Friday 17 May 2013

The Immersive World

The Immersive World

One of the things which truly impressed me about Metro 2033 was the world it was set in. There was a genuine sense of a post-apocalyptic society trying to survive while terrors, known and unknown, threatened their fragile existence. After about forty-five minutes of Metro: Last Light I can confirm that, for now at least, that living, breathing world continues to exist.

I think that an immersive world is important because it offers gamers the opportunity to take full advantage of what videogaming offers, compared to other forms of media, such as television or film. By its interactive nature, gaming draws (or at least should draw) players into a different world, a different role, a different sense of reality. This is where gaming should excel but often it falls short because too much time and energy is expended on producing games which look great but play and 'feel' like shit.

But then perhaps our so-called 'meh' approach to the world is also to blame. Should we sacrifice knowing cynicism for an opportunity to feel our experiences more passionately, even at the risk of being duped in the real world? Or is that pushing a link between gaming and the outside world a little too far?

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