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I mean, how unoriginal can you get? With a few exceptions, every single action adventure game available is really, really dull. It seems to be the universal genre, especially for shoddy ports. "We have just aquired the rights to one of the best films in recent history, LOTR. Let's make a shoddy Action Adventure game!". Urgh...
I myself own precisely none of such titles. Why? Because they're all the same. I've never played a single action adventure game that was either original or that I liked, and that includes Tomb Raider. All you do is run around in a third person view, solving "puzzles" while shooting things that look vaguely dangerous, often for no apparent reason. Now, in premise it sounds OK-ish, but in practise the gameplay is often dull and samey. The AA genre offers little scope for veriety, like so many others.
Now, I'm not critisising third person games in general, because they're not all like that. I absolutely love Silent Hill 2, GTA3, and etc... Even games like Fur Fighters which come very close to AA I really like, partly because of the good old fashioned platformy bits in, the puzzles which are quite difficult at times and the ace control systems.
So why is it then that almost every film conversion you EVER see is an action adventure? How many film conversions have there been? How many can you think of that haven't been action adventures? Off the top of my head I can think of 2, possibly 3. Ptiful. Surely developers must realise people hate these games? It seems to me like they have a generic film->game engine and they just replace the models.
Here's my view: Films are filmed third person. You hardly ever see a film "through the eyes of the protagonist". You are always an observer, as you are in many action adventures. Secondly, the only films that seem to be worthy of conversion are action flicks. Obviously there are exceptions, but just about all of them are. Thirdly, action adventures are the easiest to complete. They often require minimal effort and (most importantly) thought to make. All you do is slap in a lead, bolster a flimsy plot (often to go with the film), make a few levels with "keys" and flog it to the guillible public. Simple. Of course, it doesn't need to be good because it will probably ride on the success of the film. Even if it isn't it doesn't matter, because it cost you less than the price of a curry to make.
Now, you seem like I'm just targetting films here. Well, I am, but I might as well expand on this to keep Gaz happy.
Take another hate of mine: Tomb Raider. What the hell ever made these games a success? (Breasts). Well, OK, but that can't be all of it, but it must be! Puzzles are standard push-button affair, the fighting is... well, point and shoot (steady...) There is absolutely nothing in the game that makes it stand out (now whether there's something on the lead that stands out is a different matter). I don't know, maybe I'm just going crazy but I SWEAR if I see another license wasted on an action adventure I will probably hurt someone.
I mean, how unoriginal can you get? With a few exceptions, every single action adventure game available is really, really dull. It seems to be the universal genre, especially for shoddy ports. "We have just aquired the rights to one of the best films in recent history, LOTR. Let's make a shoddy Action Adventure game!". Urgh...
I myself own precisely none of such titles. Why? Because they're all the same. I've never played a single action adventure game that was either original or that I liked, and that includes Tomb Raider. All you do is run around in a third person view, solving "puzzles" while shooting things that look vaguely dangerous, often for no apparent reason. Now, in premise it sounds OK-ish, but in practise the gameplay is often dull and samey. The AA genre offers little scope for veriety, like so many others.
Now, I'm not critisising third person games in general, because they're not all like that. I absolutely love Silent Hill 2, GTA3, and etc... Even games like Fur Fighters which come very close to AA I really like, partly because of the good old fashioned platformy bits in, the puzzles which are quite difficult at times and the ace control systems.
So why is it then that almost every film conversion you EVER see is an action adventure? How many film conversions have there been? How many can you think of that haven't been action adventures? Off the top of my head I can think of 2, possibly 3. Ptiful. Surely developers must realise people hate these games? It seems to me like they have a generic film->game engine and they just replace the models.
Here's my view: Films are filmed third person. You hardly ever see a film "through the eyes of the protagonist". You are always an observer, as you are in many action adventures. Secondly, the only films that seem to be worthy of conversion are action flicks. Obviously there are exceptions, but just about all of them are. Thirdly, action adventures are the easiest to complete. They often require minimal effort and (most importantly) thought to make. All you do is slap in a lead, bolster a flimsy plot (often to go with the film), make a few levels with "keys" and flog it to the guillible public. Simple. Of course, it doesn't need to be good because it will probably ride on the success of the film. Even if it isn't it doesn't matter, because it cost you less than the price of a curry to make.
Now, you seem like I'm just targetting films here. Well, I am, but I might as well expand on this to keep Gaz happy.
Take another hate of mine: Tomb Raider. What the hell ever made these games a success? (Breasts). Well, OK, but that can't be all of it, but it must be! Puzzles are standard push-button affair, the fighting is... well, point and shoot (steady...) There is absolutely nothing in the game that makes it stand out (now whether there's something on the lead that stands out is a different matter). I don't know, maybe I'm just going crazy but I SWEAR if I see another license wasted on an action adventure I will probably hurt someone.