U - Uninspired

Everything in the PC gaming world seems to be very uninspired these days. From the gameplay to the graphics to the character development. Why don't they care anymore?

Yes, there are some gorgeous games out. Games that look absolutely amazing. Games that are awe-inspiring to look at. Games with visuals that I wasn't sure that I'd ever see. Then you realize... it's just a slightly higher pixel count than what came before it and you still see those jagged edges. Crank the graphics as much as you want. Turn your AA and AF up, but you'll still see it... because you care.

The games LOOK fantastic, but it's all stuff we have seen before. Rarely are we given a new and interesting approach. Jungle, desert, spaceship, urban cityscape, creepy underground dungeon area. We've seen them all before. I know there isn't a whole lot out there to explore. Prey really flipped the world upside down. You played in two worlds, the visuals weren't amazing, but they were cool enough that you didn't care. It was an interesting take on conventional gameplay.

The character development has been going downhill for a while. You have this good guy who is kind of walking the line between good and bad, sort of. It's kind of cheap and lame. What about something that is less in the middle or where you complete a game without massive casualties? Look at how well Portal played out. Amazing game with a deep story and the character never had to develop. We still don't know much about the character in the game. We get subtle hints along the way, but nothing substantial. At least they aren't a super psycho laying waste to city streets.

Gameplay has continued to become frighteningly repetitive. Which is probably our fault. We find a formula that works and then we want it everywhere. What CS did for shooters, what WoW has done for MMOs. It just works and it's still good. We still have games where you hit E to get into a Jeep, start it up and start driving. Interaction is completely overlooked. Why can't there be a chance that it doesn't start? It's not that I want realism, but I want variety.

Everything just seems so uninspired. No one is trying to push the envelope or innovate. We simply stagnate. How many Halos or CoDs do we have to go through to get something that is new and inspired? TF2 is probably better than both of those games, but doesn't get near the respect because it isn't a console success. It's sad. Then again, TF2 and their mall is pretty sad these days... but that's a rant for a different day.