I'm sort of... divided on the game. Â Honestly, the stuff everyone seems leery about is stuff I love. Â If there's one thing about MMORPGs that has completely eluded most developers, it's atmosphere. Â That's one thing Blizzard gets, it's one thing CCP sorta gets, it's one thing Square kind of gets, but it's something a lot of people take for granted. Â Atmosphere.
I don't know how far back most people remember, but I distinctly recall in 2004 that there was a minor war brewing. Â It was around the releases of two critically acclaimed FPS sequels, id's Doom 3 and Valve's Half-Life 2. Â I also distinctly remember being outnumbered in any conversation about my preference for Doom 3 over Half-Life 2, but the reason why I liked it better is the same as the reason I sometimes feel unimpressed by MMORPGs everyone else seems to be excited about. Â It's all about atmosphere. Â Half-Life 2 was fun to play and had a very detailed environment and physics engine, but Doom 3, to this day if I play it, scares the ever-loving shit out of me. Â It's all about the little things, from reality bending to just having sound effects that have nothing to do with the game, just existing to scare you.
Given everyone seems to worry about its art style, that's the one thing I actually really feel excited about. Â It's stylized and it has a definite presentation where most games tend to be glitzy re-enactments of the Battle of Helm's Deep from Peter Jackson's The Two Towers or the thousandth forest scene where they've tried to slightly improve the light engine. Â Wildstar looks like it only takes itself half-seriously and it feels like almost a cartoon. Â That's a distinct change of pace for me. Â Considering I tend to really like games that know how to stand out with atmosphere alone (e.g. the Silent Hills, Killer 7, Eternal Darkness) I could care less if there are fewer eyebrow options.
Now, all the atmosphere in the world won't polish a turd if the mechanics and gameplay turn out to be a complete wash. Â Atmosphere only takes you so far. Â I just think you have to have it in your game.
I don't know how far back most people remember, but I distinctly recall in 2004 that there was a minor war brewing. Â It was around the releases of two critically acclaimed FPS sequels, id's Doom 3 and Valve's Half-Life 2. Â I also distinctly remember being outnumbered in any conversation about my preference for Doom 3 over Half-Life 2, but the reason why I liked it better is the same as the reason I sometimes feel unimpressed by MMORPGs everyone else seems to be excited about. Â It's all about atmosphere. Â Half-Life 2 was fun to play and had a very detailed environment and physics engine, but Doom 3, to this day if I play it, scares the ever-loving shit out of me. Â It's all about the little things, from reality bending to just having sound effects that have nothing to do with the game, just existing to scare you.
Given everyone seems to worry about its art style, that's the one thing I actually really feel excited about. Â It's stylized and it has a definite presentation where most games tend to be glitzy re-enactments of the Battle of Helm's Deep from Peter Jackson's The Two Towers or the thousandth forest scene where they've tried to slightly improve the light engine. Â Wildstar looks like it only takes itself half-seriously and it feels like almost a cartoon. Â That's a distinct change of pace for me. Â Considering I tend to really like games that know how to stand out with atmosphere alone (e.g. the Silent Hills, Killer 7, Eternal Darkness) I could care less if there are fewer eyebrow options.
Now, all the atmosphere in the world won't polish a turd if the mechanics and gameplay turn out to be a complete wash. Â Atmosphere only takes you so far. Â I just think you have to have it in your game.
