While I find the game well intended, it seems to be lacking in the most basic of qualities a game should possess: emotion. What is exciting about "serious" games is the marriage of entertainment and education. AFMP seems to have completely thrown out any emotion from an extremely rich emotional content. The game is dealing with liberating oppressed people... where are the oppressed people?
Working on the form would be the place to start. It is completely unclear who the player is in relationship to other players in the game. What makes 1rst person games compelling are the complexities of the character you are entering into, the choices you have to make and the relationships you have with other characters. Like a good literature, character arcs or story arcs in a game can make or break a game. There are no story or character arcs in this game other than the structure of the game itself, which feels extremely hopeless most of the time.
It is amazing how much power a character really has in engaging the player. The moment where I really quit was when one of the members of my faction told me "People really hate our message and aren't going to be willing to help us." AFMP is am example of how dry a game can be with out an interesting and developed 1rst person character.
Comments (2)
Yes, your lack of presence in the game is a major problem.
Posted by Andy Cox | November 18, 2007 8:31 PM
Posted on November 18, 2007 20:31
hmmmm...... is there a concept behind using the same image from Indigo Prophecy in your posts?
Posted by Andy Cox | November 18, 2007 8:32 PM
Posted on November 18, 2007 20:32