Okay i'm not here to complain about the stream of generic FPS' that have plagued the gaming industry since Halo, it's been said way too many times. No, i'm here to talk about the other genres, you know, not FPS, shocking right?
I will be the first to say I LOVE most gaming genres; RTS, Sims (the genre not the game, though i love the game to) and RPGs are my favorite, with only JRPGs standing out as a genre i just dont get along with. however i have started to notice a trend with the 2 former of this list, especially Sim games.
like i said i love the sims after buying sims 3 but though sim games have many sub-genres, the tend to be a bit samey. for anyone not following what i'm trying to say i'll give an example, civcity rome and Imperium romanum. anyone who has played one of these games has played the other. how do i know this? because they are the same game. no honestly the diffecnces is a much shorter list that the similarities with minor GUI and aesthetics differences being the entire list.
while as an isolated case this would be an minor gripe but it isnt an isolated case, i can no longer play sim builders as they are all the samegame with a differnt theme. anno 1404 and patrician IV, all the total war games, sim city 4 and citiesXL. all of these games feel the same and after you have played one you have played the others. and this problem extends to other genres. when was the last time you saw a truely original RPG, on without the warrior, mage and elf classes that has the unmistakable air of WOW and Tolkien about it. okay i hear that mass effect has mixed things up a bit but it seems to me to be just another RPG, only this time in space. and as for RTS i have only this to say of persistantly my favorite genre: Rome Total War was the last original RTS. i know starcraft fanboys/girls will hate on me but its just command and conquer in a different skin. i dont mean to be disrespeectful, i know there are people who love these games but saying they are bland and samey doesnt nessisarily mean they are bad, just that the genre needs an overhall.
This is a problem with non FPS genres being this stale and repatative, how can we ever expect to topple the wave of medicre FPS? i know the industry hates to take risks but soon enough people will demand something else and at this point we dont have that something else to turn to.
okay i know reading all that must have been aweful and depressing so i am now going to shed a few rays of hope for these genres by being a total fanboy for one game from each genre. First RTS, i have to hope that games like company of heroes are getting recognised for the great work they are doing, this game turned me back onto the genre and restored my hope, and its refreshing to see a non-FPS world war 2 game. my choise sim game is not the sims but a lesser publisised game, the guild 2 which focuses more on the devlopment of an economy than building or personality altering like the sims or simcity. and as for RPGs i think mass effect is as good as it gets at the moment, and honestly RPGs are the most diverse of all the gaming genres out there.
im aware that nobody is likely to read this but i am trying to adress a problem in this industry. thank you if you did read to the end and i want to hear all your thoughts on this issue.
I will be the first to say I LOVE most gaming genres; RTS, Sims (the genre not the game, though i love the game to) and RPGs are my favorite, with only JRPGs standing out as a genre i just dont get along with. however i have started to notice a trend with the 2 former of this list, especially Sim games.
like i said i love the sims after buying sims 3 but though sim games have many sub-genres, the tend to be a bit samey. for anyone not following what i'm trying to say i'll give an example, civcity rome and Imperium romanum. anyone who has played one of these games has played the other. how do i know this? because they are the same game. no honestly the diffecnces is a much shorter list that the similarities with minor GUI and aesthetics differences being the entire list.
while as an isolated case this would be an minor gripe but it isnt an isolated case, i can no longer play sim builders as they are all the samegame with a differnt theme. anno 1404 and patrician IV, all the total war games, sim city 4 and citiesXL. all of these games feel the same and after you have played one you have played the others. and this problem extends to other genres. when was the last time you saw a truely original RPG, on without the warrior, mage and elf classes that has the unmistakable air of WOW and Tolkien about it. okay i hear that mass effect has mixed things up a bit but it seems to me to be just another RPG, only this time in space. and as for RTS i have only this to say of persistantly my favorite genre: Rome Total War was the last original RTS. i know starcraft fanboys/girls will hate on me but its just command and conquer in a different skin. i dont mean to be disrespeectful, i know there are people who love these games but saying they are bland and samey doesnt nessisarily mean they are bad, just that the genre needs an overhall.
This is a problem with non FPS genres being this stale and repatative, how can we ever expect to topple the wave of medicre FPS? i know the industry hates to take risks but soon enough people will demand something else and at this point we dont have that something else to turn to.
okay i know reading all that must have been aweful and depressing so i am now going to shed a few rays of hope for these genres by being a total fanboy for one game from each genre. First RTS, i have to hope that games like company of heroes are getting recognised for the great work they are doing, this game turned me back onto the genre and restored my hope, and its refreshing to see a non-FPS world war 2 game. my choise sim game is not the sims but a lesser publisised game, the guild 2 which focuses more on the devlopment of an economy than building or personality altering like the sims or simcity. and as for RPGs i think mass effect is as good as it gets at the moment, and honestly RPGs are the most diverse of all the gaming genres out there.
im aware that nobody is likely to read this but i am trying to adress a problem in this industry. thank you if you did read to the end and i want to hear all your thoughts on this issue.