Game Producer has compiled a list of the seven greatest features in games. Let’s take a little look at them!

Slow Motion

Although this can add a nice touch to a game, I don’t consider it one of the greatest features. Prince Of Persia: Rival Swords for the Wii also had it, but that changed nothing to the cold, hard fact that it’s a lousy game. I used some slow motion in Gridblaster, but I didn’t make it a key feature and the game wouldn’t be much different if I didn’t use it.

Shadows and lights

They are pretty much standard in 3D games now. Since I make sprite-based games I can make only very limited use of this. Although I agree they can create a great atmosphere for the game, there are some over-used clichés and incredibly predictable situations. Two examples:

  • A room that’s entirely lit, except for one spot under the stairs. Guess where the evil mutant alien is hiding! Doom 3 is especially notorious for this.
  • A long corridor with a switch at the end. When you activate it, the lights start going out in sequence. When it’s dark, suddenly red lights start flashing and an enemy appears. This was first used in Unreal, and was all new and exciting at the time. Today, however, it’s considered boring.

Destructible scenery

The first time I encountered this was in Crusader: No Remorse,  an isometric shoot-em-up released in 1995. Although you couldn’t fully destroy everything, you could inflict serious damage on the scenery. I have to agree with Game Producer on this: destructible scenery rocks!

Physics

Mmm… This should be a standard feature, not one that makes a game stand apart. Some genres need it more that other, such as racing simulators, but decent physics is a basic requirement.

Particle fire

Definitely a must have! This is one of the things I truly enjoy experimenting with. Torches, explosions, rocket engines, barrels with bruning trash, there’s plenty of use for these in any kind of game!

Reflecting and transparent water

Nice, but in my opinion nothing too special. A standard feature in 3D games.

The tiny details

Things you don’t notice at first, but  make you go “WTF?” when you finally do. My favorite one of all time was the Nine Inch Nails logo on the nailgun ammo boxes in Quake. Trent Reznor did the soundtrack for Quake, by the way. Quake rocked bigtime. Nine Inch Nails still rocks bigtime.

And a few features I like to add to the list myself:

Good artificial intelligence

Picture this. Two guards guarding a gate, standing a few meters apart. You shoot one in the head with your sniper rifle. The other one doesn’t even move. His comrade’s head just exploded but he doesn’t even notice. Not exactly realistic, is it? A game that had a great AI was Commandos. You had to make sure you stayed out of the enemy’s line of sight and had to time your actions very precisely. Also, when you had disabled a guard, you had to hide his body, because when someone else noticed it, they would sound the alarm. Okay, they never noticed the guard was gone, but then it wouldn’t be possible to raid a submarine bunker full of nazis with a five person team.

A good storyline

According to John Carmack, a story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. There should be one, but it’s not really important. Still, a good storyline can make the difference between a good game and a great game. What sounds the most interesting. A secret experiment opens a gate to another dimension and unleashes a horde of demons (blasting demons is always fun, but this one is a bit overused). Or, you are a prisoner on a transport wich crashes on a distant planet, where you find yourself in a war between the peaceful natives, who think you are a god sent to help them, and agressive alien invaders. To make my point: a good background story is something that should be paid attention to.