Game genre work

 

Genre	Genre description	Genre example
First person shooters aka FPS games	The camera is set as first person, so you feel like you are the character, the gameplay consists of mostly shooting as the name suggests. This genre is also often bonded with other genres as it goes well for immersion. The genre goes as far back as 1973 with ‘Maze war’ but arguably made popular in 1993 by the release of ‘DOOM’. The game started out as a 2.5D game, which emulates 3D by using 2D. Since then new introductions of regenerating health, class based gameplay, bigger maps/levels and semi destructible levels, keeping the popular genre up to date. Since 1993 the emphasis has changed from sci-fi fun to realistic warfare.	Battle field Bad company 2 Also known as BFBC2. Made in 2010 by Swedish developer DICE, who are a subdivision of EA. It focused around squad based gameplay on both multiplayer and solo campaign. The engine the game uses (The frostbite 1.5 engine) which brought the idea of destructible environments creating this pace and a sense of always moving forward. It also meant that a game which went on for a long period of time would be mostly flat, and rather than urban layered gameplay, it would switch to almost desert combat, with little cover.
Multi Player Battle Arenas aka MOBAs	Starting as a sub-genre of Real time strategy games, the basic idea is that there are two teams, each fighting down three lanes to get to and destroy the enemy’s base. Viewing each character (known as different things per game) from a third person perspective, typically top down, each with a unique set of up to five active skills which are unlocked when the players gain enough experience (gained from killing creeps and other player). With five players per team, the winning team typically depends on team work and item builds.	Defence Of The Ancients Also known as DOTA 2. With 108 hero’s to choose from, you often find one or two you like from each role (Carry, support, pusher etc.) with certain hero’s being more popular depending on the competitive scene. The internationals, the major competition for DOTA 2 is completely funded by the player base, (the game is free to play) who buy cosmetic items in game and the compendium to keep track of the competitive teams. Last year’s winners won $5,028,308. With a less cartoony feel to the game than its main competitor League of Legends, and has mechanics that it doesn’t, such as denying creeps and towers to stop the opposing team getting gold and experience.
Role Playing Games aka RPGs	Often bundled with other genres like open world or action games. The main focus is on the Lore of the world, most have a character builder so that you can create a character you want or make yourself in the game. The world is normally massive, and you are thrown into a scenario you have no control over and can choose whether or not to get involved. These gamers also normally include some sort of levelling system, in which you can make your character stronger. Often set in future or fantasy settings, there are often constant use of magic or high-tech weapons. The main point in the games are to get immersed playing the game your way, and to role play your character the way you want.	Fallout: new Vegas Starting the game as an unknown courier, you are thrown in to a scenario to get revenge for your attempted murder, all over a package you were asked to deliver. Making choices along the way, good or bad, change the outcome of the end, and you get involved in so much that you never really run out of things to do. Set in 2281 after the nuclear apocalypse, the introduction of plasma based and laser based weapon add a great amount to the enjoyment of the game. Released 2010 on pc and console, it was rated 8.5/10 from IGN and 9/10 from eurogamer the reception was great, and mods for the game are still being released.
Stealth Games	These games focus massively on stealth, not necessarily a fail state if you are spotted, but you aren’t able to kill your way through the game. Sometimes the levels can be claustrophobic followed by massive levels where exploration is key. In most modern titles the stealth is optional and is there to add difficulty to the game, where as in older titles, the game punished you for not being sneaky by sending guards after you who don’t give up.	Thief 2014 As a re-imagining of the main characters backstory, the game follows a similar path of its predecessors in that, you can steal objects by going into people’s homes to get money, which you then buy equipment for the next mission with. Set in essentially a steampunk medieval England, you go through the dimly lit streets, hiding from guards talking about everyday things, adding life to this otherwise dark and seemingly dead game. It was met with mediocre reviews, 6.8/10 from IGN, as many people wanted it to surpass the games they knew and loved, saying it chose graphics over the gameplay. The stealth works really well, and how you are able to tell if you’re hidden or not is a mechanic they work into the story really well.
Horror games	The idea is to scare. The problem with most horror games is that, as fear is completely subjective, and most of today’s audience are desensitised to most gore and horror tropes, what makes a scary game. One of the things that most horror games do right is atmosphere, making you nervous about what is to come through weird sounds and dim pathways. The problem most find is that in order to keep a player playing they need to be genuinely scary. Most of today’s horror games make it about the jump scares, and after a while they get old, however if you look at old games, you can see that atmosphere and pacing can go a long way.	Silent Hill 2 Released 2001 and was first released on PS2. What made the game a success was that the game never made anything jump out, instead it chose to make it all about atmosphere, cleverly following on from the first games choice, the fog over everything makes you see only about a building ahead of you (something that was done because of the poor render quality of the first game) This, mixed with the distorted figures of what appear to be humans that are made up from the characters forgotten past all build into something that is scary. Feeling almost like a bad dream, the game muddies the boundaries of that is and isn’t real in the world, and this makes the game feel oddly real.
Puzzle platformer	One of the most basic of games, relying on jumping around to find a solution to a problem in order to get passed. But what these games lack mechanically can be made up by the innovation shown by its creators.	Limbo Released 2010 on XBLA, the game is set in a dim world with little to no sound, and all set like some sort of shadow world, with the contrast of black and white being stunning to look at. While the gameplay is generic mechanically, what they do to it is astounding. Rather than make it just pushing blocks, or jumping over spikes, within the first 30 minutes you are caught by a giant spider and put in a web, awaiting your death. When you escape, you are then hunted by the spider until you find a way to kill it. This unique way of blending story of the world into the gameplay is one of the things that makes this game great, everything in this world is trying to kill you, but it never feels malicious, always just to live in this limbo.
Metroidvania games	Normally a combination of platformer and partial open world adventure, they use barriers that can only be passed to implement some exploration to proceed. Normally has a really steed difficulty curb, as it starts off fine, and quickly goes crazy.	Guacamelee Released 2013 on XBLA, the game has a unique take on the comic like style, using Mexican themes. Using power ups not only to open new areas, but to also improve combat flow, using wrestling moves pile drivers that sent the stylised enemies to the underworld. The story is pretty generic, rescue girlfriend, but has unique and often funny bosses that can also prove challenging, using the trial and error technique to beat them. With its great sense of humour, brilliant references to other games and a great art style, this game took up loads of my time just because of how fun it is.