Wayne-Assessment 1 : Researching games

Task 1-Review on Two Games

                             

Dying Light

I personally think dying light is a 9/10 for a zombie game. Reasons behind this are because you have the ability to freely  explore the map this is prior to the ability to parkour, kill zombies in unique ways and use special mods to make your weapons that extra bit more violent. With this they are the zombies the come in different shapes and sizes and have different attributes from slow and extremely strong too fast and weak however some are in-between.

Another thing about this game is that the developers (Techland) are behind the game 100% they produce downloadable content very frequently.

Dying Light, Reviews

Video game

     

     7/10Eurogamer                8.5/10IGN.com            7/10GameSpot

Tom Hoggins- (Video Games Editor)

In a zombie apocalypse, those who can run hold the power. This is the concept Techland’s Dying Light explores, casting you as a parkour-adept courier in the quarantined city of Harran. Its first-person free-running recalls Mirror’s Edge, but it is grimier, clumsier. These are desperate scrambles over ramshackle rooftops, not graceful sprints across a pristine city. A seething mass of undead shuffle around at street level below you as you hoik yourself up telegraph poles and leap between abandoned cars and buses.

Review by:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/video-game-reviews/11422899/Dying-Light-review.html

Borderlands 2

Borderlands 2 is just one of them SHOOT N` LOOT games, but unlike other franchise this game delivers a wide range of shooting, killing, looting and farming. You can let your friends do all work or be the Gunsearker (Salvador) and control the field with his awesome ability to wield two guns, if you are a well-known player with borderlands 2 you will know that Salvador can literally become god, with the right skill tree you take down bosses in seconds literally.

As seen in this video

Review by http://venturebeat.com/

Borderlands 2 is a huge game. Completing the story while doing only a fraction of the side quests takes about 30 hours. Now, add to that all of those extra missions, and you have an even longer experience. If you still crave more, you can then replay the game with four classes, each with three different skill trees that alter their styles.

But I’m not done! After you beat the game, you unlock a harder difficulty to challenge your decked-out character. Simply put, I’m not good enough at math to properly calculate exactly how many hours you could spend playing Borderlands 

Borderlands 2, Reviews

Video game

     
     
     9/10Eurogamer                     9/10IGN.com                    7/10GameSpot     

1.      FPS

2.      Strategy

3.      RPG

4.      Platformer

5.      Simulation

6.      Adventure

7.      Action

8.      Beat 'em Up

9.      MMO

10.    Racing

Game Genre	Genre description	Examples
FPS	The First Person Shooter genre literally stands for a genre where the player views the game in first person and shoots enemies with an arsenal of guns and ranged weapons. Examples include Wolfenstein, Doom, Goldeneye 64, Call of Duty, and Team Fortress 2. The genre does not often cross with other genres, but the story line segments of FPS games can sometimes have puzzle and platforming elements, like in Half-Life 2, and some FPS games make minimal use of combat and instead stick to Stealth and Puzzling, such as in Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. FPS has also crossbred with Adventure games, like in the Elder Scrolls series, and the recent Fallout 3.	Call of Duty is back, redefining war like you've never experienced before. Building on the Call of Duty 4®: Modern Warfare engine, Call of Duty: World at War immerses players into the most gritty and chaotic WWII combat ever experienced. Player’s band together to survive the most harrowing and climactic battles that led to the demise of the Axis powers on the European and Pacific fronts. The title offers an uncensored experience with unique enemies and combat variety, including Kamikaze fighters, ambush attacks, Banzai charges and cunning cover tactics, as well as explosive on-screen action through the all new four-player cooperative campaign. The addictive competitive multiplayer has also been enhanced with new infantry and vehicle-based action, a higher level cap, more weapons, and a host of new Perks, maps and challenges.
RPG	At its most basic definition, a role-playing game (often shortened to "RPG") is a game that lets you take on the role of a character (or characters) in a fictional setting.	EPIC FANTASY REBORN  The next chapter in the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls saga arrives from the makers of the 2006 and 2008 Games of the Year, Bethesda Game Studios. Skyrim re-imagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose. LIVE ANOTHER LIFE, IN ANOTHER WORLDPlay any type of character you can imagine, and do whatever you want; the legendary freedom of choice, storytelling, and adventure of The Elder Scrolls is realized like never before. YOU ARE WHAT YOU PLAYChoose from hundreds of weapons, spells, and abilities. The new character system allows you to play any way you want and define yourself through your actions. DRAGON RETURNBattle ancient dragons like you’ve never seen. As Dragon born, learn their secrets and harness their power for yourself.
Strategy	A broad-term genre for games that have militaristic/strategic combat elements crucial to victory. Some examples include Advance Wars, Steel Panthers, and Sid Meier's Civilization.	Build railroads in order to connect cities, tunnels and bridges. New railways are cheap when laid across bare fields, but can be expensive when demolishing forests, villages and other existing structures.  Manage increasing traffic by constructing, switches, sidings and spurs so that multiple trains can run without delays, at the same time.  Stay accident-free by precisely controlling trains during crucial moments, using pause for planning (you can build railways and schedule trains while on pause).  Explore the game in different game modes: in story mode (5-10 minutes), in random mode (15-20 minutes – the level looks and develops differently every time you launch) or in sandbox-like regime (can be turned on for both story and random modes. It allows to play without time and money limits).  Discover 15 types of trains – from early steam-powered locomotives to modern high-speed trains, driving 18 types of cars – from old-time passenger cars to hoppers and cisterns and to military-use tank and gun platforms.
Platformer	A plat former, at its core, involves moving a character in a 2D or 3D environment to overcome impeding obstacles with physical movement, such as running and jumping over a cliff to a safe area on the other side. The most basic form of combat in plat forming games are squashing or punching the enemy, though the earliest forms of plat forming games had no attacking, just the ability to dodge. Plat formers stem directly from the early arcade games like Donkey Kong. A few examples of plat formers include Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, Prince of Persia, Jack & Dexter, Psychonauts, and Little Big Planet. Very rarely Platformers will take an isometric view as opposed to side-scrolling 2D or all encompassing 3D, but some examples include Knight Lore, Equinox, Sonic 3D Blast, and Little Big Adventure.	Take control of five cute, mystical creatures of miniature proportions called CreaVures. CreaVures always travel in pairs, and they must use their special abilities to help each other solve interesting platforming puzzles. Set in a world with beautiful phosphorescent colors, these tiny creatures journey to save their homeland and restore light to their dying forest.
Simulation	Sim is a shortening of the word Simulation, and that's exactly what Sim games are. They simulate an experience that people either do in real life (or are unable to do in real life due to limitations) that creates a unique experience. There are some Sim games where you control a person and try to find love amidst a slew of possible candidates (dating sims), try and save lives on the operating table (Trauma Center), there are sims where you create and maintain a farm (Harvest Moon), there are Sims where you create and manage entire civilizations (Sim City, Civilization IV), amusement attractions (Zoo Tycoon, Roller coaster Tycoon), and even galaxies (Spore). Some Sims even let you play God (The Sims, Black and White). It's clearly a broad term, but easily identifiable. Flight games are a type of Sim, but have had enough individual success to warrant it's own genre. Sims often find elements of other games in their gameplay like RTS.	Gameplay-wise, Goat Simulator is all about causing as much destruction as you possibly can as a goat. It has been compared to an old-school skating game, except instead of being a skater, you're a goat, and instead of doing tricks, you wreck stuff. Destroy things with style, such as doing a back-flip while head-butting a bucket through a window, and you'll earn even more points! Or you could just give Steam Workshop a spin and create your own goats, levels, missions, and more! When it comes to goats, not even the sky is the limit, as you can probably just bug through it and crash the game.
Adventure	Another very basic genre, Adventure is in its purest form a game that takes you on a journey with emphasis on locales and excitement and usually encourage freedom of exploration. The most basic examples of adventure games include point and click games like Full Throttle, Shadow gate, and King's Quest. Modern examples of Adventure games include Grand Theft Auto, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda and many RPGs such as Mass Effect or Final Fantasy.	Konami Digital Entertainment continues forth the ‘METAL GEAR SOLID V Experience’ with the latest chapter, METAL GEAR SOLID V: The Phantom Pain. Ushering in a new era for the franchise with cutting-edge technology powered by the Fox Engine, MGSV: The Phantom Pain will provide players a first-rate gaming experience as they are offered tactical freedom to carry out open-world missions.
Action	Perhaps the most basic of genres, Action is practically all encompassing, thus, it should be applied to games whose main focus is Action. Good examples of Action games include Devil May Cry and God of War. Not to be confused with Fighting or Combat.	Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) will expand upon the team-based action gameplay that it pioneered when it was launched 14 years ago. CS: GO features new maps, characters, and weapons and delivers updated versions of the classic CS content (deduct, etc.). In addition, CS: GO will introduce new gameplay modes, matchmaking, leader boards, and more. "Counter-Strike took the gaming industry by surprise when the unlikely MOD became the most played online PC action game in the world almost immediately after its release in August 1999," said Doug Lombardi at Valve. "For the past 12 years, it has continued to be one of the most-played games in the world, headline competitive gaming tournaments and selling over 25 million units worldwide across the franchise. CS: GO promises to expand on CS' award-winning gameplay and deliver it to gamers on the PC as well as the next gen consoles and the Mac."
Beat `em up	A Beat 'Me Up is a sub-class plat former, where any element of actual plat forming is removed and the player literally beats their way through a level. A Beat 'Me Up is as if a fighting game had a a stage roughly 15-30 times as long as a fighting game stage, and up to 20 opponents at once, except all those opponents were much weaker than you. An arcade favorite genre of the 90's, notable examples include Double Dragon, Final Fight, Streets of Rage, Yakuza, God Hand, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. Konami made a slew of excellent Beat 'Em Ups in the late 80's early 90's.	Street Fighter® IV brings the legendary fighting series back to its roots by taking the beloved fighting moves and techniques of the original Street Fighter® II, and infusing them with Capcom's latest advancements in next generation technology to create a truly extraordinary experience that will re-introduce the world to the time-honored art of virtual martial arts. Everything that made the legendary Street Fighter II a hit in the arcades, living rooms and dormitories across the globe has been brought back in Street Fighter IV. Players can play their favourite classic characters, such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Guile, along with new characters, including Crimson Viper, Abel, El Fuerte, and Rufus. Characters and environments are rendered in stylized 3D, while the game is played in the classic Street Fighter 2D perspective with additional 3D camera flourishes. Six-button controls for the game return, with a host of new special moves and features integrated into the gameplay system. Street Fighter IV brings a brand new fighting game to fans the world over.
MMO	Stands for Massively Multiplayer Online. While most modern games are playable online, a MMO constitutes that online gameplay is the focus of the game, and that hundreds, thousands, even millions of users can interact with each other in a real-time space (theoretically). Very popular to mix with the RPG genre. Notable examples include World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI,Everquest, Monster Hunter, and EVE Online.	H1Z1 is currently in Early Access on Steam. With a fully transparent approach to game design and development here at Daybreak Games, we want to transform the way our players interact and participate with our games. H1Z1 Early Access is your chance to experience and make a difference in H1Z1 as it evolves throughout the development process.  The H1Z1 development team will continue to create new features and may make significant changes based on the needs of the game. Those who choose to purchase Early Access should anticipate an evolving feature set, bugs, incomplete content, missing features, and potentially game breaking issues. Early Access is designed for those wishing to support the ongoing development of H1Z1 and be a part of shaping its future. Enter a world that has been overrun by zombies and fellow survivors since the H1Z1 virus outbreak. Fight for your life against the infected and against the brutality of others as you attempt to live and see another day. Every moment is borrowed time with one question to answer… Will You Survive?
Racing	This genre simply implies that the main object of the game is to race a determined number of opponents to the finish. The most general differentiation in racing games is the one between racing simulations, which try to duplicate reality as accurately as possible both in terms of physics and in terms of the race track setting, for example GT Legends, iRacing and rFactor, and arcade/arcade-ish racing games, which place realism second to the often fantastic setting and a gameplay that is easy to understand for new players. Arcade racing games are of great variety, ranging from cartoonish kart racing games, like the Mario Kart series, to action-heavy racing in a semi-realistic setting, like the Burnout and Need For Speed series, to futuristic high speed racing, most notably the F-Zero and Wipeout series, to various kinds of ground, water or air vehicle racing. Crossovers with sports games possible, for example in snowboarding games like the SSXseries.	Strap in, gun your engine and go full throttle into the most turbocharged, hi-octane combat racing game to hit Steam. From the developers behind the epic Midnight Club series, Carnage Racing combines seat-of-the-pants driving, tricks and stunts with explosive vehicle combat in a no-holds-barred race for the chequered flag. Take on the rest of the world with Carnage Racing’s exhilarating 8-way real-time multiplayer mode and show them who really rules the road. Carnage Racing is a high-stakes game with one aim - take out your opponents, earn cash and buy upgrades that’ll power you to global victory. Get ready for the race of your life.

Task 2-Good the Bad and the Ugly in Computer Games

Good that Computer gaming brings:

• Reaction Time improves
• Eye sight improves
• Positive Emotions    
• Engaging
• Feeling Accomplished
• Multitasking, simultaneous tracking and managing multiple objectives
• Planning, resource management and logistics 
• Problem solving and logic
• Hand-eye coordination, fine motor and spatial skills

The Bad about computer Gaming:

• Anti-Social
• Addictive
• Forgetting things
• Missing Deadlines
• Muscle Pain
• Seizures
• Obesity
• Aggressive behavior
• Poor grades in school
• Lack of vitamin D
• Attention problems
• Sleep deprivation

Psychological effects of computer gaming on individuals and society:                                             

• High Score Listing-High score listings were used in earlier games to make players feel superior and the best at a particular game. In fact there is a documentary type movie devoted to the obsession with getting the world record in the early version of the Donkey Kong Game. The movie called “King of Kong: A fistful of quarters” shows the emotional struggle of players competing against each other to beat the record. Some of the behavior is indeed very strange and it is apparent that the high score listing makes the player think and act differently!

• Competitive-Friendly online competition can boost social skills and create a number of potential associates when people find a common interest whilst taking part in competitive gaming. The competitive element helps players test each other in ways that may help them work together in online or offline projects in the future. competitive gaming also has a negative impact on some individuals. Research by the American Psychological Association suggests that a small percentage of gamers demonstrate aggressive behavior when taking part in highly competitive games.

• Peer Pressure- Peer pressure is something that is very relevant in the world of teenage gamers whose need to have the latest and greatest platforms and titles drives sales in the games industry. Games console designers normally release around Christmas to ensure they maximize sales around the period when people have most money to spend. The pressure to have the latest console is driven by peer pressure and puts pressure on parents to buy the latest gaming equipment and games. Intelligent advertising campaigns are used by games companies to target people of all ages to see the latest games development as a must have.

• Educational Value-The research shows that video games have helped players increase their language skills, basic Maths skills, basic reading skills as well as their social skills. Video games have been used to train children who were severely handicapped to communicate successfully. Video games have also been used to train children with attention deficit disorder to improve their thinking skills. This research shows that although some may say that games have a negative effect on young people’s education they can also have positive impacts and educational value if used correctly. The impact on society will only change over time as games are used more and more for educational purposes.

• Expectations-When playing games, gamers have certain expectations from the platforms that they play on and the titles that they play. As technology has improved and games have developed into a more realistic 3D experience gamers expectations have also increased. If we compare a games series like FIFA the expectations of gamers has increased with the release of every new title in terms of graphics and audio quality as well as play-ability.

• Leveling-Leveling up in games is a smart move from games designers. Players are more immersed in gameplay when they have short and long term challenges and are awarded accordingly when achieving these during gameplay. This shows that players spend more time playing games due to the reward system that is embedded in the gameplay. Mechanics like these award systems and constant levelling up within a game engross players in a game and take them on an endless journey were they want to improve continuously within the game. This makes the player think and feel that they are part of the game and they take on the role of the main character.

• Fun-Most casual gamers play for fun. This is a plain and simple fact! The enjoyment achieved by playing games helps players escape reality and become immersed in a fantasy world where they can act out the life of the main character of the game.This shows that game designers do consider the emotions of gamers when designing the game and one of the key emotions to target is player fun. No matter how much bad press gaming gets in terms of promoting negative emotions it is very clear that one of the key psychological factors that drive gamers is to experience fun!

• Effects of sound-The use of sound in video games does a lot to immerse the player in the gameplay. Sounds within the game are used to re-enforce the players positive and negative thoughts about their performance in the game.They state that sounds are embedded into the game to “match the motion” of the surrounding weather conditions and moving clouds. Using sounds like this makes the player become more immersed as the sounds and visuals work together to make the game seem as realistic as possible.

Task 3-Game sketch

The graphics in this game are designed to look like a Cell-shaded game. The platforms are still 2D images which you have to try and get across before you can move onto the next level along the way there will be gold stars which are (optional) however if you don`t collect these the further levels and the end boss will be harder. Following this there will also be ammo pick-ups which you will need to kill the enemies there a generous amount of these so you should not have to worry about running low on ammo when the enemies has 1% health. 

As you proceed each level will begin to really test your skills however after playing for 6 hours a day you should not find this very hard. I have chosen to make this game a this game a adventure/strategy because these are very simple, popular and addicting games also they have sold millions of units which therefor would enable me to have enough to make either part 2 to this game or create a completely new project.

Task 4-Developing the Game sketch

The main character (Matt) is a shop keeper in Parrot Island one day his average 9 hour shift had made a change for the worse, instead of walking into his shop he fell into a portal which was discreetly disguised as his shop door. The next thing Matt new was he had awoken up on another island which seem to be Parrot Island except it looked at little bit different, all his friends and family were being ordered around by Sharks... from then on he knew the local shop keepers time had come to become a hero.  

Matt has got to complete each level of the shark infested Parrot Island using only his cunning skill and his revolver that his dad had given him, he would need to scavenge for bullets through out each level and out-smart the sharks, defeat their corrupted leader and free his friends, family and the local citizens of Parrot Island.