Thursday, July 07, 2005

Good Show


After a few run-throughs
of Facade, I now feel fit to comment.

I really like reading about the development process. I like hearing the speculation and the promises and the failures and successes. And all of that becomes an even greater joy when the software is finally released and I get to see how it all turned out.

Facade does not disappoint. Well, it didn't disappoint me. In fact, I was impressed.

Surface wonder is one way that games can grab us - the manipulator gun, high-resolution textures, superbly done cell-shading. Eye-dessert is always apparent - have you seen the screenshots for Starship Troopers?

Depth is another way that games can grab us, but the drawback to depth is that it is much more difficult to decide how to use it - tons of cutscenes? hundreds of branching quests? micromanagement?

Facade has a dizzying array of depth and it manages it in a timed context. Brilliant.

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