从游戏演进的角度谈近期游戏设计中的10大趋势

原文作者： David McClure 译者：Megan Shieh

与所有艺术形式一样，电子游戏也会随着时间的推移而演变并在这个过程中受到各种趋势的影响。当然，新的趋势和概念也会不断涌现。

在本篇文章中，我列举出了近几年最有趣/最流行的10种趋势。

趋势一：全民游戏

游戏设计中最主要的趋势是“扩大可访问性”。任天堂Wii和DS的巨大成功再加上休闲游戏的兴起，使得电子游戏在公众意识中迅速膨胀，因此也涌入了一大批新玩家。

目前市面上的许多热门游戏都带有新手教程，玩法简单的游戏也再次流行了起来。一个不可忽略的事实是，新手玩家往往更倾向于性能稳定、容易上手的游戏。

举例：任天堂Wii、《Wii Fit》、任天堂DS、《Wii Sports》、《Wii Play》、《宝石迷阵》、《Brain Age》

趋势二：开放世界

开放世界成为了开发者们争相使用的设计元素，包含此元素的游戏在销量和评价方面也都表现出色。它允许玩家在探索虚拟世界的同时，根据自己的喜好和节奏来决定如何处理某个情况并在游戏中取得进度。

Band of Defenders（from gamasutra.com）

的确，这类游戏的乐趣之一就是“去探索”，在广阔的世界中找到有趣的地方和人。Raph Koster可能会说，这种流浪的欲望源于我们遥远的祖先为了生存而探索的需要。

开放世界的另一个好处是，它可以在一定程度上掩盖掉游戏中的线性元素。大多数游戏的主故事都是相当线性的——玩家必须完成一系列的任务才能实现进阶。如果游戏中只有一条进阶路径，这种设计方案能让整体体验显得不那么线性。

举例：《侠盗猎车4》、《孤岛惊魂2》、《潜行者》、《孤岛危机》、《辐射3》、《除暴战警》、《黑道圣徒2》

趋势三：合作（co-op）模式

合作模式可以让许多不爱在游戏中担任主角的玩家以配角的形式来参与游戏，这也是另一种可以扩大受众范围的方法。

对于主角玩家来说，合作模式的好处是他们可以和朋友一起玩（而不是人工智能角色），而游戏开发商和发行商则可以获得“病毒式营销”和“口碑广告”的效果，因为合作模式可以促进玩家间的交流。

假设有一位玩家正在进行单人游戏，第二位玩家可以中途加入，并且在不对原始玩家的故事情节或活动产生负面影响的情况下试玩这款游戏。

其次，在游戏中加入合作模式可以吸引那些担心自己游戏技术不够好的玩家去玩那些“专业玩家才会玩的游戏”。合作模式可以帮助小白玩家勇敢地向游戏世界迈出第一步，因为游戏中有一位导师兼保镖（主玩家）可以亲自、即时地为他们解释游戏中的元素。想象一下，如果开发商想要将同样的信息传递给这些新玩家得花上多大的功夫；再想象一下，要打造一个可以像配角玩家这样给主角打下手的NPC得多费内存和时间。

举例：《战地双雄》、《凯恩与林奇：死人》、《生化危机5》、《战争机器2》

趋势四：同伴角色（NPC）

近年来，开发者们在NPC的设计方面取得了很大的进步。现代的第一人称游戏经常利用友好的NPC来向玩家传达某种情感，比如《半条命2》中的Alyx Vance；或是利用NPC让玩家对自己的角色产生同理心，就像《使命召唤4》中的NPC那样。

目前有许多游戏都是围绕着NPC的存在而设计的，例如《凯恩与林奇：死人》和《战地双雄》。实际上，这些“同伴”的角色有时会变得和主角一样重要，比如《生化危机5》中的Sheva，她可以将玩家从麻烦和死亡中拯救出来。

从“马斯洛需求层次理论（Maslow’s hierarchy of needs）”的角度来看，许多老游戏几乎都只满足了玩家的生理和安全需求，然而这一设计方案可以通过满足玩家的社交需求来为他们创造更为丰富的游戏体验。（游戏邦注：“马斯洛需求层次理论”是人本主义科学的理论之一，由美国心理学家亚伯拉罕·马斯洛在1943年在《人类激励理论》论文中所提出。书中将人类需求像阶梯一样从低到高按层次分为五种，分别是：生理需求、安全需求、社交需求、尊重需求和自我实现需求。）

举例：《半条命2》、《凯恩与林奇：死人》、《使命召唤4》、《生化危机5》、《战地双雄》、《孤岛惊魂2》

趋势五：艰难的决定

如果一个对你极其有利的决定会伤害到无辜的人，就像在《生化奇兵》中那样，你是否还会毫不犹豫地这么做？如果有人杀害了你的朋友，你是该一刀把TA给抹了（给个痛快），还是让他在很长的一段时间里受尽折磨，就像《侠盗猎车手4》那样？假设你杀了一个枪贩或偷了TA的东西，这种行为真的是错误的吗？毕竟你不会因此受到任何惩罚，而且卖枪的TA本就默许了使用枪支的暴力行为，就像《辐射3》中那样。

另一个在电子游戏中越来越流行的趋势是让玩家在两个不受欢迎的选项之间进行选择。这些游戏可以致使玩家从道德层面上质疑他们的行为，这一点表明，开发者在交互性和沉浸感方面都做得越来越好了。而且因为可以选择，所以游戏就显得不那么线性，这也有助于建立更成熟的故事情节。

在现代游戏中，一个错误的决定通常会导致“多米诺骨牌效应（Domino Effect）”，并往往以某人的死亡告终，因此如果玩家想要造成尽可能小的伤害，TA就必须在做出任何行动之前先仔细地考虑前因后果。

利用道德灰色地带，迫使玩家在两种不完美的解决方案之间做出选择，这种做法具有更大的相对性，也为游戏中的选择提供了更大的深度。

举例：《生化奇兵》、《侠盗猎车手4》、《辐射3》

趋势六：追求精准动作的游戏内“迷你游戏”

比如在《辐射3》中，玩家得用一根发夹和一把螺丝刀来撬锁，这时对这两个物品的控制都得极其小心，否则会把发卡折断，那锁就打不开了。这种“迷你游戏”可以提高玩家的参与度，也比简单地按下一个按钮要有趣得多。如果开发者能够把这个设计好，就会对故事或游戏世界产生很大的影响。

虽说这类“迷你游戏”往往都带有趣味性，但是如果完成这些任务的方式不符合日常生活中的常识，那它们就会显得很奇怪。比如在《生化奇兵》中，用来控制安全系统的“拼水管”部分就有些让人摸不着头脑。

举例：《生化奇兵》、《辐射3》

趋势七：复古科幻反乌托邦

游戏中的科幻元素通常都指向“遥远的星球”或“未来的外太空”，但最近这种情况发生了变化。像《生化奇兵》、《辐射3》和《潜行者》这类游戏的背景都偏向“复古未来主义（Retro-futurism）”，这种设计风格反映了早期艺术家对未来的构想，利用了社会心理学中的“集体记忆（Collective Memory）”，提醒着我们过去的想法并没有实现。这种过去和未来的并置，唤起了许多其他游戏中缺乏的忧郁元素。

举例：《生化奇兵》、《辐射3》、《潜行者》、《毁灭全人类》、《僵尸斯塔布塔》

趋势八：多元化的布景

你可以看到现在的游戏世界很多都是设定在不同的大陆、不同的时期，时间线会交替、甚至会发生在一个非常不同寻常的环境中，例如《生化奇兵》中那座完全沉入冰岛附近的海底城市。

如果你是在制作一部电影或电视剧，那么到现场去拍摄就肯定会使成本飙升，但游戏制作的成本却不是如此。除了偶尔派一位美术或设计师到现场去勘查、拍些照片、寻找灵感之外，布景方面的成本基本不会出现太大变化。相比其他媒介，游戏可以较为轻松地为受众提供既创新又令人兴奋的场景。

举例：《生化奇兵》、《孤岛危机》、《flOw》、《旺达与巨像》、《抵抗：灭绝人类》

趋势九：结合其他媒介中的元素

长期以来，电子游戏产业时常都会受到其它媒介的影响，但近期这种文化渗透变得越来越多元化了——《潜行者》系列游戏改编自Tarkovsky导演的同名电影、《孤岛惊魂》的剧情明显蒙上了一层Joseph Conrad的现代主义小说《黑暗的心》的色彩（游戏邦注：《黑暗的心》同时也是电影《现代启示录》的原作），而《生化奇兵》则将“客观主义”作为其主要情节点之一。此外，市面上还有一款恶搞《悲惨世界》的2D格斗游戏叫作《Arm Joe》。

趋势十：采用第一人称视角

与早前的游戏相比，现代游戏的类型和视角都变得更加灵活。越来越多的游戏选择采用第一人称视角，更有趣的是它们并不局限于单个游戏类型，比如说，《镜之边缘》、《辐射3》、《潜行者》和《传送门》都是第一人称游戏，就连销量过百万的第三人称游戏《战争机器》的最初构想也是第一人称视角。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

As with all art forms, video games evolve over time and are subject to trends. As a relatively new medium, it’s arguable that games are likely to evolve much more rapidly than other media, and that new trends and concepts are likely to arise continually for the foreseeable future.

Below is a list of what I feel are the 10 most interesting or prevalent trends of the last few years.

1. Games for All

The biggest trend in game design is widening accessibility. The huge success of the Nintendo Wii and DS coupled with the rise of casual play has caused games to expand in the public consciousness rapidly. With the market expanding as it is and games set to outstrip combined sales of music and video products in 2008, it’s no wonder that publishers would seek to attract, entertain, and retain these new players. (See Reference 1 at end of article.)

Tutorial sequences have become ubiquitous in blockbuster games, and simple, pick-up-and-play titles have also seen a Renaissance. Indeed, the influx of new people to video games can only be regarded as positive, especially if it encourages games that are more stable and easier to jump into.

It’s not hyperbole to say that a high retention rate of these new players could prove to be the biggest catalyst for games becoming a much more dominant cultural force, catering to a greater spectrum of people than they traditionally have, and perhaps eventually becoming a universally popular medium, akin to books, music, television programming, and films.

Examples: Nintendo Wii, Wii Fit, Nintendo DS, Wii Sports, Wii Play, Bejeweled,Brain Age

2. Open Worlds

The use of a free-roaming environment has never been more popular with developers and has proved highly successful in terms of both sales and critical acclaim. (See References 2—9.) These titles allow players to make decisions about how they approach a situation and to progress through the game in their own style, often at their own pace as well, all while discovering the game world.

Indeed, part of the pleasure of these games is the pursuit of exploration, of finding interesting places and people in a vast world. Raph Koster might argue that this wanderlust is derived from our distant ancestors’ need to explore to survive.

Using open worlds in games also has the benefit of cloaking linear aspects of gameplay to some extent. The main story of most games unfolds in a fairly straightforward manner, with the player having to achieve a series of tasks in a set order to progress the story and continue to the game’s denouement. By allowing the player to get sidetracked, decide how to approach a task, and make progress through the main story in the manner they think best, the game appears to be less linear than if there were only one straightforward path through it.

Examples: Grand Theft Auto 4, Far Cry 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Crysis, Fallout 3, Crackdown, Saints Row 2

3. Co-op Mode

A game design decision that is taken regularly of late and has even formed the core of some games, is to allow a second player to become the main character’s sidekick at will and to stop being his or her partner at short notice.

Offering a co-op mode lets the many people who prefer to play a game as supporting character, rather than as the main character, do just that, and as such is another form of making games more accessible to a more diverse group of players (as in No. 1).

For main character players, the benefit is that they can play with their friends rather than with an AI character; and for game developers and publishers, the benefit is viral marketing and word-of-mouth advertising. Should a guest arrive while someone is midway through a single-player game, the guest can join the action and, in effect, try out the game without having a negative effect on the original player’s progress through the storyline or campaign.

With the rise of accessibility in games and an increase in the number of companion characters being implemented, offering a co-op mode is a smart way to introduce new players to more traditionally “gamer” titles. Co-op mode helps new players take their first steps into a game’s world with an in-game mentor and bodyguard who can explain elements of the game in person, instantly, and in a manner the player will likely understand. Imagine how much more it would take to convey the same information to a new player in-game. Imagine how much more it would take to in terms of memory to create an NPC sidekick who could complete the same tasks as a co-operative player.

Co-op games have a huge social component, which can be seen as driving the medium forward as well.

Examples: Army of Two, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Resident Evil 5, Gears of War 2

4. Companion Characters

Companion characters have come a long way in games over the past few years. The continual restarts when they blundered out of cover or under vehicles are becoming a thing of the past with the new breed of allies. Modern first-person games often use friendly characters as a way to express emotion to the player, as in the case of Alyx Vance in Half-Life 2, or to give them someone to empathize with and give the game character, as is the case in Call of Duty 4.

Whole games are now designed around the presence of companion characters, for example Kane & Lynch: Dead Men and Army of Two. In fact, these companions often become equally important to the tone of the game as the lead player character is. Indeed, with companion characters like Sheva in Resident Evil 5 able to save the player from trouble and death, the companion has improved massively when compared to older iterations, for example, Ashley in Resident Evil 4.

The use of companion characters in games is also interesting in the context of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, as they create a richer experience by allowing for access to the social needs in the game, whereas a lot of older games are almost solely occupied with physiological and safety needs. (See Reference 10.)

Examples: Half-Life 2, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Call of Duty 4, Resident Evil 5, Army of Two, Far Cry 2

5. Difficult Decisions

Should you make a decision that will benefit you immediately, even if it negatively effects someone innocent, as in BioShock? Should you take revenge on someone who caused the death of your friends by killing him painlessly, or leave him to suffer more in the long run, as in Grand Theft Auto IV? Is it really wrong to kill or steal from someone who sells guns and who therefore allow for further violent acts, if there is no punishment to you for doing so, as is possible in Fallout 3?

Another trend that has become popular and influential in video games is to make the player choose between two undesirable options. The fact that games can cause players to question their actions in relation to both near universal and personal morals is a big step forward in terms of interactivity and immersion. It also encourages players to take a step back from linearity, and it aids in the construction of more mature story lines.

A bad decision in a modern game can commonly cause a domino effect and often ends in someone’s death, so if the player wants to cause the least harm possible she has to think a lot harder before carrying out her actions, as opposed to the Manichean basis for decision making in older games. This use of moral gray areas, forcing the player to choose between two imperfect solutions, is much more relative and gives a much greater depth to the choices made within the game. Indeed, perhaps this interest in making the player weigh certain values and experiencing the end result of those decisions will even lead to persuasive elements becoming part of mainstream game design, an example beingBioShock’s railing against selfish individualism. (See Reference 11.)

Examples: BioShock, Grand Theft Auto IV, Fallout 3

6. Mini-Games for Actions

One welcomed trend that has been slowly entering games is using mini-games to decide whether a player’s attempts at an action are successful. In Fallout 3, for example, the player tries to pick a lock by controlling the rotation of a hairpin and a screwdriver, both of which must be used carefully and correctly to open the lock without snapping the hairpin.

Mini-games can heighten the player’s engagement level, are a lot more enjoyable than merely pressing a button and, if implemented sensibly, make a lot of sense to the story or game world. 
However, although mini-games tend to be entertaining, they can seem a little strange if the system implemented does not gel with the player’s understanding of how things work in real life. For example, in BioShock, the plumbing used to control the security systems doesn’t quite make sense. (See Reference 12.)

Examples: BioShock, Fallout 3

7. Retro Sci-Fi Dystopias

Science fiction in games used to tend toward far future space-scapes and distant planets, but recently this has changed. Games like BioShock, Fallout 3, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. take place in retro-futuristic landscapes. These games pay homage to outdated ideas about the future, a design concept that plays on the collective memory and reminds us of ideas from the past that did not come to fruition.

This juxtaposition of past and future, of often utopian (but mythological) Golden Age and unrelenting griminess, evokes an element of melancholy that is missing from many other titles. (See Reference 13.)

Examples: BioShock, Fallout 3, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Destroy All Humans, Stubbs The Zombie

8. On-Location on the Cheap

Games are now, thankfully, at the stage where warehouse based level design is not de rigueur. A greater world is now commonly represented in games set on various continents, in different periods, during alternate timelines, and even in truly unusual environments, such as the giant art deco styled underwater city fromBioShock.

Making a film or television program on location can skyrocket the production costs, but not so for games. Aside from occasionally sending an artist or design lead to a location to scope it out, take photos, and seek out inspiration, there is no change in cost based on the video game’s setting. Games can give audiences innovative and exciting settings with relative ease. (See References 14 and 15.)

Examples: BioShock, Crysis, flOw, Shadow of the Colossus, Resistance: Fall of Man

9. High-Brow Influences

Although games have obviously been influenced by other media since they were first published, these influences have generally tended to be more along the lines of Rambo than Rashomon.

However, the kinds of media infiltrating games (in a good way) is beginning to slowly change with games like the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.series, based on the Tarkovsky film of the same name, Far Cry 2, with its influences taken from Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, and BioShock’s use of objectivism as a major plot point.

Even parody games have benefited from this change, with Arm Joe, a 2D beat-’em-up which mocks a Japanese adaptation of Les Miserables.
Examples: S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Far Cry 2, BioShock, Arm Joe

10. Mixing Genres and Perspectives

Compared to games that have come before, the genres games fit into and the perspectives they are shown from are much more fluid.

Mirror’s Edge is a game based around free running presented in a first-person perspective. Fallout 3, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and Oblivion are RPGs played from a first-person perspective. Portal is a highly entertaining and successful first-person puzzle game. The Paper Mario series are 2D side scrolling platform game RPGs.Gears of War, a multi-million selling third-person smash hit, was originally conceived as a first-person game. (See Reference 16.)

This crossover between various game types is proving extremely interesting and should hopefully prevent games from becoming stuck in pigeonholes with little chance of artistic progression. 
Examples: Mirror’s Edge, Fallout 3, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Portal, PuzzleQuest

David McClure is an aspiring game designer and 3D artist living in London. While at university, he was the president and founder of a film society and wrote for the university newspaper. David is currently looking for work, which shows his uncanny knack for timing. (Source: gamecareerguide.com ）