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列举评论对于《侠盗猎车手V》的抱怨(二)

发布时间:2014-03-03 11:32:12 Tags:,,,,

作者:Jeff Vogel

这是我关于《侠盗猎车手V》的评论文章的第二部分。(请点击此处阅读本文第一部分

我对于《侠盗猎车手V》的问题并不是关于它试图做什么。而是它在尽力做某事时并未将其做好。《侠盗猎车手V》尝试着销售这一坏蛋暴徒的生活幻想,但它却处处削弱自己。

我之所以对此咆哮的主要原因是我希望《侠盗猎车手VI》(或者下一款出售同样内容的游戏,基于《黑道圣徒》风格)能够做得更好。

Grand Theft Auto V DLC(from blogspot)

Grand Theft Auto V DLC(from blogspot)

关于人渣的故事的简要注释

编写一个围绕着罪犯和杀手的故事非常困难。让这些角色变得讨喜更是难上加难。幸运的是,已经存在许多成功的例子。《黑道家族》,《教父》,昆汀·塔伦蒂诺的电影(特别是《落水狗》和《低俗小说》),《华尔街之狼》等都做到了这点。

如何才能创造出一个讨喜的人渣?这是关于幻想。他们不需要足够诙谐,但这却能够起到推动作用。他们不需要具有许多乐趣,但这也能够起到推动作用。你所需要的便是一种能量感以及如何挣脱社会那令人窒息的规则。

最重要的是:你必须相信,不管面对怎样的危险与恐惧,这些角色都热爱他们所处的生活。他们不会选择其它方式。

但如果你那罪犯角色一直很悲惨,很阴沉,不快乐,你便不可能花任何时间去面对他们吧?

这将我们带回了《侠盗猎车手V》。

characters(from blogspot)

characters(from blogspot)

三个角色。

当听说《侠盗猎车手V》将具有三个主角时,我便觉得这是个大新闻。就好象这是故事中一个让人兴奋的发展,但事实上却并非如此。10年前我们便看过《七武士》,它就具有7个角色!(更别提《十一罗汉》了。)

实际上游戏中只有一个可游戏的角色:一个想要通过抢劫致富的脾气暴躁的罪犯。这里具有年轻版本,疲倦的老年版本以及疯狂的中年版本,但从根本上看来他们都是同样的角色。(疯狂的版本更接近完整且让人相信的人。)

三个角色的相同点便是一个被错过的机会。在此我的建议是:为什么这三个角色是在同一方呢?为什么不让其中一个角色作为一名警察并尝试着抓住其他两人(游戏邦注:就像《盾牌》中的Vic Mackey)。当你在控制这个角色时,如果能有一些像扰乱毒品交易商的交易的迷你游戏就好了。之后当你转换角色时,游戏也将基于有意义的方法进行改变。

或者你想要保持三个罪犯一起行动?你可以通过设定年轻且非常努力的黑人罪犯为女性而让游戏整体变得更有趣(我心中想的是Pam Grier或Jackie Brown)。

当然,如此你便会陷入一个问题中,一些年轻的男性玩家不想控制女性角色,觉得这太奇怪了。但就奖励而言这是非常突出的。

你想要成为这些人吗?

我想不起任何其它游戏故事会像《侠盗猎车手V》这样严厉,无乐趣。这三个残忍且愚蠢的人互相埋怨着彼此,并连续遭遇着各种失败。观看这些人行动一点都不有趣。

这款游戏需要更多“低俗小说”元素。实际上,当玩家面对着它时就好像在观看一些带着悲伤含义的60年代法国电影。

关于电子游戏故事的简短边注

顺便提下一个对于缺少经验的人的小建议。当人们说电子游戏具有“一个出色的故事”时,他们的意思是它具有“一个故事”。当他们说它具有“有趣的角色”时,他们的意思是它具有“角色”。

这些内容在曲线上被分为不同等级。

关于问题的典例

游戏不断向你传达你的能量幻想角色有多无能。最显著的例子:你可以在跳艳舞的过程中调戏跳舞者,但前提是保镖不会注意到你。如果保镖看到你了,你便可能被丢出去。

让我们列举一个游戏时刻,即如果你在抚摸一个不愿被抚摸的女人,你的行为便算非常粗鲁。

但说真的,你所控制的是这些让人害怕的坏蛋,难道他们还会害怕夜总会的保镖?

你是否认为Tony Soprano曾经被丢出夜总会?我想看看一些纨绔子弟去尝试。

关于抢劫

《侠盗猎车手V》的最大功能之一便是抢劫系统:你将为一次大规模的抢劫选择一个目标,然后你将费力地经历所有步骤去规划它。听起来很酷吧。

但是为何规划抢劫的步骤如此乏味呢?驱车穿越城镇去购买一副面具。驱车穿越城镇回到原来的地方去偷取一辆卡车。徘徊在一间珠宝店并拍照。在某一时刻,你将冒充一名码头工人并使用吊车去移动箱子。

我完全明白他们想要什么。他们想要一起呈现这些严重的罪行并带给玩家将某些事物聚集在一起的感受。但却做得不好。

枪战

《侠盗猎车手》的游戏玩法具有两个主要组件:赛车和射击。就像我在之前的文章中所提到的,赛车真的很棒。但遗憾的是,这里的射击机制一团糟。

我是避开第一人称视角去观察这些内容—-这正是关于战斗如何发展的。你按压左边的触发器,你将自动瞄准最近的敌人的身体中心。按压右边触发器将杀死他。不断在左右触发器间转变着,直至你最终获得胜利。但这一点都不由去。

《侠盗猎车手》的辩护者不愿接受这样的评论,并生气地指出你可以自由地瞄准设置。是的,你可以。但这又怎样?95%的玩家从未深入钻研这些设置。游戏的默认版本就是游戏。

但如果许多玩家知道并使用这一选择,这难道不奇怪吗?我的意思是,为什么游戏的基本部分被留给埋藏于设置中的复选框?为什么会这样?

我想当你处于自动瞄准杆不能发挥作用的战斗中时,设置过分简单化的战争的真正原因便会趋于明朗化。换句话说,在夜间战斗中,你拥有一个狙击步枪,你现在马上需要射击某个地方的某个人,马上!

我迫不及待地想要透过黑暗看清前方的事物,尝试着明确我需要射击的灰斑上的灰斑是什么、说实话,我的许多任务都因为我为了看清楚目标而斜眼看屏幕才导致最终的失败。

这是个问题:因为艺术风格以及目标,设置和时间的多样性,你经常会处于那些看不清敌人的战斗中。尽管这么做是可行的,因为触发器将为你找到敌人们。

我不知道如何解决这一问题(游戏邦注:这也存在于《侠盗猎车手4》),但设置一个自由瞄准目标的射击手并不是个有效的解决方法。

Jackie Brown(from blogspot)

Jackie Brown(from blogspot)

结论

关于所有的这些假设,《侠盗猎车手V》应该算是我玩过的最保守,最避险的计算机游戏。其内容是否太过尖利?也许是?我想是?有点?在2013年,将抚摸舞女并折磨黑人的游戏卖给青少年并不是件冒险的事。

当然,他们可能不会在乎我的批评。他们也不该这么做。这并不是说我在冒险,我也并未将无数钱砸进游戏中。因为这款游戏取得了巨大的成功,所以下一款《侠盗猎车手》游戏也会延续同样的做法。同样丰富的设置,以及同样的恐怖主义。说实话,Rockstar关于这系列的下一款游戏能做的最棒的事便是创造一份只有七个字的设计文件:“再次做同样的事”。

然而这也为精明的竞争者开启了大门。《黑道圣徒》游戏便通过保持《侠盗猎车手》那般的乐趣和愚蠢而取得了巨大的成功。

我关于《侠盗猎车手V》的主要问题是这只是一个强大的镇定剂。它是基于一个悲伤且阴沉的基调,并且太过乏味。它并未具有其它《侠盗猎车手》游戏所具有的优势:让我笑起来。

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

Whining About Grand Theft Auto V, Part 2: Gunplay and Power Fantasy.

By Jeff Vogel

This is the second part of my big, scattershot critique of Grand Theft Auto V. (Part 1 is here.) Things it did well. Things done not so well. Ways it could have, with minimal effort, made the flat parts much more interesting.

My problem with Grand Theft Auto V is not what it tries to do. It’s that it doesn’t do a good job of doing what it tries to do. Grand Theft Auto V tries to sell this badass thug life fantasy, but it undercuts itself at every turn.

The main reason I’m howling into the void like this is because I want Grand Theft Auto VI (or the next game to sell the same thing, Saints Row-style) to be better.

A Brief Note About Stories About Scumbags

Writing a story centered around criminals and killers is hard. Making these characters likable is really hard. Fortunately, there are plenty of examples of success. The Sopranos. The Godfather. Quentin Tarantino movies (especially Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction). Wolf of Wall Street does a great job of it, and it’s in theaters now.

How do you make a scumbag likable? It’s all about fantasy. They don’t have to be witty, but it helps. They don’t have to have lots of fun, but it helps. What you need is a feeling of power and of getting to live outside of society’s suffocating rules.

The most important thing: You have to believe that, for all of the danger and the fear, these characters LOVE the life they live. They wouldn’t have it any other way.

But what if your criminal characters are constantly miserable and dour and gray and joyless and you would rather spend a lifetime as a Walmart greeter than five seconds in their shoes?

This brings us back to Grand Theft Auto V.

Three Characters. Kind Of.

It was huge news when it was announced that Grand Theft Auto V would have three main characters. As if this is an exciting development in storytelling, which it isn’t. The Seven Samurai came out decades ago, and it had SEVEN characters! (Not to mention Ocean’s Eleven.)

It really only has one playable character: An unhappy, crabby criminal who wants to score big robberies to get rich. There’s the young version, the old tired version, and the midlife crazy version, but they’re basically the same character. (With the crazy version coming closest to being a fully realized, believable person.)

The sameness of the three characters is a sad missed opportunity. Here’s my suggestion: Why do all three have to be on the same side? Why couldn’t one of them be a corrupt cop trying to bring the other two down (like Vic Mackey in The Shield). When you play him, there are corrupt-cop minigames like shaking down drug dealers. Then, when you switch characters, the game would actually change in a meaningful way.

Or, want to keep the three criminals working together? You could make the whole thing twice as interesting in a second by making the young black striving criminal a woman. (Want to know what I’m picturing? Kindly Google Pam Grier. Or watch Jackie Brown. Yeah, I know. Tell me that wouldn’t be awesome.)

Of course, then you run into the problem that some young male gamers are afraid of playing female characters, which is weird. Still, awesomeness is its own reward.

Do You Want To Be These People?

I can’t remember any gaming story as dour and joyless as Grand Theft Auto V. It’s these three miserable, clueless people, griping at each other and failing at everything they do for hour after hour. These people just aren’t fun to watch.

This game needs a lot more Pulp Fiction. As it is, it’s like watching some 60s French film about the Meaning of Sadness.

A Brief Side Note About Video Game Stories

By the way, a quick tip for the uninitiated. When people say a video game has “a good story,” what they mean is that it has “a story.” When they say it has “interesting characters,” what they mean is that it has “characters.”

These things get graded on a curve.

My Perfect Example Of the Problem

The game constantly rubs your nose into how powerless your power fantasy avatars are. Favorite example: The minigame in which you can fondle strippers during a lap dance, but only if the bouncer doesn’t see you. If the bouncer sees you, you get thrown out.

Let us set aside for a moment that a game where you are groping women who doesn’t want to be groped is just super-ultra-gross.

But seriously? You’re playing these awesome psycho badasses, yet they don’t have more juice than a strip club bouncer?

You think Tony Soprano ever gets thrown out of a strip club? I’d like to see some dude try. They’d be pulling chunks of him out of the Hudson River for years.

About the Heists

One of the big features of GTAV was the heist system: You would choose a target for a huge robbery, and then you would laboriously go through all the steps of planning it out. Sounds cool.

But why were the steps of planning the heist so tedious? Drive across town to buy a mask. Drive back across town to steal a truck. Wander around a jewelry shop and take pictures. At one point, I swear to god, you pretend to be a dockworker and use a crane to move boxes around.

I totally see what they were going for here. They want to show how these big crimes come together and give the player the feeling of putting something big together. It just doesn’t play well.

A Final Thing. The Gunplay.

Grand Theft Auto gameplay has two dominant components: The driving and the shooting. The driving, as I discussed in the previous post, is awesome. Sadly, the shooting is kind of a mess.

I’m far from the first person to observe this … here’s how the combat works. You press the left trigger, and you will be auto-aimed at the center of the torso of the nearest enemy. Press the right trigger to kill him. That’s it. Left trigger – right trigger – left trigger – right trigger, until you win. It’s not that fun.

GTA apologists are already storming to the comments to angrily point out that you can turn on free aiming in the settings. Well, yeah, you can. But so what? 95% of players never dig into the Settings. The default version of the game IS the game.

But even if lots of players knew about and used this option, isn’t this weird? I mean, why is such a fundamental part of how the game plays left to a check box buried in Settings? I mean, isn’t that kind of peculiar? Why is that?

I think the real reason for the simplistic combat becomes very clear whenever you’re in a fight where autotargeting doesn’t work. In other words, in one of the many fights where it’s nighttime and you have a sniper rifle and you NEED TO SHOOT THAT ONE GUY RIGHT NOW OMIGOD NOWNOWNOW!!!!!

And I’m desperately looking through the scope into the darkness, trying to figure out which gray patch on a gray patch I need to shoot to not instafail the mission. Honestly, so many of my mission failures happened because I was squinting at the screen trying to find my target.

This is the problem: Because of the art style and the huge variety of targets, settings, and times of day, you will often be in fights where you just can’t see your enemies clearly. It works, though, because the magic left trigger always finds them for you. Left trigger – right trigger – left trigger – right trigger.

I don’t know how to solve the problem (which existed in GTA4 too), but having an aiming-free shooter isn’t a great solution.

In Closing

For all its supposed edginess, Grand Theft Auto V is the most conservatively-designed, risk-averse computer game I’ve ever played. Is the content edgy? Maybe? I suppose? Kind of? In 2013, selling a game to teen boys where you fondle strippers and torture swarthy foreigners is not a big risk.

Of course, there’s no way they will care about my criticism. Nor should they. It’s not my risk, not my hundreds of millions of dollars sunk into the game. And because this game is massively successful, the next Grand Theft Auto will be the same thing. Same lavish setting, same nihilism. Honestly, the best thing Rockstar could do for the next game in the series is a three-word design document: “Same thing again.”

However, this leaves an opening for a canny competitor. The Saints Row games have thrived by keeping the sense of fun and silliness the Grand Theft Auto games abandoned years ago.

My main problem with Grant Theft Auto V is that it was just a huge downer. It was sad and dour and all too frequently tedious. It never did what the Grand Theft Auto games were always so good at: making me smile.(source:blogspot)


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