TSA Debate: Realism

Realism? Titles like Operation Flashpoint and Gran Turismo strive to perfect it, and are getting mind-blowingly close (sometimes), but what about the old arcade racers and shooters? Is there still a place for “un-realism” or do we really need to be simulating the entire experience? Blair, Colin and myself sit down to answer another one of life’s mind bending questions.

Blair: I’m not really bothered, Forza was a good one, I thought. Not too much of a sim and just fun. I’m honestly not sold on GT5 with all its realism, yet.

Colin: It depends on the type of game and what the player wants from it. If I was to play an F1 game then I want it to be as realistic as possible but if I played a Call of Duty title I’m looking for a fun, arcade feel. Getting the balance right between realism and fun is important in those games.

Blair: I like OTT games that just blow everything up. Sometimes. I like racers that give you an experience like the real world… sometimes. It all just depends, really. It’s all about how good the game is.

Murdo: For me, racers have to be arcade-y. Games like Split/Second and Burnout nail it on the head with the insane jumps and explosions. I’m awful at Forza and Gran Turismo, I need all the driving aids on and some sort of braking device, which is normally the other cars. Drifting round a corner at 100MPH with a building collapsing behind me is just perfect.

Colin: I love both, I rank GTR2, a sim, and Split/Second equally as my two favourite racing games. I don’t like Gran Turismo though, it has tried to be too realistic and isn’t fun for me. All games should have a element of fun, even if it goes for absolute realism.

Blair: I like the arcade style but it doesn’t suit all games. Some games need to be simulators, that’s just how they are. Although, I’m not sold with this new ‘Hardcore’ mode in Fallout: New Vegas where you have to live in the game as well as just play it.

Murdo: The ‘Hardcode’ mode sounds like too much hard work. I would never enjoy a game like that, one of the reasons I despise the Sims games. My only ever experience was me forcing my character to kiss Will.I.Am. That does not reflect me character though!

Blair: Wait, what?

Murdo: Moving on… I do like some realism in games, especially shooters. Operation Flashpoint 2 was almost perfect in its simulation and I have high hopes for the next iteration. Games like Call of Duty marry the arcade and sim styles well I think. Don’t even get me started on space shooters though.

Blair: I like the way Killzone 2 worked; the controls feel heavy, which make it feel more like you are controlling a character rather than a piece of cardboard with a gun attached. The gameplay itself wasn’t realistic, but you managed to feel what it would be like to be in that environment. Same goes for Dead Space, and that really built up the atmosphere.

Murdo: I’ve yet to play Dead Space but the trailers for number two are almost forcing me to pick it up. I’ve heard great things.

Colin: I loved Killzone although I never got far in the campaign. I enjoy playing both Call of Duty and Killzone, they have different feels and you can have different kinds of fun with them. I’m glad Killzone has the weighty controls as it provides an alternative to most other shooters.

Blair: I’m hoping they don’t ruin the ‘feel’ in KZ3 and DS2.

Colin: I hope they keep the same weight in Killzone 3, it was different and having an alternative is always good.

Murdo: Killzone is too weighty for me. I enjoy the campaign a lot but only because of the story. Running felt slow and sluggish after playing Call of Duty for so long and some guns felt weak. I’ll be buying Killzone 3 but only for the story. I might dabble in the online if some other TSAians do.

Colin: I’m pretty sure a lot will after the success of the clan in Killzone 2.

Murdo: We had a clan? Oh shi…

Colin: Someone said that once! I almost died.

Blair: The added ‘realism’ in GTAIV ruined it for me. I completely disliked it, the series was much better when it was OTT. The minute I stood on the bonnet of a car and then promptly fell off in GTAIV, I disliked it.

Colin: I hated that game for the very same reason. In an open world game like that I want to mess about and have fun. GTAIV felt like all the fun had been sucked out of it, it wasn’t really a GTA game then. The realism spoiled it.

Murdo: But it had Times Square… Before I descend into the horrible feeling of “I wish I was in New York,” I’ll pass it over to you, readers. Has realism been pushed too far? We haven’t even touched on sports games but that could take all day. Some genres need it to a certain extent but with so many racers at both ends of the scale and numerous other titles and genres refining their attention to detail and immersion, are we losing sight of the old (and fun) arcade way of playing games?