1. Joao R. S. Dias
Comparison of Handheld Games:
DOOM and Obscure: The Aftermath
Gameboy: DOOM –
Genre –
Doom, a video game developed by id Software and one of the founding fathers of
modern day games that follow its style, is part of the first person shooter (FPS)
genre, where the player is put in the point of view (POV) of the main protagonist.
Its success began one of gaming’s biggest franchises, the Doom series, and
encouraged a variety of new video games to be produced, such as many of the
FPS games today. Although mostly seen as a first person shooter, the game also
falls under various other genres, such as the following:
- Horror: despite its pixelated sprites and lack of high quality graphics, the game
still strikes fear into gamers through the many demons and the large variety of
enemies. However, the game did include a high level of graphic violence with
ridiculous amount of blood, making it rather controversial
- Action: like many FPS games, guns and explosions provide the right amount of
action for the players
- Adventure: being based in a fictional land, Doom allows the players to explore
and venture through different stages filled with secrets and simple puzzles
Narrative / Storyline –
Doom’s storyline is very complex in the sense that it is not delivered through the
same methods as other games. Instead, the game leaves it up to the gamer to
make sense of what the game is portraying through visual cues and small
messages between sections, leaving cutscenes and narrative aside. However, the
video game does include a manual in which the player can read about the
background previous to playing.
Doom features the main protagonist, otherwise known as the ‘Doomguy’ as a
referred to by players, whom the player controls. After having been sent to the
planet Mars due to assaulting a commanding officer, the story proceeds to send
the character to Phobos, where the game begins and the player is left to fight
through the science complex. After fighting through the facility, the game leads
the player to a teleporter to Deimos, where the second chapter commences. It is
then revealed that Deimos had vanished to the Hell dimension. Later in the game,
the player finds a portal back to Earth where he/she finds out demons have
invaded the planet. Finally, the game informs the player that although the
character was valiant, the forces were too strong for him.
ProductionProcess –
The team that created Doom (which was also the same team that had earlier
developed Wolfenstein 3D) began development in 1922, whilst the other half
kept working on Wolfenstein. Upon the creation of a new 3D game engine which
would be later named the Doom Engine. Influenced by the science fiction, action,
horror genre, Doom had been inspired from a variety of pop culture references
2. Joao R. S. Dias
from movies. Many ideas of designer Tom Hall were discarded during the
development, and instead substituted by simpler designs, which also caused his
resignation. Also during this process, many of the characters and monsters were
drawn, painted and sculpted, whilst many of the weaponry featured were
inspired by toy guns.
Throughout production, many elements from Wolfenstein were implemented
and improved on, such as the room heights varying in Doom in contrast to
Wolfenstein, full texture mapping on surfaces were improved, and many other
factors. The game also featured moving platforms as to not make the game static,
more notably the bridges which rise and fall. At the same time, the game’s engine
allowed for players to load WAD files, which made the game expandable.
The production of the game formed a lot of attention between online forums and
groups, which led to much leaked information such as Alphas and screenshots.
As a result of the hype the game received, estimates showed that the game would
be installed on more computers than the then introduced Windows 95, forcing
Bill Gates to purchase id Software. This allowed the use of the game’s popularity
for advertisement purposes, leading to a showcase of the game. To further
advertise the operating system, a special level would be implemented into the
Microsoft Excel 95 version.
Characters –
Although many characters are mentioned in the backstory of the game, the game
itself features only the main character and the enemies, and did not require any
form of MoCap. Rather, character sprites are kept simple in order not to take
much space in the overall game, especially since it is for a handheld device with
such low capacity as the Game Boy Advanced. These characters include the
‘Doomguy’, which the player takes control of, the large variety of enemies
varying from undead soldiers to the demons themselves, and bosses such as the
Cyberdemon also featured in the game. This does not limit the producers
however, as the sprites for the characters are exceptional for a handheld game
such as Doom, incorporating pixelated blood and violence to a game far from
reality. Animations for these characters are also exceptional for the engine,
although slightly choppy.
Gameplay –
Since it is a first person shooter, Doom requires that the player shoots his way
around the various levels whilst collecting various power ups or new items. In
order to successfully progress through the levels however, the player is made to
explore each level for the exit switch, sometimes requiring that the player
acquires a special key card which grants access to said switch. The simplistic
button layout presented on the Gameboy does not allow for much variety,
making the game quite slow paced unlike other FPS’s yet it has the right feel and
pace for the game.
3. Joao R. S. Dias
Target Audience –
Due to its content, Doom has gained a lot of attention from adults and others
looking to scapegoat the video game as it contains a large amount of violence and
destruction, despite the lack of realistic graphics. Because of its themes, the game
can have a bad influence on younger audiences. As result, this puts it into the 15-
25 age range, target at males in the socio economic grouping class E. For this
reason, all other Doom games that followed are more suitable.
Platforms –
Originally released for the MS-DOS, Doom was later released onto a variety of
other platforms, such as the Gameboy Advanced, SNES, PlayStation etc. More
recently however, the game was released onto the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in
the form of a special edition.
PlayStation Portable: Obscure: The Aftermath –
Genre –
Obscure: The Aftermath, otherwise known as Obscure II, is part of the survival
horror genre and introduces a range of horroraspects to the player. The game
also features a third person view, almost second person camera, which means
the player is looking over their character’s shoulder or watching over them. The
game also features other aspects from various subgenres such as;
- Adventure: the game makes the player explore the world of Obscure, allowing
for further understanding of what the environment and atmosphere is like in
each stage
- Action: most horror games allow the player to fight back in certain instances,
with Obscure being one of those games. It presents the player with a variety of
weapons which the player is free to use as they please, more notably at the
beginning of the game in which the player receives a shotgun
- Puzzle: like any other survival horror game, puzzles are often used as a form to
entertain the player and keep new stages fresh as a form of avoiding repetition,
and helps maintain the game fun
Narrative / Storyline –
The events of Obscure: The Aftermath takes place two years after the events of
the first Obscure, where the characters from the previous game have now been
able to adapt to the experiments they were subjects to which involved a special
type of plant. However, a drug created from the previously mentioned plant
began circulating in the university which Shannon and Kenny attend, forcing
them to fight through a horde of mutants. Eventually all goes south when some of
the characters are killed off which leads the remaining group to the old
abandoned school from the first game, where they uncover some truths. Later
into the last stages of the game, more characters die until two are left standing to
take care of any family ties they still have. It is a good conclusion to the game as it
leaves nothing unanswered to the player and ends on a satisfying note.
4. Joao R. S. Dias
ProductionProcess –
A game developed by Hydravision Entertainment and composer Oliver Deriviere,
the game known as Obscure: The Aftermath first started its days as a concept.
The game was selected to run on RenderWare, which had been developed by
Criterion Software, the game was eventually published by Ignition
Entertainment and Playlogic Entertainment, each publisher selected according to
their individual regions. The game was developed by the team at Hydravision,
which would consist of a number of people. Due to the lack of MoCap technology
at the time, it would not have been used for such a game and would have
required a team of designers to produce the various stages and characteristics of
the characters. The game most likely ran through a Beta stage, in which selected
game testers would try out the game on the selected consoles. It would also go
through QA in which selected gamers would have to test designated areas of the
game.
The game would be finally released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and the
Wii, released in 2007 for Europe and at different times in 2008 for both North
America and Australia. However, the developers did not stop at consoles, as in
2009 a PlayStation Portable version was finally released as a response to the
amount of feedback they had received from fans. Eventually, the game would be
released for Steam later still in 2014. The game also received various amounts of
publicity from a range of game reviewing websites, such as Eurogamer and IGN,
all of which gave the game an above average rating of 6 to 7 out of 10.
Characters –
Obscure: The Aftermath features a variety of characters, some of which the
player is able to play as. The character roster includes the following;
- Shannon Matthews: sister of Kenny, she was subject to experiments which
gave her a strange ability, which she cannot cope with
- Stan Jones: after being sent to prison, he became a pizza boy who also
underwent the same experiments as Shannon
- Kenny Matthews: Shannon’s older brother, the two siblings attend the same
university. He too deals with the previous experiments
- Jun Wang: gamer girl who is every guy’s dream
- Sven Hansen: a baseball and hockey fanatic
- Mei Wang: twin sister of Jun, she is a hacker and a gamer
- Amy Brookes: blonde girl who exploits her good looks for her own purposes
- Corey Wilde: immature skater and car enthusiast
These characters were voiced by various voice actors such as Buster Cox, Amy
Sanchez, E. Renee Thomas and a few others. Obscure’s characters are likely to
not have been produced through the use of MoCap, as the graphics are not so
advanced as to require this function, however designers did go into detail with
characteristics in each of the playable characters.
Gameplay –
Obscure’s gameplay is straight forward and allows the player to become
accustomed to the gameplay style quickly, whilst slowly increasing the pace as
the player learns more. Due to it being on a handheld device, the controls don’t
5. Joao R. S. Dias
feel too much different from the standard controller, allowing console players to
also become accustomed to the controls. However, the design of the PlayStation
Portable does provide some discomfort to gamers as the layout makes the player
place their hands in strange positions so as to access the analogue stick. The use
of various buttons throughout the game is also very engaging, as it makes the
player use buttons which they would otherwise ignore. But again, this is not
always good as some actions require unusual button combinations, for example
the firing or swinging of a weapon requires the player to press R1 (right button)
to aim/prepare the swing and then press the designated button that the weapon
is set to, all whilst moving the aim according to the movement of the enemy. This
can be frustrating for gamers as it adds too much complexity onto a handheld
video game, and works much better on a console.
Target Audience –
Horror games are normally aimed at older audiences, due to the nature of the
video game and its contents. Content such as intense blood and gore can be
harmful to younger audience’s minds depending on how mature they are, hence
as a safety precaution, games such as Obscure should focus on targeting older
audiences. The ideal range for Obscure: The Aftermath is 17 – 27 years of age as
this audience has had time to mature and are less likely to be influenced by the
game’s content, as well as being more responsible. The game also seems to be
more aimed towards males rather than females due to the themes and certain
sections making the player play as the male. However, during the sections in
which the player has two characters at once, the player can in fact switch
between the characters and often change from the male to the female which
appeals to both genders.
Platforms –
Over time, Obscure has been released on a variety of gaming platforms.
Originally, Obscure II had been released onto Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2
and Wii, but later released onto the PlayStation Portable and renamed to
Obscure: The Aftermath.
Comparison–
There is a large difference between the original Doom and the second installation
in the Obscure series, despite the two sharing a spot in the horror genre. Doom,
being developed during 1922, means that the game has a large disadvantage in
the sense that technology was much different then than it was during the age of
Obscure, which had more possibilities available. For this reason, Doom was
forced to have limitations and could not be too technologically or artistically
advanced, which as stated previously caused an employee to resign. On the
contrary, Obscure was able to include more complex designs and had technology
to back this up, giving developers more choices in which direction they wanted
to go. Overall, the two games provide different and unique experiences to both
audiences.
