PC Games - The art of storytelling
I am an occasional computer game player. Not a freak anyway!. 
But my favorites includes most of the hit games spreading across various genre. Age of Empires Series for RTS, Doom being the first 3D game, Halo for its compelling story, Doom 3 for its thrill and marvellous performance… well the list goes on and on. Oh yeah, did i forgot to mention that i loved “Jazz Jackrabbit” too ?
Recently I bought a nvidia 7600GS gaming card. It’s a pretty mid-range card with decent graphics power to push triangles and 3D geometry at more than 60fps with the current gaming trends.
Having purchased a good gaming card, I bought a new game.. which is considered as one of the benchmarking games for 2005 and still 2006. I will not get into game’s details, but rather I prefer to share my views about the art of story telling.
Before, let me share some of my views. Any game.. except the first few pioneers, rely on some out-standing feature to get succeed. Pioneers like Doom became a hit because it was the first 3D shooter game. Later clones, didnt shine that much.. and very few like Duke Nukem became a hit, coz it was different game. Lara Croft Tomb Raider was huge success, but it’s successors weren’t. Why? There are several reasons and one major reason I sense is the STORY.
Many game developers start with ‘just some story’ and end up developing technically superior game, but un-compelling story line. For how many days people will enjoy shooting demos and enemies? Not always.. as time progress, people’s expectations are gradually changing. They expect more from a game now.
How did Halo Combat evolved for PC became a smash hit? That game doesnt have any astonishing graphics engine.. no “busty” characters, just a predictable sci-fi plot, just a wonderful sound track, a good DX9 graphics. Did the sound tracks pushed the game to success? No ! Its the story-telling. Bungie designed the game in such a way, that the story is binded into the game. There is no great “puzzles” or ultimate-challenging deathmatch style voilence. But, there were many out-door sets making the people to interact with the world, rather than just run-around. The story was beautifically conveyed throughout the game.
On the contrary, the FEAR game, developed by Monolith and published by SIERRA, is one of the game, that fails to impress me. Though the game has a good plot, the game play was more repetetive, much like running through tunnels, finding hidden passages, regular guns.. 90% of the time, the gameplay happens in the indoor. There are no ‘wow’ or stunning worlds. Passages / steps / rooms / doors / tunnels / pipes,…. nothing new, compared to Quake or Doom. But the textures, objects and other small things are beautifully crafted. No wonder that game is treated as a 3D benchmark. But after finishing the game.. I felt nothing great. Just like yet-another-3d-game. 
I still love to play Halo again and again.. because the 3D world is more unique.. more involving.. and more over.. the story is unfolded as you move into each level, making you want more and more. Bungie’s style of story telling is amazing! Only a few games in this world use a good story.. and DELIVER it in the same spirit.
Very soon, people may start demanding more and more good stories, much like the movies. PC or Console games will start to meet such demands soon.. and that day is not so far!