Games Have Attitude

It's been more years than I would like to admit. Hanging out with my friends, hacking on an old Packard Bell trying to get shareware games to work. I don't know whether it was a good thing or not, seeing as I wasted a lot of time on this one, but we got Doom to work. What made me think of this was an announcement at IGN about Doom 4 being in the works. Now I know Doom 3 caused quite a stir, but the spoon really didn't get into the cup with me. It was an excellent first person shooter, but something was missing.

Doom was an incredible game. Among the best FPS's ever made, and still to me a better game than most released today. Now I am far from a retro-only gamer, but there is just something to those old games that is lacking in most games today, and I think it is the attitude of the game. The face of the character said it all, especially when he picks up a chain saw. I know there is a story behind this game, but the attitude of, “I'm just here to kill something” would have been enough and is more or less the central theme.

I have not spent the time on the Ultima series that they deserve, but I have been impressed by everything I have seen of them. Ultima 7 especially, was the Curious George of video games. I don't think I got anything right in that game, and I had a blast. “Oh, a cannon, I should wait until the guard walks in front of it to see if its loaded.” It was as if everything in that game was just crying out to me, “go ahead, touch it, you know you want to.” Mischief was afoot, and the only thing that kept me from finishing that game were the glitches.

Finally, I want to touch on the JRPG scene of the SNES era. Some of the most brilliant story-based rpg's came from this genre. They were able to add that kooky attitude and still deliver a solid story. Final Fantasy 3(6) and Chrono Trigger were incredible and overshadowed a lot of other good games such as Lufia 2 that carried this feel.

I could go on for a while talking about Contra and Double Dragon and how the presentation just came across so well. Or how much fun I had playing River City Ransom with a friend, but hey, it has to end somewhere. The attitude of a game is an important concept. Attitudes and eccentrics make it easier to get into a character early on in the game. An attitude has been the driving force behind many games, past and present. Attitude might not be the most important concept in game design, but it can certainly add a pleasant flavor to the game.