Video games may be an
art form, but it’s hard to separate them from the mechanical
underpinnings. Yeah, that’s probably
true of every art form, but given that games are built on technology, it’s more
than a little pronounced. So while in a
lot of ways, it’s easy to understand why there are so many shooters (even if
you’re not willing to welcome them): the mechanics are the simplest way to
create a relationship between a real player and a virtual world. Take aim, pull a trigger button, and things
happen. It’s a hard formula to screw up,
even if it is less than preferable to others.
I’m not even going to
pretend like I know everything/anything about shooters, but I can do something like that for fighting
games. Even if you don’t have any skill
with them, it only takes a glance to realize that there are systems and
particulars that go into each one, making them different across the board. True, there are lessons and concepts that
carry over from game-to-game, but Street
Fighter 4 is not the same game as, say, Street
Fighter X Tekken.
There are surface-level
elements, like those unique systems; there are deeper elements, like
preparation and tactics; there are elements that you have to learn on the fly,
going from one match to another (someday I’ll learn how to fight Chun-Li) --
and then there’s the super-deep stuff like frame data, proration, and
more. Fighters may have seen a
renaissance over the past half-decade or so, but that’s partly because they’ve
got the depth -- at every level -- that can satisfy a player. It’s what makes fighters one of the purest
game genres out there.
I bring all this up
because I think that’s part of the appeal of Wolfenstein: The New Order. And
it’s part of the reason why it’s not only the best game I’ve looked at for the
ShootStravaganza, but maybe one of the best next-gen games so far…even though
that doesn’t really mean very much at this stage, but whatever.