| Runa216 said: I dunno, I don't think it's fair to call these games shooters just becuase they have shooting elements. Hell, ratchet and Clank has you shooting things constantly, but I still maintain it's a platformer. what about Grand Theft Auto? what about Fable? Hell, Fable hasa lot of shooting elements, is it a shooter? Well, okay what if you use a sword, is it an action game? No, I'd say it's an RPG. I just think you guys are lumping things in together with shooters because it's convenient, and I am not following that logic at all. |
Oh, I'm not lumping. I think of Uncharted as an action adventure like Tomb Raider except with a heavy focus on shooting. I think of Mass Effect as an RPG with a heavy focus on shooting. I think Fable is an RPG and GTA is a sandbox game. I don't think MGS is a shooter, either. It comes down to what the primary focus of the game is, if you ask me.
Gears primary focus, despite having a good story (imo) is the combat. It does that very well. Mass Effect seems to be primarily foccused on the story and absorbing you into its world. Uncharted seems to be primarily focussed on maintaining an action/adventure movie atmosphere. Of course, this is my interpretation. I could be wrong. I think the biggest problem developers face is that there's only so many buttons on a controller. You have your jump, your interact, your melee, your shoot, etc. With just a few buttons, you have to make an experience that spans anywhere from 10 to 50 or more hours.
Unless you totally want to take gameplay out of the hands of the gamer and make a game based entirely on context sensitive buttons (ie: Heavy Rain) or quick time events, you're going to end up shooting, chopping, or running an awful lot. It can't be helped. Those buttons have to be used over and over again. But, if you use those buttons repeatedly, but at the same time, manage to work in some other elements (exploration, interaction, platforming, heavy story, level up systems) and the actual combat isn't the main focus of the game, it's okay. It's okay for a game with good shooting mechanics to be labeled an adventure (Uncharted) or even a platformer (Ratchet and Clank). It's okay for a game with lots of hacking and slashing to be labeled an RPG (Dragon Age). It's okay for a game with a lot of first person shooting to be labeled a puzzle game or an adventure (Portal, Metroid Prime). Again, I think it all comes down to the primary focus and vision of the game.
