Friday 25 January, 2008

Gameplay

This game is hard to describe. You run around a lot, you steal a lot of cars, you shoot a lot of pimps. What else is there to say? The mechanics are all artificial, there is no real incentive to keep going. The story is plain and not compelling, and none of the gameplay feels fresh or innovative. Simply put, it's a game to vent with. It succeeds at that, certainly, but has little other value at all.

Design

From a design perspective, I consider this game a failure. There is nothing in it that I haven't seen, and most of it I have seen in better games, with better execution. The function of this game appears to be to present itself as controversially as possible to gather a fan base. And according to the rave reviews and prestige surrounding the title, it did in fact succeed at that. I suppose there has to be some value in a game that does nothing new but garners attention worldwide, even pulling out all the stops with the "Hot Coffee" scandal. As such, this game succeeds in creating a Culture, but fails at creating valuable Play or interesting Rules.

You need to really describe the game more. In the gameplay you could have described rules such as is killing the pimps manditory. In the design you could have mentioned how the character develops throughout the game and the parodies of real life in the environment. If you need some help with ideas read the wikipedia article. --Chuck (grader)