Rainy Woods
I should mention
Rainy Woods briefly while I'm on this train of thought. I saw it on the same demo disc as Heavy Rain, and I originally assumed it to be a title of similar ilk. As it turns out, Rainy Woods is more of a survival horror title, but the dark atmospheric mood seems to be shared between the two. I will write more about this game as information is released...
Heavy Rain
I first noticed this game on a demo CD from a magazine. From what I've seen (little at the minute), it looks to be another David Cage attempt at blurring the boundary line between game and film in a similar fashion to Fahrenheit. Although the game is said to be different from Fahrenheit in many ways, I expect another dark, atmospheric thriller aimed at mature gamers. Apparently, the game will also have no supernatural elements. This is something which doesn't stand out as particularly special, but as it happens, 90% + of games in existence include something "out with this world", even if it's not directly related to the protagonist, or even controllable by the gamer.
I am one of those who believe Fahrenheit was a little over-rated, but I still have high hopes for this number...
Uncharted
Ok, it's true I probably shouldn't blog about games I haven't played but I find the title Uncharted intriguing in a particular aspect. It is very far from original - in fact, as far away as possible. You could imagine a million and one game designers, or more likely, prospective game designers trying desperately to formulate new, creative, original game ideas and being repetitively rejected. Suddenly, a majorly successful (and justifiably so) 'action shooter with a few puzzle elements' surfaces. All done before.
I'm sounding bitter here and I really don't mean to, the game did receive rave reviews (but detailed the unoriginality) and if a formula works, then why change it? Too original and 'wacky' can prove disasterous financially but sadly, money is the major factor in the industry. For game design, it's who you know rather than what you know.
Like University, it's not about trying to be smart, just about regurgitating what you've been fed.... hmm, strange...
Project hand in
Unbelievable how quickly this year has gone (how often have I said that!?) but it feels awesome to finally get my project out of the way. We were given plenty of time to write it up, but I managed to shake the temptation to leave it to the last week, something I have been guilty of in the past...
