What Makes A Good Game?

Ah, the question that many debate over in video games. What makes a game as good as it possibly can be? What makes it have a chance as one that can stand the test of time? Like in the opening statement has already said, it's very debatable. So let's just go through the three main aspects I find are important in creating a video game, otherwise known to me as The Principles of Gaming.

First, let's start with the story that it features. Now with this, it comes down to what any good story should do. Does it engage you? Does it pull you in? Does it make you think? In a nutshell, a story should always make you want to keep going forward. For example, let's take the story in the Mass Effect series and what it brings. It's a straight forward story, man saves the galaxy from various threats in the future for the survival of man kind and for all species of life. Seems boring when put in those terms doesn't it? But the way it grips you is that the man, or woman, saving the universe is yours. You create what your vision of Commander Shepard should be, and you are thrown into it all.

Still seem boring?

Well, take in the way the story is told and how it shapes out. Its all based on how you chose what path to follow. The path of the Paragon, the good guy who does no wrong, or the path of the Renegade, the bad boy that takes no prisoners is what helps pull you into it. And then there's the setting, the way that those choices are played out with the back drop, the music, the ideal of the fate of many worlds in your hands to save and only you can save. Mass Effect tells its story in such a way that you can't help but feel betrayed at the very end of it in some ways, and believe me, you'll find no end in the amount of forums or YouTube comments discussing this every day. But that's because it was your Commander Shepard that you spent hundreds of hours playing and devoted to it.

There's also the tragic tale of Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto 4, a man trying to rid himself of past sins only to be brought back into the same life that caused those sins, and the same with John Marston in Red Dead Redemption, both products of Rockstar Games. Rockstar is just one of a few companies known for its amazing story telling, as is Ubisoft with its Assassin's Creed series. There's the entire Legend of Zelda series, the Uncharted series from Naughty Dog, and of course there's the God of War series. I mean honestly, there's a number games out there that stand the test of time or become some of the best of its era because of the story telling that it brings with it. The Legend of Zelda has done this on many occasions and has proven time and again why it's one of the greatest game franchises of all time. So it's not just this generation of games that follows a great story as a principle but past ones as well.

But the story is only part of what makes a game good.

The second part is of course game play. A story is only good in a video game if the game play matches it. And it's not always multiplayer that takes center stage to make a game amazing. Let's take the success of the Uncharted series again and show what makes it amazing. You of course have the action adventure aspect of the game, platforming, and the shooter aspect of the game all combined perfectly in many reviewers eyes (I should cite that, but as this is a blog and quite honestly you can look up the reviews, I don't see the point). One minute you're climbing on a ledge of a train hanging off a cliff and looking for the next thing to grasp onto to pull yourself up, the next minute you could be in the middle of a gun fight while looking at a magnificent temple. All of it is combined into a perfect meld in a Hollywood film style cinematic game play that is becoming more and more prevalent into today's generation. And of course it had multiplayer installed in the second game of the series.

Another fine example of game play that captivates the gaming community is Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. The open world RPG (Role Playing Game) in previous installments has always been enjoyed by its loyal fans, but this installment has taken on another level of immersion not thought possible. The way that it has brought a new leveling system, its dual handed combat where steel swords and magic can be combined in various ways, a world that has so many quests that it takes two hundred hours MINIMUM to explore a part of it. Think about that for just a second. A sixty dollar game today usually may last an average of ten to maybe twenty hours. This game takes it way past that.

That's not to say that a game has to last that long to be enjoyed. Batman Arkham City, the sequel to Batman Arkham Asylum, created a masterpiece for the Batman franchise that fans wanted after the first game. The simplistic, but fun combat system combined with Batman's many gadgets, an open world to explore, solve the Riddler's riddles and defeating many of the Dark Knight's iconic foes, including of course the Joker made it one of the best games of 2011. That game lasted for me around twenty hours, and each one was amazing to play because of the game play that it had that was so much fun to play. It basically made me continue onward.

But as with today's generation, multiplayer is also a key factor in many games now such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, Ghost Recon, Uncharted, Assassin's Creed and so on. It's the lasting nature of the games that makes people want to keep buying and playing them. Things like the intense shooting matches in Call of Duty, the sneaking but high adrenaline of Assassin's Creed, or the vendetta fueled shooter of a new comer to multiplayer in Max Payne 3 are what today's gamer want and as a result have actually made gaming cool to the public. It's what makes some of these games worth buying to the person, worth spending the money to have these games. But as I have said, it's not always the multiplayer that makes the game, but it can be a big part of it.

And my third basic principle is the intelligence of the game. Now what I mean by this is that the game has to make you...well, think. When we saw Watch Dogs at this year's E3, we saw that the player had to think wisely about his next move, about how to take out his enemies without becoming exposed while using cover in a way to protect himself, all the while trying to save a high value target. Now we've seen this been used before in shooters such as the Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six series where squad based tactics are king, as well as the Splinter Cell series where you cannot blow your cover as a stealth undercover agent, all from military novelist Tom Clancy. A game should have to make you think about choices that you are making and what the consequences could be when you make that choice It also to me has to make you think about the world as whole, what can happen to us in a game like The Last of Us which releases next year, it has to make you connect with your character in a way that you almost think like him or her and almost become that character in a way.

Those thoughts are just how I feel, everyone shares different styles of thought and may find something else to wonder about. That's my point in what I'm saying. If a game doesn't make you think for a least a second about something around you or what's happening in the game then to me, it isn't anything more than mindless play, but that's alright.

All these principles that I have are what makes an amazing game to me. If you're someone that enjoys simply going around shooting things in Call of Duty or something of that nature, then I respect your decision because it's what you chose to do. It's a difference of opinion and I have to respect that, but....doesn't mean I have to like it though, especially when I play online in Ghost Recon.

And that's where a hidden fourth main principle of mine comes into play, and it's quite simple. One, all these factors together make my type of an amazing game. Two, even if one of these is lacking, it doesn't mean a game can't be fun to play and engaging in some sort of way.

As a final note, in case you were wondering what games have done this for me in my life, I have them listed for you here since my SNES days. That's not to say that these games are the greatest of their era because they aren't, but they're the ones that have made me feel amazed by them. I'll show my top 5 at the bottom of the list. This is all compromised of what I've learned as I've gotten older and become wiser in my quest of gaming so if it's a little more modern, well it's because I'm young so don't be offended.

- Super Mario 64
- Super Mario Galaxy
- Super Mario Galaxy 2
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
- Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
- Grand Theft Auto 4
- Red Dead Redemption
- Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
- Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
- Fallout 3
- The entire Mass Effect series (until the ending)
- The entire Assassin's Creed series
- Batman Arkham Asylum
- Batman Arkham City
- The entire God of War series
- The original Jak And Daxter trilogy
- Dead Space 1
- Dead Space 2


Quite a lot right? (Laughs) Well, I'll bring it down to my top 5 here for you to kind of get a better idea.

- Grand Theft Auto 4
- Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- Assassin's Creed 2
- Red Dead Redemption


- That's it for now. This will be posted on the Game Informer website on my blog under thomasg2488 later on tonight for your viewing pleasure as well. Feel free to leave a comment and thanks for reading


- Written by Thomas George.

Apocalyptic Love Review

Now if you haven't heard, Slash has become a big idol in the last five years. Since his days past in Guns N' Roses, he's been apart of many things. From his biography, to Slash's Snakepit, to movies, to Velvet Revolver and eventually a solo album to go with it, Slash has emerged as an artist all his own and not the often overused "former guitarist for Guns N' Roses." Now, twenty-five years after the release of Appetite For Destruction in 1987, he along with the other members of the 90's era of Guns N' Roses, Slash have been inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame. It seems fitting that he has released another solo album that I see could be considered a truly great album to the eyes of many, perhaps his best work since Use Your Illusions 1 and 2.

Apocalyptic Love is straight rock n' roll. There's no overuse of piano, no big effects, no cowbell, it's guitar, drums, bass, vocals and the occasional wah wah pedal (and a talk box in the Deluxe Edition). It's Slash at his finest with Myles Kennedy returning as the the sole singer and rhythm guitar to be on the album. Todd Kerns returns from the same tour on bass and backing vocals as well as Brent Fitz. And if what I said earlier doesn't hit, I'll say it again.

It's straight rock n' roll.

And that's what we want to see from Slash and company. But if you compare this to his first solo album, you feel a sense that there is more of a unity or bond between the band members, which they of course did on the last world tour to support the album. That chemistry has transitioned over to this album nicely as each song doesn't disappoint, something that not many albums can be said of, but I may be a bit biased on this of course. I've heard other albums of my favorite artists and I always had that sense of some disinterest in the album at some points, here though each song keeps me going. It seems that with Slash and Myles understanding each other completely of what this album is meant to be.

It at last seems Slash has found a vocalist that knows what they are best at and isn't filled with ego, but I'll keep my fingers crossed just in case.

As for the sound, well of course in each, you get what to expect from the Cat in the Hat. Raw, blues based, heavy distorted rock and roll from his Les Paul guitars. But don't assume that it's the same traditional intro, riff, chorus, riff, chorus, solo, end style. That template is followed, but the way that it's done in various tone in each, different style riffs, different tempos, the songs each have their own feeling to them and each could probably be a single down the line. A key example of this is on possibly the best track called "Anastasia."
You get an acoustic neo classic intro that drives into a symphonic style of guitar riffs with a chorus that is simple, but makes you like you're in a orchestra of rock. Of course the first single "You're A Lie" is a classic Slash style that we take from other songs like "Paradise City," "Slither," or "You Could Be Mine."

However, you really can't say that's the albums top highlight because the entire album gives that Appetite For Destruction or Boston's debut record feeling that every song is amazing in its own way. From the opening track "Apocalyptic Love" to "Bad Rain" to "Anastasia" you just can't help but fall in love with this record, especially if you're a rock enthusiastic or guitar player.

And I of course can't leave out Myles Kennedy completely. He's probably this generations greatest voice. He's been considered to be a part of Led Zeppelin and ironically enough Velvet Revolver back in 2003. Now of course, that did not happen but he seems to have realized that this was an amazing opportunity for him and a second chance to work with Slash. Sometimes his vocals are hard to understand, but once you hear the album enough, you can. And the lyrics aren't deep, but because this is a rock n' roll album at heart, they don't need to be. I hope that if there is a third solo album, Myles is on it because he's really the only man I'd consider at this point to be able to work with Slash. In fact, I hope this group is one that stays together if Velvet Revolver doesn't get a singer anytime soon, which it doesn't look like it.

Apocalyptic Love won't wow the main stream radio stations or the ones that more into modern music, but that's not who this meant to be listened by. And I think an unfortunate product of how amazing Guns N' Roses sounded in their hey day, this album won't get the credit it deserves. It has the feelings of GN'R album, the sound of one, the make of one. Because in my honest opinion, it's the best work Slash has done since Use Your Illusion. That isn't knocking what he's done since then, but I haven't heard an album quite like this in a LONG time. Hopefully in time, this album will gain the recognition it deserves. You can't look at it as an album that changes everything, because it doesn't. It's rock n' roll, good song structure for each, not too short, not too long. It's Slash, what else can I say.

Here's the track list for you to check out from the Deluxe Edition, the * representing my personal favorites.

1. Apocalyptic Love *
2. One Last Thrill *
3. Standing In The Sun
4. You're A Lie *
5. No More Heroes
6. Halo *
7. We Will Roam
8. Anastasia *
9. Not For Me
10. Bad Rain *
11. Hard & Fast *
12. Far And Away
13. Shots Fired *
14. Carolina
15. Crazy Life *