Ten games that qualify as art
It's clear that Fallout 3 is one of those games that transcends fun and moves into the realm of art. We look back at the top ten games with an artistic sensibility
I had to wait 10 years for it, and I had to track down a copy via eBay (since every retailer I contacted mysteriously seems to be sold out) but I’ve finally got my hands on my very own copy of Fallout 3.
Although I’m a little late to the party on this (the game was launched late last year), it’s one of the best games I’ve played in a long time.
It’s one of those games that transcends fun and moves into the realm of art. It’s clear that Bethesda brought movie sensibilities to the game, focussing as much on art direction, storytelling and thematic design as on the pure adrenaline rush.
It made me give a crap about the characters in the game, and I found myself actually agonising over things like what to do with the baby in The Pitt DLC – if you’ve played it, you’ll know what I mean.
It also inspired me to look back at some of the other games I’ve played that have an artistic sensibility that sets them apart from the host of generic first-person shooters, fantasy RPGs and other “factory line” games.
I’ve put together a list of my top ten – but I’m sure many of you have differing opinions. Let me know in comments – you’ll probably remind me of a few I’ve forgotten.
Blending retro-futuristic pulp with Mad Max was an incredible achievement, but it’s combined with brilliant art direction, a story that’s compelling, complex and unique and these two games also boast the best endgame credits ever seen in an RPG.
Sure, the game was a little text-heavy, but the text in Planescape was actually worth reading, with quality of writing never seen before or after. More importantly, the setting and plot of the RPG was unique, with a consistent flavour all of its own. Of course, like Fallout, its groundbreaking deviation from the tradition swords and sorcery RPG design seemed to doom it to commercial failure.
A game that equates darkness and claustrophobia with safety, the art direction of Half Life 2 perfectly captured the sense of oppression and desolation in the Half Life world.
A little like Fallout, BioShock takes us to a retro-futuristic world, the kind imagined by pulp writers in the middle of last century. I actually found myself saving the Little Sisters rather than sucking them dry. When you start acting against your best interests, you know that the designers have built something that’s more than a game.
I’m not talking about the crummy remakes, but the original polygon-based trilogy. They were actually scary, combining the use of cinematic camera angles and survival horror with puzzle-solving adventure.
The game that made the PlayStation. It took anime tropes and jacked them up to 11, telling a story that was deep, compelling and unique.
The insane mutterings of infected crew members and rogue robots haunted you as you wandered around the derelict Von Braun. One of the scariest games to ever be released.
We’re talking the original platformer here, not the newer versions. It was a lonely and haunting race against the clock, beautifully animated and showing you don’t need to keep a high kills-per-minute ratio to have fun.
The first one, that is (though you could throw in the Modern Warfare as well). A first person shooter that made you actually care about the protagonists and the story, the action was driven by dramatic and powerful scripted events and a soaring score worthy of any movie.
It’s an odd one to throw in here, I know, but think about. A single-note soundtrack that manages to be terrifying in a Jaws-like fashion (the way it gets faster as the aliens get closer); aliens that are relentlessly determined to invade earth, no matter how many ships they lose; the Lovecraftian inevitability of failure on your part. Add it up, and you have art.
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