| Yerm said: To be honest, Im sick of the time periods being the main catch. Why does the focal selling point for all the mainstream FPS series need to be that they are in the future and use only futuristic weapons, or they are WWII games and pay attention to every single detail to make sure it is exactly like WWII. Meanwhile you have Splatoon that focuses on gameplay, has great music, a ton of background lore, and became one of Nintendo's new most loved games after only being released once on a dead platform. You also have Overwatch that focused on gameplay and characters, as well as being ridiculous, and people cant get enough of that game. Or how about the obvious Team Fortress 2 that continuously gets new content, and is able to have the same feel that recent FPS games have and have a personality of its own. Ive come to the conclusion that FPS games should not be their own genre, FPS is just a gameplay mechanic. Meanwhile the time periods that people obsess about are merely gimmicks. And as Nintendo has proven for the past decade, people dont want gimmicks, they want it to be good. And I really feel that this reason, as well as the oversaturation of FPS games on the market, that will cause the genre to crash. |
It's quite an interesting observation to note that everyone seems to assume that a WWII game must be a FPS title.
While I likely won't ever get to work on the subliminal part hidden within my OP. I certainly know how I would design a game with a WWII setting. There are a number of reasons why WWII games lost their appeal, but most certainly they still contain an appeal to a decent market. The game needs to be meaningful and the gameplay needs to reflect that. For example I would personally elaborate in the horrors of WWII though the use of symbolism and metaphors, I would translate this to gameplay mechanics. Perhaps I'll use hallucinations or even psychosis. Soldiers fight for freedom, but during a war they may feel trapped on all fronts. There is a real sense of loss. Weather it's the fear of losing your life, your family, your friends. The horrors are very real and I would reflect those horrors in some pretty big ways to grab the players attention. I would create fictional characters for a real war because in my opinion, there is really nothing to relate to as both a player and a designer to a faceless soldier. Gamers don't really care when they see their soldiers die in a MoH or CoD game. A historical battle can still be told through a constructed narrative. With that we can tackle various themes and even put some meaningful messages in the game.
Personally my favorite WWII movie is "Inglorious Basterds" by Quentin Tarantino. One of the things he did very well in that movie was go beyond the war. He focused on the culture, the art, the style of that era. Something which I believe is essential in building a world to fit that era. He gave us characters to love, and characters to fear. Christoph Waltz was an absolutely terrifying Nazi who really reflected the horrors of a brilliant commander of that era.
There is no need for a World War II game to be a gimmick in itself. However perhaps a few gimmicks within the game might be nice. Something to make it unique and stand out from the rest. Personally I would never have any interest in just another bland WWII with no soul. There must be substance.
