53 years of video game advances has led to the futuristic games of today.
Artwork by Michael Harrison
The end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012 are high points in video game creation, with enough potential to start an entirely new era in gaming excellence.
The 8-bit days of Mario and Sonic have been advanced and upgraded to the point of game and graphical bliss. Graphics and realism have taken over today’s industry, and continue to get better every year. Many blockbuster titles with near-real graphics are coming out this October and November. Titles like Rage, (already released) Battlefield 3, The Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim, and Modern Warfare 3 flood the Xbox-360 and Playstation 3. February and March of next year bring gamers highly awaited sequels such as Bioshock Infinite, and Mass Effect 3. All of them have very high prospects, and make the end of this year and the beginning of next year a “Video Game Renaissance.”
Many games don’t have sequels to back them up. Some titles in this day and age flop because their bold new ideas are mixed with redundant, bland game play elements. However, a few rise above the many others to claim their place in the gaming spotlight. Rage (Released on October 4th by IdSoftware) is one of those releases. Its broad inclusion of racing aspects, role-playing game (RPG) elements, and core shooter mechanics makes it one of the most interesting experiences this year. It has a very unique set of weapons, a post-apocalyptic story line, a currency system, an open world, and very fast paced intense shooter game play. It also supports an incredible graphics engine called Id Tech Five, which makes the apocalypse look the best it ever has in a video game. It may not be for everyone, but it is worth a look.
October 25th marks the release date of Battlefield 3, with Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) coming November 8th. These two titles already have an escalating rivalry that will spike at their releases. Both support similar first person shooter (FPS) game play, online multiplayer, and jaw dropping graphical engineering. MW3 is the Call of Duty franchises’ yearly release, and Battlefield 3 is, in a manner of speaking, a new beginning for critically acclaimed Dice Studio’s Battlefield franchise. Only time and sales will tell who will win in the shooter competition.
November doesn’t just mark a great month for gaming, but it does boasts one of the most anticipated gaming months of the year. Another new Call of Duty always gets people excited, but another release is coming on November 11th that will blow the gaming community away. The Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim (Skyrim) is already being discussed as the game of the year, and it hasn’t even been released yet. The Elder Scrolls series by Bethesda Game Studios has always been a monster success. The series is the king of RPGs, and the fifth installment will be the best to date. First person (or third person) sword, bow, and magic game play are one thing that makes it unique. However, it also supports an incredible gaming engine called the Creation Engine, a mind numbly big open world filled with up to 300 hours of game content, and a unique level up system that makes your in-game character better with whatever the gamer uses in the game.
The Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim is indubitably the biggest release of 2011, but two big game releases begin the year of 2012. Bioshock Infinite is the long-awaited prequel to the Bioshock series, and it is being released in February of the New Year. Bioshock shocked the world in 2007 with its fine graphics, a setting of an underwater city in 1950, and game play with guns, as well as biological enhancements called plasmids. Bioshock Infinite is in a sky city in the early 1910s, and still features similar game play, but the new locale changes it up quite a bit. The floating city of Columbia features a unique system of travel that creates a very interesting twist in the standard game system. Riding a mechanical hook on a system of sky rails will make for some awesome in-game battles. Bioshock Infinite is looking like the best Bioshock to date.
The conclusion to the epic sci-fi series Mass Effect is releasing on March 6th, 2012 in the form of Mass Effect 3 (ME3). The ME series has always been known for its intergalactic story, important in-game choices, and stellar game play. The in-game character, Commander Shepherd, has been through a hard past, a mysterious dooms day premonition, saving humans from alien abductions, and even death itself. This track record raises the stakes sky-high for the final installment. The gigantic sentient beings, the Reapers, are destroying Earth, and only Commander Shepherd can stop them. How does the gamer stop an impending doom from an invincible enemy? Everyone will have to play to find out.
Gaming will not be the same after all these new releases. Amazing changes to graphics, and game play make these games shine. Many are sequels, but they are sequels done right. Games like Rage introduce interesting genre combinations, met with success. Rage and Skyrim are fueled by incredible graphics engines, and completed by their combat. This is the “Gaming Renaissance” and it’s in full swing, with no signs of stopping.
