Intelligent videogame design.

I was just thinking of what would make a good blog topic today, when I stumbled upon this Penny-Arcade webcomic that pretty accurately sums up what I think of the way videogames are being made. Go ahead, click in the link and check it out, I'll wait.

Back? Great.

Now that you've seen the webcomic, let's get to the topic of discussion. I'm not sure if it's nostalgia talking, but for some reason, not a lot of games nowadays have something to back them up after the snazzy graphics.

But rather than going about bashing things, I'll take the positive approach. Let's go and take a look at the games which have shown more than their fair share of intelligent design, and story that extends to beyond pretty graphics.

Gameplay & Experience

In terms of gameplay, few people can resist the experimental, and highly immersive world of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, the latest in the MGS series. The game excels in the field of gameplay and user experience, pushing the envelope of immersiveness. Aside from running around and sneaking, there's a host of other actions that Snake can do, like hanging off ledges, switching camouflage, carrying bodies around, engaging in close quarters combat and hunting for food. The beauty of Metal Gear is that it's one of those games that really takes the player and makes you forget that you're holding a controller.

I guess their TV Ad gives you a pretty good idea at how the experience feels. [please note that it's streaming video]

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Take note that I was just talking about gameplay and experience up there. For story, you need something else. So far, the Baldur's Gate series and Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic have been very pleasant surprises in that aspect. Some games can do without story... like Doom, but some games need story, especially cRPGs. Sadly, I can't really discuss the story of these much without giving away huge chunks of spoilers that can (and will) annoy potential players.

However, I think that there's one game that deserves special mention, and that's Planescape: Torment. Few games that start off with you as an amnesiac play to a good level of satisfaction, but Torment leaves them all in the dust. The player assumes the role of a nameless, hideously scarred, immortal zombie. The itself game revolves around finding out who you were, as well as helping the people that you meet along the way, who may or may not have remembered you from before. The individual stories you encounter are all fascinating, and your own history keeps the player stuck to the keyboard way into the night.

If you're bored and you can't find a copy of Torment (which I don't blame you for, it's a fairly dated game) check out this novelization, I doubt if it's official, and I haven't read it (yet) but it might be worth checking out.

Anyway, I'd go on and on more about this, but I think I've exhauste d my reader time limit by now.

Still, I'm curious, what videogames have you guys played that truly hooked you, and why?