Saturday 14 November 2015

LO1 Game Analysis of Fallout 4 - 9/10

Fallout 4 - Tested on the PlayStation 4 Platform

The genre of Fallout 4 is open world, action role-playing. The game can be changed from first person to third person by the press of a button. It shows stylistic conventions of the genre by including action with guns and violence, a whole array of weapons to choose from. Also you are able to take control of the protagonist and immerse yourself in that storyline. Compared to other games within the genre, it differs quite a bit, the narrative is more directed and clear.

The narrative of the game is that the protagonist has been the victim of a nuclear fallout world, as the nuclear bombs were dropped him and his family were evacuated underground where they were frozen for over 200 years. But his child was abducted and his wife murdered, your task is to now wander the post-apocalyptic lands full of nuclear fallout and mutated creatures and brain rotten ghouls to search for your son, Shaun.  Your other main objective is to lead the minutemen, and recruit a new group. The story heavily informs the gameplay, it affects how your health works, and part of your health bar is depleted if you come into contact with anything radioactive. It also affects the scenery and background that the character is travelling across, full of rusted vehicles and infected rivers. It also affects the characters drive and ambition to survive, the reason why you’re scouring the lands. The narrative affects how you approach new characters; it makes you cautious and uneasy around them in case they are hostile. The story directly connects with the target audience being fans of the role playing genre, this game allows you to indulge yourself in the immersive narrative of the protagonist and escape reality.

Fallout was originally created by Interplay Entertainment, but now Bethesda Softworks now own the right to produce all the games. Its setting is atom-punk retro-futuristic and the artwork is influenced by the post-war culture of 1950’s America. The game was published by Bethesda Softworks. Unlike the previous two titles of Fallout, Fallout 4 didn’t use the Gamebyro engine, but used the Creation Engine previously used in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The game runs at 1080p and 30 frames per second. The production of the movement of the character was enhanced to make combat smoother. Elements such as game mechanics manage to enhance gameplay by making it seem more realistic and easier to control, it makes combat smoother and jumping and running more realistic.

Characters are extremely relevant to the target audience, as seen as the target audience is fans of the genre, action-role playing, it is very important that the character development and personalities and portrayed perfectly in order for the audience to immerse themselves in the game. The more interesting and the more their relevance to the story line, the more the players will connect with them. The characterisation matches the conventions of the genre by having characters that are; driven, developed and immersive. In terms of the strength of the characters, they are very original and developed and very strong in that respect. Some of the main characters are; the Protagonist, Shaun, Sturges, Codsworth, Mama Murphy.

The challenges of the gameplay are to maintain your health, scavenge for supplies and participate in battles which contain a mix of stealth and strategy. As well as navigating across the lands trying not to come in to contact with radioactive materials. There are various difficulties, ranging from easy to difficult, which is perfect to engage the players which are enticed by their specific play style and difficulty. This can also be enhanced by the gameplay constantly evolving and being developed by having update and releasing DLCS’s. Some of the main elements of the gameplay are key to the games success are; the ability to switch from first to third person, containing a layered armour system, base building, a dynamic dialogue system and in depth crafting system as well as immersive gameplay. The gameplay directly engages with the narrative by holding true to the story and following a path, also the fact that supplies need to be scavenged and conserved. As well as having a Pip Boy app to enhance the gameplay further.

The target audience for this game is generally teenagers and young adults, as well as fans of the action-role playing genre. It appeals to the teenagers by having a lot of action and player interaction, as well as a wide array of weapons. It connects with the fans of the genre by having an immersive narrative and characters that can be connected with, producing an indulging experience. In comparison to other games targeting the genre, it is fairly similar, as seen as the target audience is directly linked to the genre, other games will show similar stylistic conventions and therefore have similar qualities.

The platform that the game is available on is the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. I don’t think that it is suited to any one of these consoles in contrast to the others; they are all suited towards the game. The Pip Boy app however can be used to connect with the consoles but not the PC. The game is suited to all these platforms by being able to support and process the frame rate and high quality graphics of the game.

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