Last Moment Changes - Game Studies Week 7

Game Changer

Upon reflecting upon the feedback I received from Tece, I had remembered that she challenged the idea of me looking specifically at Uncharted 3 and The last of Us. Citing that all I would be saying is that Naughty Dog knows how to make their games different, although this is not how I actually approached this, as I was looking more at what was similar and how similar trends cross over between genres It made sense as well to change it. So as a last minute decision I changed Uncharted 3 out for a game in the same genre. I am now going to discuss the game I Am Alive by Ubisoft Shanghai. Not only are they in the same genre but they also share a similar beginning where both games are set in a future after an event that has crashed the society around us as we know it. Being both survival horror games as Tece noted I could talk about what they do right and what they do wrong being from the same genre. That's not say I wont use Uncharted 3 s an example its just that it would be a more minor role in my final artefact. I also wanted to look at how well both games did in comparison to each other and if colour could have played a role in this. And if so this would then give more backing to why colour is important in video games. Which is the heart and soul of my artefact. Playing I Am Alive, the first thing I thought was that the colours are far to washed out. I know it was meant to be this way from the games perspective, but it was not something that added to the experience rather it took away from what the game could have been. Everything is grey, or white, or near to grey. The way the game guides the player around was strange as well, rather than it be subtle the game would have a bright white light to show the player this was where you had to go. At the same time it would get caught up with the shinning light of the same. It just did not make much sense at all. If we were to contrast this to the Last of Us by Naughty Dog you can clearly see everything. In the Last of Us you still get that feeling of a survival horror but their use of colour is not as washed out or in colour theory terms lacking saturation. If anything the Last of Us is in complete opposite to that I Am Alive. Which for me helps make a great case as to why colour is important in video games. Even though the game is colourful you still experience that it is not the world that we are used to and that feeling of dread is still ever present within the game. This was an important factor to place into my artefact, it may be rushed but at the same time it would not convey the same thoughts that using Uncharted 3 as a contract would have, I hope by doing this that I can provide better proof for why colour is important.