worse than when it uses less realism.

 

[A Weary Exile]

I prefer games with a unique art style (Bioshock, Fallout 3, Okami, FFX) because realism is very boring to me, which is why Borderlands caught my attention over all the other FPSs coming out this year (That and all the other cool shit on that game ).

 

[Stoic raptor]

It depends on the game.