Games every critic should play

[Erik_Twice]

If you are going to write about games and try to explain them to a wider audience it seems completely neccesary to me to earn that position of authority by actually knowing a lot about what you are going to talk about. And I really, really think videogame critics are suffering from inbred movements of thoughts ,as a whole they (we?) are lacking perspectives and assume too many things because they haven't seen the possibilities of it, even if those possibilities are older than they are!

Here are some games I really think critics should play:

1) Any roleplaying game, specially narrative systems like Vampire instead of D&D

Roleplaying elements. Roleplaying games. Dungeon Crawls. Yet I bet my whole collection most critics haven't played any real roleplaying game. And it's a shame because it's pushing design back. Having multiple choices or moral options seems such a weird thing to praise a game for nowadays when other games have done it better decades ago.

Playing a roleplaying game sheds perspective. It makes you understand the relation between plot and mechanics and what is forced and what natural is and it makes you realize how a designer is always behind, in the same way a gamemaster controls the game.

It helps realizing that character and job are completely different things and would help understand basic tenets of writting for games, specially when the inevitable plot-important clue is missed and the boss blew up in the most humillating way you could ever think.

1.5) Play a Gigaxian Dungeon Crawl

I'm not an expert in this but after reading the Tomb of Horrors, it seems to me that this kind of puzzle/level design is extremely interesting, with many ramifications of thought. How yo be fair, how to be innovative, how to use creativity and player control...I think it would be very nice to play this, but the old-school way of thinking and neccesary expertise means this would better be played with an already established group, which is a rarity.

2) Castlevania (NES)

More critics should play this game simply because it's so pure in design. Movement is restricted because there's nothing interesting in more movement. Attacks are slow because they want you to think. There's nothing given and no enemy is easily killed beyond the first stage. Just a good reminder that hyper-agile heroes with spiky hair are not the only way.

3) A negotiation boardgame

Dune, The Republic of Rome and Diplomacy are the best fits for this. You want to realize how player interaction creates meaningful choices and narrative and there's nothing better than these games to try because they are the negotiation games I know of that produce the better stories to tell your kids. "Oh man, I was doing this but then he backstabbed me but it was a trick and he bla bla bla". We need more of those moments in gaming.


What do you think? What games do you think videogame critics should play?

[ZeroAX]

Superman 64. Just because I fucking hate all of them.

[DinnerX]

M.U.L.E.

Critics need lessons on writing more than anything. Sentences need to be short, direct, and on topic. Sentences should never be vague. A critic needs to discuss the specific and definable. What precisely does "loose controls" or "action packed" mean? I need clear facts to decide if I will like a game, not flowery buzzword gibbering. A good critic will provide me with facts and his opinion. Video game critics tend to focus on their (sometimes poorly explained) opinion, and do a very poor job of providing any facts.

[BoringSupreez]

They need to complete a classic WRPG like Fallout, a classic JRPG like FFVI, some old RTS games, the classic Mario and Sonic games, everything major id made from 1990-1996, Ocarina of Time, Half-Life, Half Life 2, Deus Ex, and a couple of Dreamcast games. That should give them an excellent perspective on things.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, and Half-Life. Then maybe they'd realize how terrible modern day FPS games are in comparison.

[ZeroAX]

GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark

I think these 2 have aged poorly. Mostly cause of their controls.

[harper]

GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark

I think these 2 have aged poorly. Mostly cause of their controls.

You know there are different control schemes to choose from, right?

[Menegrothx]

Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, and Half-Life. Then maybe they'd realize how terrible modern day FPS games are in comparison.

Deus Ex
Half Life 2
System Shock 2

GoldenEye is an iconic console FPS but I think it's the most outdated out of the bunch, just like the original Halo isnt that impressive now if you only play the single player campaign.

You know there are different control schemes to choose from, right?

It's more about the god awful N64 controllers than control schemes per se in my opinnion, unless you are playing on an emulator or something.

[noiseredux]

@General, you seem to be pretty concerned with video game critics and their qualifications as you've started other threads in the past about them as well. Just curious if it's just something that interests you in general, or if it's your intention to persue a career as a "critic"?

[ZeroAX]

It's more about the god awful N64 controllers than control schemes per se in my opinnion, unless you are playing on an emulator or something.

This. I'm sure the level design and game mechanics will still have some fun in them (heck I haven't played it through to be honest, so what do I know?), but when I tried playing it last year the controls were just horrible. Let's be honest, one stick for FPS games is a bad idea

@Noise

No. A game critic just stole a girl from him (how can a lowly engineering student compare with something as rad as a game critic?) and he hates them ever since. I just hate them cause I'm a racist. Game critics steal our money and want to rape our wives.