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I can't say that I've ever bought a game witout being aware of what it's about, or what type of game it is, but I have done this with films, in my time.
Although I knew all about From Dusk Till Dawn, many were surprised that it had a sudden change in style. From a road movie, to a vampire flick, in just a matter of minutes in the middle of the film. Could a game get away with doing the same thing, and would you be annoyed if it did?
Imagine that you bought a game, believing it to be a racing game. You play for a few days, win some races, and are starting to get really good at this. What would you do, if after winning your next race, you found yourself thrown into an action/adventure game? An FMV sequence shows you winning the race, but an explosion goes off, and all of your team are dead, so you go about investigating their deaths or something.
What if you were happily passing the days in a Harvest Moon type game, when a developer comes along and tries to buy your land off you for a football stadium, and you suddenly find yourself wrapped up in a football management sim?
Cross genre games aren't anything new, games that combine fighting and adventure, or driving sections mixed with a first person shooter, but has a game ever just changed direction completely?
I'm sure if the second part was better than the first, it would be a great success, just as long as you liked the genre that the game had suddenly become.
It would be great if it could surprise a few people, as there really aren't enough surprises in gaming. Any plot twists tend to be given away by evil reviewers, so no doubt something like this would be given away too, but still, it would be interesting to play.
With most adventure, RPG and FPS games (for instance) we basically know what we're going to get - the only surprises stem from the storyline/plot.
I think this chameleon shift of genre or style could work - it would certainly be a surprise when it happened out-of-the-blue - although I suspect many gamers would moan if the playing style shifted too drastically to a genre which they don't like.
Overall though I like it: there you are merrily playing a certain game when SUDDENLY there is an unexpected and dramatic turn of events.
I can't say that I've ever bought a game witout being aware of what it's about, or what type of game it is, but I have done this with films, in my time.
Although I knew all about From Dusk Till Dawn, many were surprised that it had a sudden change in style. From a road movie, to a vampire flick, in just a matter of minutes in the middle of the film. Could a game get away with doing the same thing, and would you be annoyed if it did?
Imagine that you bought a game, believing it to be a racing game. You play for a few days, win some races, and are starting to get really good at this. What would you do, if after winning your next race, you found yourself thrown into an action/adventure game? An FMV sequence shows you winning the race, but an explosion goes off, and all of your team are dead, so you go about investigating their deaths or something.
What if you were happily passing the days in a Harvest Moon type game, when a developer comes along and tries to buy your land off you for a football stadium, and you suddenly find yourself wrapped up in a football management sim?
Cross genre games aren't anything new, games that combine fighting and adventure, or driving sections mixed with a first person shooter, but has a game ever just changed direction completely?
I'm sure if the second part was better than the first, it would be a great success, just as long as you liked the genre that the game had suddenly become.
It would be great if it could surprise a few people, as there really aren't enough surprises in gaming. Any plot twists tend to be given away by evil reviewers, so no doubt something like this would be given away too, but still, it would be interesting to play.