Computer Game Genres
What is a game genre? It is the type of game.
FPS:
An FPS is a First Person Shooter. What this means is that you
are viewing the world through the characters eyes. What you would commonly see
in first person would be your characters hands and weapon (if you are holding a
weapon). FPS games usually include you killing enemies.
Call of Duty: Ghosts is an FPS game. A game in which you are
playing as a character where you are part of a “crippled nation fighting not
for freedom, or liberty, but simply to survive”. The story behind the game is
that the “balance of global power have been redrawn forever” and you are part
of a group who are known as “Ghosts”.
The gameplay also takes place in different places. For
example, when you first start off the campaign you are an astronaut up in space
and then further on in the story line you are under water defeating enemies.
The engine that was used to make Call of Duty: Ghosts was the IW engine
(Infinity Ward). This is an engine was specifically designed for the Call of
Duty series.
Horror:
Horror is a genre in which intends for the gamer to feel
frightened, or see something gruesome, tense etc. Horror games usually use
music to help bring across the emotions the gamer is meant to feel.
The Outlast is a “psychological horror” game which takes
place in an asylum for the “mentally ill”. You play as a journalist who is
trying to find out what is happening exactly inside of this asylum. However,
there is an outbreak. The mental patients are all around inside the asylum,
some chase after you and try to kill you whereas others just do strange things.
A common thing you will see in this game is blood, guts and gore.
Fantasy
Fantasy type games involve improbable things and actions. These actions are things you cannot do in the real world or contain objects that aren’t real. Fantasy games are very imaginative games, they contain a lot of characters and usually magic (dependant on the game).
Final Fantasy XIII is a hybrid game, falls under the genres of fantasy and RPG (role playing game). In this game, you are playing as a character viewing in 3rd person. The story line uses chapters and you have to complete each chapter to progress. Along the way you will encounter enemies and you will be introduced to the battle system when you first fight. The battle system requires button combinations. Furthermore, whilst battling you can summon "Eiodolons", use magic and weapons. The setting certainly proves a great example for it being a fantasy type of game, you are in an “utopia” in the sky, a world called the Cocoon which was created 13 centuries ago however “peace and prosperity” is no more in that world.
RPG:
RPG, known as Role-Playing Game is a genre in which you play
as a character and you have a certain role to play in that game.
A good example of a RPG is Pokémon. You create a character at
the beginning of the game and you are introduced into the world of Pokémon. It
pretty much has the same start in every single Pokémon game. You have to follow
the story line in order to progress, to visit different cities and places, and
sometimes to even visit a different region (a region in which is usually only accessible
in another game). Your role in the game is to simply try to catch every Pokémon
and become the Pokémon league champion.
Puzzle:
Puzzle games
are there to test your knowledge and skill. The majority of puzzle games have
different levels. The more puzzles you do the harder it gets. Additionally,
some puzzle games use the puzzles in order for you to progress. If you cannot
complete the puzzle then you cannot move forward in game.There are two examples in which fall under the genre of puzzle, two very different but similar games. The first example is Portal. This game is played on the PC and you have to buy it from steam. Portal is a game in which you use two settings of the weapon you are given. There is an orange setting and a blue setting. Both settings when used creates a “Portal” in the wall in which you can walk through. When both portals are placed down you are able to access different areas of the room in which you could not access before. In order for you to progress you have a set of obstacles to get through and you have to possibly open doors and place blocks on things to trigger something to reach the end goal.
Another example of a puzzle game would be Candy Crush Saga. This game is
commonly played on smartphones. Candy Crush Saga is a puzzle game in which you
have to select the same type of candy in a row more than 3. Your objectives do
change when you are progressing higher in the game. Your objective could
possibly be to reach a certain score or it could be to get some amount of fruit
to drop down.
Sport
Sport type games involve different types of sport in which
you can play that you could not possibly play in the real world, such as
professional basketball or football. Some of these sport games allow you to
play as a professional in which sport their profession is in.
A very
popular sport game series is FIFA. FIFA is a sport game in which its gameplay
revolves around football. You get to choose which football team you play as and
then you play matches. In the match you can switch between football players on
your team. You can also play against other people if you want to.
Simulator:
Simulator games are used to mimic what you can do in the real
world. These games are designed for gamers in general or for the disabled so
they can get a feel of what they want to do in the real world.
An example
of a simulator would be the Sims series. The Sims 4 in particularly comes with
a lot more features than the previous series. In The Sims 4, you are able to
create a character in which can look like anyone, there are so many features
you can change about your character. Then you will start off the game by buying
a house with the limited amount of money you have. Further into the game, you
can develop relationships and friendships with whom you please and then get a
job. The money you get from the job is used to pay for food, bills and whatever
else you want to purchase. The best feature about The Sims 4 is that now you
can actually attend the work place you are working at and do the tasks
yourselves.
Another example of a simulator would be the Farming Simulator. In this game, you get to see what it is like being a farmer. What you get to do in this game is tend to the crops, look after the animals and cultivate your land. You are also able to expand your farm. This game is available on a lot of gaming platforms such as Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, 3DS and PS Vita.
Survival
Survival games rely on you to keep your character alive. Some
survival games require you to start from scratch, this meaning you need to
build your own home and grab your own resources. Whereas, other survival games
(hybrid genres) just rely on you to keep your character alive. These types of
games usually fall under the genres horror/survival games.
An example of a survival game in which younger children would
be would be Minecraft. Minecraft is available across a lot of platforms. Within
this game you start off with no resources at all other than a map. In order to
survive you have to keep an eye on your health and your food bar. Players have
to build a home/base area for them to stay in overnight as the “mobs”
(monsters) come out only at night or in caves. You have to grab the resources
yourself and create different objects in which can help you survive. There are
also design elements to this survival making it very enjoyable.
Another example would be Ark: Survival Evolved. This
game is about you keeping your player alive on an island filled with dinosaurs.
There are many things you have to keep an eye in order to survive, such as;
Food, Water, Stamina, Health, Weight and fortitude. The weather can deeply
affect your survivor. The heat gradually lowers your health and water and the
cold can lower your health and food. You will have to grab resources, level up
and make a base for you to survive in. Staying along the coastline is safer
than staying the forests and mountains. You can tribe up with other people this
allowing them to access the base and any storage boxes you have got. A great
way for you survive on this game would be to tame quite a few dinosaurs. It is
a lot easier to get around the map with dinosaurs.
Tower
Defence:
Tower defence games are games in which you need to stop
enemies from reaching your base/place/goal. You would most likely have to build
obstacles to stop them from getting to your area.
Plants VS Zombies is a tower defence game. You either defend
as the zombie team and attack the plants or you can defend as the plants and
attack the zombie team. There are different plants/zombies that you can play as
and you can change the abilities they have. Some of these abilities may be
considered as useful for defending your ground, it is up to you to decide which
abilities you choose or not. There are different modes that you can, play online
or play locally with friends.
Dance/Rhythm
These games involve you dancing to some beat and you having
to correctly do the moves in which appear on the screen. Your moves are
monitored by some kind of device. E.g. a dance mat, a remote, Kinect etc.
A classic game on the PS2 which fits into this genre is Dance
UK. With this game you have to purchase a dance mat. You would use the mat to
select which song you want to perform. Then whilst the music plays a series of
arrows will appear on the screen. These arrows slowly move out towards the
arrows which are on the mat, on the screen. When the arrows reach on the mat on
the screen then that is when you use your foot on the correct arrow on the
dance mat. The difficulty is based on which song you choose. 