Game developers have strived to create the most realistic games possible. Not all of them, but I would say a majority of studios creating the next gen triple-A titles. Take for instance, Rockstar North’s Grand Theft Auto IV. I could not wait to get my hands on this game! Realistic characters, albeit a bit stylized, realistic remake of a real world city, realistic animations and realistic world physics. What’s not to like about a realistic game like this?
Well, for me, GTA IV was not as fun as I had hoped. Not even close to being as fun as GTA San Andreas. While playing GTA IV, I could not help but wonder why I was not enjoying the experience. It seems like I had to force myself to pick up the controller and finish the game, just to say, “yea, I beat it.” Not because the fun in the game kept calling me back. The “fun” never really started.
Of course the game was gorgeous to look at! It was amazing to be in this virtual world of Liberty City and might be the closest I’ll ever get to seeing what the real New York City actually looks like. Don’t get me wrong, the game had it’s moments of greatness, it is Rockstar North we’re talking about here. However, I feel that adding this much realism in games, actually denies me the total “immersiveness” I am looking for in a $60+ game purchase in this genre. If I wanted to enjoy realism, I wouldn’t be playing games. If I wanted to enjoy realism, I’d go find a real hot dog stand to eat at, I’d ignore my real cell phone when it rings.. annoyingly, and I’d watch my own TV of someone watching TV.
Now, this realization I had of realistic styles of games being the wrong direction to go, hit me while playing GTA IV. But it didn’t truly sink in until I put in a GTA sandbox clone in my 360, Saints Row 2. No more than 15 minutes went by before I was laughing because of this game. Just in the character creation screen alone, before I even started the single player campaign, I was laughing hysterically at this unrealistic character I was creating. I literally had tears running down my face from laughing so hard. Why? Because the character, which Volition gave an incredible amount of options to create, could not exist! There is no way someone that ugly exists in this world! It was in no way a realistic person, and it made the whole Saints Row 2 experience that much more satisfying. The side mission of throwing your character into traffic to rack up money and respect is my favorite. It was quite refreshing to switch from GTA IV to Saints Row 2, as Saints Row 2 does not take itself seriously and in turn I no longer took the sandbox game seriously as I did in GTA IV. I think that is also why I really enjoyed Crackdown, another great sandbox game, minus the “uber-realism.” Was Crackdown overlooked by critics and gamers alike because it wasn’t realistic enough? It makes me wonder.
The video below shows how much closer we are to attaining the level of realism that may be almost too real to decipher real from fake. When I first watched this, I thought I was looking at a real person. The “Image Metrics Tech Demo” shows how far the game and film industry have come in creating realistic CG characters. This is truly an amazing accomplishment Image Metrics have created and I hope they continue progressing in their technology. But the question remains, is this what the game industry needs? Is this what the gamers want? Does realism equal good quality gaming, or is realism in games killing all the fun?
The Gamer Report 