Monday 14 January, 2008

GAMEPLAY
During the second round of Guitar Hero 3, I moved up to medium. I started becoming really selfish and never wanted to give up the guitar because I realized the more and more I played, the better my skills were becoming. The game became more fun to play because I started playing harder songs and actually getting through them instead of failing them. Also I noticed that much of this game relies on memorization. In example, my favorite song is Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones, the more and more I played it, the easier the song became because I didnt have to look at the screen for certain parts because my fingers had memorized the notes.
I also tried starting my own band, which is when you can pick from a variety of rockers and choose everything from their outfit to thier guitar. Playing in a band was more fun than quickplay because you actually follow a storyline and you want to keep getting through to the next level because you uncover more songs. Some songs even lead to an encore, which was usually a classic song such as Kiss's I wanna Rock and Roll All Night. Overall my second round in Guitar Hero 3 was more satisfying and gratifying than the first round for the simple fact that I beat my roommate in almost every song. :-)
GAME DESIGN
The game stayed interesting to me throughout the whole time because of things such as StarPower which is when you hit enough notes in a row and then lift your guitar, turning the notes silver instead of their usual color. This doubles your score and forces you not to rely on the notes color but rather on their place. Also the fact that you can change the levels of game play, from easy to medium to hard and even expert, keeps the game interesting because once you think you've mastered your skills, you realize how much harder the game can actually be.
If I could change the game, I would add more songs to the levels because that would keep the excitement in uncovering new songs consistent throughout play. I would also change the characters so that when you play a song the actual band would be displayed according to the song, instead of some made up characters. Nothing in the actual game design actually frustrated me other than my own skill level, but the little cheesy lines before I would play a song started becoming annoying especially when they said that I sucked. But I really enjoyed the satisfaction in completing a song and and having the screen say "You Rock!"

A good initial entry. In future entries try to ask yourself why these games are making you do the actions or feeling the way it is and ask if it makes the game better or worse from a design perspective. Try to stay away from a play by play entry of what it was like to play the game.

The chances are we have played the games you choose, especially very popular games, and you should spend that space writing more on design opposed to wha tthe game is about.