I see it too much these days, games that seem to be reaching beyond the skies and then end up feeling... Lacking. Latest being Bioshock Infinite, don't worry I still like the game, it's really good, but it could've been better. It was a really ambitious project that's been in development for quite some time, it was looking really special. However, I personally felt like it wasn't as special as it could've been, it was too much like everything else.
Bioshock Infinite not only continue on the whole "one great city lead by one great man"-thing Bioshock had it also has some of the most generic combat I've played in a long time. It didn't feel good, yes the Vigors are good for spicing it up but it wasn't that special, even if you can ride along the sky-lines with your sky-hook. When games like Tomb Raider and Far Cry 3 are coming out with excellent combat which feels fluent, natural and special the combat in Bioshock felt very stiff and generic.
Not only that, I mean that may be forgiven in a big game like this, but the combat situations show up in very scripted manners. It felt more like I was playing CoD than a Bioshock game when combat happened, which is a lot and you can't do much about it. I don't know what happened with the E3 demo from 2012 where combat seemed more like it might happen, not that it will happen regardless of your actions. It was also said some year ago that this would not happen, that it would be more like the wild west where combat may be avoided if you keep your gun down. That sounded awesome, that would've made the game anything but just another shooter, which it is but it could've been better, as stated earlier.
It's kinda ironic actually, Rapture in the original Bioshock there had already been a war that "killed" the city, yet Rapture felt a lot more alive to me than Colombia did even when I walked around in areas populated by plenty of average Joes. Bioshock had plenty scripted encounters, yes, but it was never as obvious as in Infinite. I don't know, it felt kinda phony to me, it's hard to describe or pinpoint what exactly made it that way, but it was something.
Moving on, this post is not about Bioshock Infinite specifically, but it was a good example since it's a very recent release as of now. Point is, it's just another game that has seemed really ambitious, but when you get into it you see that it's still limited the same ways as every other game. It doesn't tap into some magical power elevating it above all other games. It was ambitious, too ambitious I'd say, they obviously changed a lot from their original vision in order to sell it to the masses or some shit like that.
It's been a lot these last couple of years, first game I really noticed it in was Uncharted 3, that game had amazing stuff in it, but in the end it fell short, too many interesting ideas and not enough time to do much with any of them in the end. Once again, still a great game IMO but it was lacking compared to the previous installment. So, afterwards that I started noticing it again and again, Max Payne 3, Hitman: Absolution, Assassin's Creed 3, Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider... Great games, some were really fantastic but all seemed to fall short of true greatness.
The reason I'm talking about this is because I'm afraid for the future, I was always skeptical about Bioshock Infinite due to choices like having a two weapon limit and health regeneration (which was altered, not great but it works well) but I was still let down by it. Games that in my mind ought to be great, not only great but really stand out to be above all others in possibilities still are games like Gta V, The Last of Us and MGS V, those games are looking really fantastic and there's big potential in what they can do to break free from the stale old ways. Although after seeing what have happened before I can't be so sure anymore, I've been fooled before by amazing looking stuff only to see what hid behind it all, should we not expect developers to achieve what they set out to do? I know that gamers on the internet are some of the most cynical bastards you can find, but more and more I think the industry is validating it, how can one stay positive about ones hobby if it keeps failing to impress?
Perhaps it's because developers have gotten a habit to bite off more than they can chew, it's not been this big of a deal in the past. Uncharted 2 was a really solid game, a clear story and all throughout the game, focus was lost as they went on. That's what I think games lack today, focus, in games like Uncharted 2 or MGS 3 which are both regarded as the peak in their own respective franchises the focus is clear. They don't have a lot of extra faffing about on things that don't matter or we don't care about, they do what they wanted to do and they did it well.
I know that this post has been a bit vague, but hopefully some of you may make some sense of it, and hopefully agree with it at least a little. Until next time!
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