N'Gai Croal
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Jan 7, 2008 03:54 AM
Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli, whose Windows PC game Crysis shipped in November of 2007
When we're conducting an interview with a
developer, the bulk of our time is spent discussing their current
project. But after the voice recorder is turned off and the liquor is
flowing, the conversation almost inevitably shifts to videogames made
by other teams working in the same genre as that developer. For us,
it's always fascinating to look at games through the eyes of those who
make them, because they often see things through a different set of
eyes than the typical gamer; the same can be said of reviewers who are
particularly knowledgeable about a certain genre. As part of our
ongoing quest to take the best conversations that are occurring in the
shadows and bring them to light, we offer you the new occasional series
Make or Break, which asks prominent developers and reviewers to share
with us the five key features, details, methods or flaws that they look
for from games in the same genre.
Our newest contributor is Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli.
His company first won attention for the large, lush environments and
open-ended gameplay in the 2004 title Far Cry, which was published by
Ubisoft. Its second game, the military sci-fi thriller Crysis, was
released last November to rave reviews for its landmark visuals. In
today's
installment, Yerli explains what he looks for in a first-person shooter.
2007
has been a fantastic year for gamers. A lot of excellent games were
released, all fighting for my limited time and attention. Here are the
qualities that kept me playing games even while crunching on Crysis.
Every one of them is a make or break criterion; a potential stopping
point for me whether playing or even when we're designing our own
productions here at Crytek.
Portal, developed by Valve Software as part of Half-Life 2: The Orange Box, and published by Electronic Arts
1. Make me feel smart
Why it matters:
I like to feel smart, and I like to win. Games should account for this
by balancing challenge and reward, skill and intellect, in the right
mixture. The core gameplay should be easy to learn. One of the few
games I actually finished and was sad to see end was Portal, although the song made up for it.
The
core mechanic is deceptively simple--a gun-like device that makes two
holes that the player can pass through--but it manages to give me
enough complexity to keep me wanting to solve the next puzzle.
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