Was the grass greener? Nostalgic thoughts.

Changing the twenty-fifth year and seeing the telly once again some male \ feminine, hearts for love or buzova, sigh with sadness, looking back and realizing that you didn’t live so much, but it was still better before.

In general, with the realization that before the grass was greener, every generation is probably encountering. I do not think that people who have found Queen, Michael Jackson, Metallic, Madonna, having heard some Keti Perry say: “From this executive man”.The same rule works for games. Some undergo a test of time (some even become cult), and some disappear from memory immediately after passing.In this video, I would like to compare the projects from which I began my acquaintance with the game industry, with products entering the market now.And in the old years after school they showed Pokemon and Jackie Chan.

Race.
Back in 2004, when I had a computer, they gave me 2 disks.Harry Potter Quidditch and Need for Speed ​​Underground.And even then, my inexperienced children’s brain realized where Krutetskiy Krutozhena was where, and where frank garbage.In those days, street raising was popular, thanks to a frying series of films that had not yet been rolled up.And Underground squeezed all the juices from this topic.These were driven night races, reinforced by suitable tuning and slaughter soundtrack.Even now, having installed the game, going into the race and rushing under some Broken Promisses you get a powerful charge of adrenaline.An open world was added in the second part and tuning. And you threw a briefcase away from the far away as possible races as possible to finally put the speakers in the trunk.In 2005, Most Wanted came out and became even more driven. Bullet for My Valentine’s hellfires in combination with even greater speed and chases from cops (which, by the way, will still be given to light even the most hindered drill) have once again done their job.Then there was Carbon with humanized, thanks to the front animation by bosses and allies. It was not that it was very necessary for arcade races, but all the same it is 2006. And La Noire went out in 2011 for a second.The chip of the project was adrenaline dueling with bosses taking place on mountain serpentines in the spirit of the movie of triple Furious.

Then jumping by car from a skyscraper to another skyscraper has not yet become a mainstream.

In parallel Need for Speed, Flatout.And how was she cool … Everything in her was aimed at rampant fun.The detailed model of damage, Megadeth, Papa Roach, Nickelback in the soundtrack, the characters created in their appearance in combination with the above points an indescribable atmosphere of unbridled and carefree two thousandths, which at that time literally hung in the air due to the then music and films suchfrom Hazzard and Eurotour.

The “Rednec” image of the characters and the California punk Rock in the soundtrack created a special, incomparable atmosphere.

And what do we see now? The 2015 Need For Speed ​​attempt to shake the old people was unsuccessful because of the boring open world, the same soundtrack, zero intelligence of the police and the constant attachment of the game for online. Need for Speed ​​Payback has become jerking in the open world with Lutboxes. In the soundtrack, again, some toothless pop.

Do not consider me for the Patlata Govnar, but it does not deliver to go to the monotonous lulling “Two-Tuts”.
Flatout, in turn, sunk into oblivion, after transferring rights to the franchise to other authors, of course, who had lost all polymers in sequels. BugBear themselves with folk help ropped a game called Wreckfest, which turned out to be a low -fat version of the first Flatout. The car damage system stepped far forward, but as if they had pumped out all the fun from the game.

WreckFest more resembles a simulator than an arcade.

Yes, the rest of the developers all this time tried to support the genre afloat, releasing mediocre Split Second, Blur and suitable, but poorly sold DriveClub, but all this was already “wrong”. There was no former enthusiasm.The rebellious spirit, so inextricably linked with the genre of arcade races, began to fade away.Everything became some kind of toothless and faceless-tolerant. In the old days, it was not shameful to slap on the cover with the game some kind of model … With mammary glands, a break … Yes, yes, with the chest. Now, stuffing you into the game of a female individual a little more beautiful than Andriano Chelentano, then everything … you are a fucking sexist and generally objectify these strong and independent women. Summing up, I would like to say that looking through the prism of my personal game experience at the current situation in the genre of arcade races, I realize that the grass used to be greener. Well, we are moving on.

Simple rural woman who is alien to equality and emancipation.

Okay Mary Jane “equalized”. The spider has a cat.

But what are there racing, even if MK 11 surrendered.

I met this genre when my friend gave me a scratched CD with the first Gothic.And this significant event forever determined my tastes in this genre.A cozy compact world, memorable characters, intriguing plot and quests, a gloomy atmosphere immediately sank into the soul.The second part of this series only improved all of the above.And since then, large Western RPGs, with a giant open world, but from the much less densely populated I did not come in.

Even now, after 17 years, you can enjoy Gothic.

Next, I tried Fable redlion-casino with the same cozy world in which almost every NPC could be remembered. The game was also pleased with small details, such as the possibility of marrying, remaining on the hero with scars, a moral choice of which influenced the appearance of the protagonist and so on.

Although Fable was at first glance with a gingerbread-penalty fairy tale, it had a place of gloomy and cruel events in it.
Mass Effect was my next game in this genre.Breakthrough facial animation, dynamic fighting, innovative dialogue wheel, interesting non -linear plot and ENT made the game of cult.

Igde there is no such sense of the significance of your actions for the game world as in Mass Effect.

Further, Dragon Age from the same studio fell into my hands.Cool strategically verified battles with the ability to put the battle on a tactical pause, again a deep ENT, a gloomy atmosphere.

Morrigan spoke with poems.

Time passed, and either I became more demanding, or my favorite episodes began to lose polymers.

3 part of Gothic came out terribly funny, simultaneously losing the entire atmosphere and lamps. Further, three games in the risen series made from the same studio, made as a carbon copy and lowering their own quality bar with each part.Well, the latest Piranha Bytes project is Elex, which was a sip of albeit not fresh, but such native German air.

Risen 3 is like Risen 2, only Risen 3

The second part of Fable became the development of the series, but the game has grown in breadth, and not deeper.The locations became wider, the quests became a little more, the atmosphere was not lost well, and thanks for that.However, not everyone could evaluate this very atmosphere, since the game became an exclusive for Xbox 360.The third part of Fable was enormous in the atmosphere.There was also a bunch of non -working mechanics, such as the economy, a stupid menu in the form of a hub of location with constant loading and an exalted two button fighter in which it was impossible to die even to die. Nothing more sensible in this series did not work out.

Peter Moligne in the same way launched “dust in the eyes” to fans.

And how did Dragon Age work? Well, the sequel came out very ambiguous. Repetitive races according to the same locations, an attached fighter, a more mundane plot, illusory non -linearity in dialogues all this was able to reputs the series and BioWare itself in the eyes of the players.

In this market, players fought almost every 30 minutes.
Further, the light saw inquisition.Mountains of quests in the style of giving, spacious, but empty locations and a combat system again simplified in terms of tactics.

And of course DLC about Mitya Fomina in a seasonal subscription.

Well, what do we see now? The Mass Effect series after a disastrous Andromeda is frozen.BioWare produces Anthem, which, in addition to the fact that it is an empty jerky, can break your console. Betestha sells Skyrim for the hundredth time, simultaneously releasing the non -playful Falout 76, made on the basis of a very weak fourth part.All hope is assigned to the fragile shoulders of the Poles from the CD Project, who released the roof of the third witcher in 2015 and their over the ambitious project Cyberpunk 2077. Well, as for me, grass on the hills of the RPG genre used to be greener.

You need to have a “Big Cojones”, as the character Vice City said to release the game in the 2019th century tightly a hanging console.

Half-Life 2, Painkiller, Medal of Honor, Red Faction 2, Fear … Feel? You feel how the heart begins to pound more often and the blood boils in the veins? And now. Call of Duty Black Ops 4, Apex Legends, Battlefield 5, Pubg.Feel? Feel how your eyelids are heavier, you are drawn to yawn, you fall asleep … Well, okay, okay.A certain fan in these games is.But it does not seem to you that the Juperov genre has become slightly monotonous? Where do not spit, one and the same Batleroil with some reservations.

Most shooters are now starting with a similar picture. It’s good that there are rare exceptions. God Blas doom Eternal.

In turn, the shooters of the beginning of the two thousandth tried to surprise us with some kind of unique chip. Half-Life 2 had a breakthrough physicist with an interesting plot, Paynekiller had a prying shooting mechanic, Medal of Honor had unique missions with an indescribable atmosphere of World War II, Red Faction 2 had a revolutionary destruction, Fear was a breakthrough artificial intelligence.The plot with a terrible atmosphere and the slowdown.

Gravipushka-Buzota-shaped old woman.

In Red Faction 2, it was possible to break walls and some objects at the level.

Artificial intelligence of enemies in f.E.A.P. Until now, one of the most advanced.

Yes, someone will say that a new genre was born.Maybe.But he was born only for players players only in multiplayer. And again they will object to me, saying: “Just the market has changed and we have changed”.Then why are so many companies trying to make as in the “good old”? Maybe in this genre and really the grass was more green?

It’s good that in the genre of shooters there are still pleasant exceptions, wrapping the classics into a new wrapper.

And some do not update the wrapper. (Dusk)

Nowadays, the games and whole genres moving the slogan “Press X to Win”, with such warmth, favorite strategies are remembered.In general, strategies are a genre that has a slow pastime accompanied by a cup of coffee and the reclining position of the player in an armchair.I remember how I erected a fortress for his hero (brave pepper) and dug up cesspools for the convenience of peasants in Stronghold 2, how he established trade agreements and diplomatic communications in Anno 1404, how he mined resources in Age of Empires 3.

Yes, I know that the cult is Crusader, but Stronghold 2 has been and remains my beloved

As he tore the orcs of the orcs in Dawn of War, as he showed the Nazis where the crayfish winter in the Company of Heroes, how he devoured enemy detachments in Hearts of the Swarm … Yes, there was time.

I wish I would again experience the very feeling of superiority when you develop the base for a long time, you have a copy of the units, and then you sweep away all living things in your path.

A couple of years ago, it seemed that the genre would finally bend. Terrible Stronghold 3, boring Dawn of War 3, very controversial Anno 2205.And silence. Yes, XCOMs came out, but it is more tactics than a strategy.However, we will have a chance to look at the possible revival of this genre this year.At first glance, Iron Harvest and Conan Unconquern are very good at the hunger of people who have been extended in rapid meat battles, but lovers of the economy will be able to play in Anno 1800 and restart Setlers.Was it better before? It’s hard to say.The suitable representatives of this genre still come out, just behind all these loud releases and information noise, it is difficult to stumble upon them. But the one who is looking for will always find.

I, as a person who missed the original Settlers, hope to join the series by playing on restart.

After familiarizing yourself with this material, you might have the impression that the game industry is now with its batterals and lutboxes, is in impenetrable darkness. But this is not quite. Lighting projects are still coming out, take at least the exclusives of Sony. There are also many remakes and remasters, such as Resident Evil 2, Shadow of the Collosus, Crash Bandicoot, and so on.Someone will say “such a market now, a sweat hacks all these lootboxes with battles”. Then why all these remakes and reprints? Why everyone is so desperately trying to return old times? Someone on their own, someone asking for support at the cropeling platforms? Maybe really, before the grass was greener?