02-07-2005, 07:25 PM
One of the reasons why Resident Evil "worked", at least to me, is because the games rely so heavily on a solid, unpredictable, meandering storyline (Except for RE Zero, which I thought relied too heavily on problem-solving and action than storyline-advancement). Tomb Raider is only about exploring beautiful scenery and exploring exotic environments. I haven't seen any of the TR-movies, despite being a huge fan of the first two Tomb Raider games (things went sour in TR3, "IMO"), for the simple fact that I don't buy Angelina as Lara *at all*. Also, the trailers for the first film didn't exactly conform with my idea of who Lara was. (In the games she listens to classical music. In the movies, it's got to be hip; so cue mindless techno-drone-music).
I've played Far Cry. I've played it over and over 2 or 3 times. It was extremely enjoyable, although the last couple of minutes ruined much of the game's premise: [slight spoiler]
Towards the end of the game, the villain is replaced by another villain, but in the final scene, the dialogue that was spoken by the second villain belonged to the first one. I think the team behind the game forgot that they had changed villain. Sloppy!)
From a story-telling point of view, Far Cry had a great premise: experiments going awry creating super-strong monsters, and soldiers hunting both them and you down. Great stuff. But that was pretty much it. That's the whole storyline. Sure, you meet a few people and interact with them somehow, but there is no *real* relationship between the player and the characters in the game. They're just targets. Game-designers need only look to Hideo Kojima's brilliant "Metal Gear Solid" (1998) for the blueprint which every game should follow; villain-wise.
It's a beautiful thing, when you sympathise more with the people you kill, than with the character you are in control of.
I doubt Far Cry will make it. Deus Ex was cancelled, and I believe this game showed greater promise than a movie-version of Far Cry.
I've played Far Cry. I've played it over and over 2 or 3 times. It was extremely enjoyable, although the last couple of minutes ruined much of the game's premise: [slight spoiler]
Towards the end of the game, the villain is replaced by another villain, but in the final scene, the dialogue that was spoken by the second villain belonged to the first one. I think the team behind the game forgot that they had changed villain. Sloppy!)
From a story-telling point of view, Far Cry had a great premise: experiments going awry creating super-strong monsters, and soldiers hunting both them and you down. Great stuff. But that was pretty much it. That's the whole storyline. Sure, you meet a few people and interact with them somehow, but there is no *real* relationship between the player and the characters in the game. They're just targets. Game-designers need only look to Hideo Kojima's brilliant "Metal Gear Solid" (1998) for the blueprint which every game should follow; villain-wise.
It's a beautiful thing, when you sympathise more with the people you kill, than with the character you are in control of.
I doubt Far Cry will make it. Deus Ex was cancelled, and I believe this game showed greater promise than a movie-version of Far Cry.
