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动作游戏的“观看机制”有意义吗?

发布时间:2012-08-31 13:53:28 Tags:,,,

作者:Ben Ruiz

“观看型游戏”是最近兴起的一类游戏,似乎秉承了动作游戏的关键属性,但其实没有多少交互性可言。这类游戏的存在归功于QTE反应系统(Quick Time Events)的普及。观看游戏看似属于街机时代的玩家们喜欢的一类体验,但事实上,与街机游戏相比,前者实在是空洞而肤浅。原因是,观看游戏主要是由我所谓的“低交互性机制”组成的。

WatchEmUp(from gamasutra)

WatchEmUp(from gamasutra)

什么是“低交互性机制”?

带有这类机制的游戏引擎只需要非常少量的输入就可以产生大量画面和声音的输出。低交互性机制的源头就在QTE反应系统中。后者诞生于《莎木》、流行于《战神》,此后不断演变。如果你对QTE不熟悉,我就拿《战神》的残忍必杀技作为例子:当玩家接近要打的大BOSS时,就按下特定的键,复杂的动画事件就被触发了——玩家角色会甩出他的链条缠住敌人,然后借此跳上敌人的头,剜出他的眼珠,用刀片剥开他的胸膛,将鲜活的心脏挖出来,等等等,直到敌人一命呜呼。虽然看这段动作非常刺激,但玩家所做的事只是等待简单的屏幕线索,然后按下某个键。说实在的,玩家有可能会乱按这些键,但他们没做什么事,而屏幕上的角色仍然执行华丽丽的动作。再者,虽然QTE是低交互性机制的支柱,但还有许多形式。

WatchEmUp(from gamaustra)

WatchEmUp(from gamaustra)

低交互性机制的问题

这种机制不诚实!游戏利用这些制作精良的效果欺骗玩家,使他们以为自己有多厉害。在低交互性机制出现以前,在这些暴力QTE事件中,所有明显的动作都有各自合理的机制,需要玩家具备相当的水平挨个执行。有些设计师会抗议道,你不可能把传统的游戏动作做得这么炫目,因为存在固用的玩法限制。我要说的是,完全可能。虽然要达到这种程度是很不可思议的,也非常难操作,但问题就在这里!有些人不能或不想操作到这么高程度的玩法,因此游戏业朝他们扔出了低交互性机制这根肉骨头。不幸的是,现在发生的事是,现代动作游戏开发商和发行商正在利用这些喜欢肤浅而无意义的交互作用的人,有意识地、别有用心地制作这种类型的游戏。

观看游戏现在成了祸害

2012年,有两款正式的观看游戏——《阿修罗之怒》(Cyber Connect/Capcom)和《忍者龙剑传3》(Team Ninja/Tecmo Koei)。这两款AAA大作标志着大开发商和发行商对观看游戏的认可;因为上头的人相信这类游戏会盈利。动作游戏开发商和发行商养成了一种糟糕的爱好,认为如果他们做一些《战神》也做的事,就意味着能够收获与之相同的成功,因此生产这些游戏确实有道理。这实在是愚蠢,但我能理解。然而,我要说的主要问题不是它们的存在,而是它们看起来就像是动作游戏,于就被当作动作游戏卖给玩家。这种恶劣行径非常有欺骗性,不仅令玩家失望,也伤害了动作游戏!这类“伪动作游戏”的狂热粉丝损害了动作游戏的名声,新加入的粉丝其实是完全不同类型的玩家。这是不合理的,特别是因为《忍者龙剑传3》的受众就是这些玩家,这是对该系列忠实老玩家的极大背叛。

我先声明,我不认为《战神》是观看游戏。正如我在前面说的那样,我喜欢《战神》,我觉得它的交互性很强。我只是用这款游戏来描述QTE是怎么回事,仅此而已。

归根到底,我是一位街机玩家,我玩动作游戏是因为,在动作游戏中,复杂的系统和工具使我能够在高风险的环境下展现自我。这让我觉得很过瘾。但我必须知道发生在屏幕上的事与我自己的动作直接相关,我是以自己的行为抵抗真实的反对力量,并且我确实在进步。当你自己创造出艺术时,这才是艺术最有意义的时刻。大多数动作游戏的哲学就是,给玩家一盒颜料、一支画笔、一张干净的画布,然后由玩家自由发挥。《忍者龙剑传3》和《阿修罗之怒》只给玩家一块由别人画好的廉价的“数字画板”(游戏邦注:这里的“数字画板”是指一种由蓝色或灰色的线分出格子的画板,用户看格子上数字,然后使用与数字对应的颜料就可以画出漂亮的画)和一套劣质的水彩。这些游戏不信任玩家的技术和能力。

有趣的是,这些游戏都卖得不好,但愿这是因为发行商高估了观看游戏的受众规模,而事实上这类玩家并不多。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

“Watch ‘Em Ups”; Sucking The Meaning Out Of Action Games

by Ben Ruiz

Watch ‘em ups are a newly emerged genre of game that appear to bear the key properties of beat ‘em ups, but are actually far less interactive. Their existence is entirely due to the popularization of Quick Time Events. A watch ‘em up looks like the type of experience arcade born gamers love and cherish, but they are actually hollow and unsatisfying experiences in comparison. The reason they feel like this is because they are comprised primarily of what I call “low interaction mechanics”.

What Are Low Interaction Mechanics?

They’re a type of game mechanic where the game engine takes a very small amount of input and spits out a spectacular amount of visual and audio output. Their origins are in the Quick Time Events that were born in Shenmue, popularized in God Of War, and have been mutating ever since. If you are not familiar with QTE’s,  God Of War’s brutal fatalities are the iconic example; whenever it’s time to kill a big dumb enemy you approach them, push a specific button, and it triggers this complex animated sequence: your character will sling their chains around the enemy, use them to leap onto its head, rip its eyeball out, jam the blade into its chest, tear its still-beating heart out, and so on and so forth until the enemy is dead. While it’s amazing to watch, all the player is doing is waiting for simple on-screen cues to hit certain buttons. In all fairness, there is some risk involved being is that the player can fuck up these button presses, but they’re still doing very little work yet still watching an avatar perform sensational actions on screen. And again, while QTE’s are the backbone of low interaction mechanics, there are many more forms.

The Problem With Low Interaction Mechanics

They’re not honest! Game are using these well-produced moments to trick the player into thinking they’re awesome. In the pre-low interaction mechanic world, all of the distinct actions in these violent QTE sequences would have been their own legitimate mechanics that required a fair amount of skill to individually perform. While some designers would argue that you can’t make traditional game play look that phenomenal because of its inherent playability restrictions, I say that you absolutely can. And while play at those levels is incredible to watch it’s also incredibly difficult to perform, and therein lies the problem! Some people can’t and/or don’t want to operate at that high level of play and low interaction mechanics are the bone the game industry has thrown them. Unfortunately, what’s happening now is that modern action game developers/publishers are now trying to capitalize on the people who enjoy these shallow and meaningless interactions by consciously and intentionally creating these kind of games from the ground up.

Watch ‘Em Ups Are Now A Genre And That’s Dangerous

As of 2012, there are now two official entries: Asura’s Wrath (Cyber Connect/Capcom) and Ninja Gaiden 3 (Team Ninja/Tecmo Koei). Both are AAA titles by major developers/publishers that were green lit for the same reason anything is green lit;  because the people upstairs believed it will be profitable. Since action game developers/publishers have this awful habit of assuming that if they do something that God Of War did it means it will share its success, the decision to produce these games DOES make sense. It’s asinine, but I understand it. However, my main problem is not that they exist in the first place, but it’s that they look like beat ‘em ups and are being sold to me as if they were beat ‘em ups. It’s gross and deceptive and disappointing and it’s actually hurting beat ‘em ups! They’re ruining beat ‘em up’s reputation with its own diehard fans and any new fans Watch ‘Em Ups bring in are going to be a completely different type of player. And this isn’t irrational, especially since Ninja Gaiden 3 was co-opted by these players, which was a HUGE betrayal of the series’ long standing fans.

And just to be super duper clear, I do NOT consider God Of War a watch ‘em up. Like I’ve said before, I adore the God Of War games and I find them plenty interactive. I simply used the game to describe its very iconic QTE’s and that’s it.

At the end of the day, I’m an arcade gamer and I play beat ‘em ups because I’m given a complex system of tools with which to express myself in a high risk environment and this makes me feel alive. But I need to know that the amazing things happening on my screen are a direct result of my own fiery will pushing against real opposing forces and that I’m actually succeeding. Art is at its most meaningful when you make it yourself and the philosophy with most action games is to give the player paints, a brush, and a beautiful clear canvas with which express yourself. Ninja Gaiden 3 and Asura’s Wrath just gave you a cheap paint-by-numbers that someone else drew and a set of crappy watercolors in little plastic pill caps. These games have no faith in your skill and ability.

Interestingly enough, both of these games were financial failures. Hopefully what’s happened here is that these publishers have overestimated the size of the Watch ‘Em Up audience and that they’re not substantially extant.(source:gamasutra)


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