Game on
As many as 12 game franchises and series were launched in 2013. While three of them were instant hits, others got a thanda response. Has the Indian gaming community had too much of franchises and will this spell doom for the gaming worldIJ
“A lot of thinking goes into developing a second or third installment of a series. In fact, it is very difficult. In the last couple of years, we have seen huge gaming corporations not enjoying much luck with their releases, Assassins Creed (AC) Black Flag being one of them,” Tarun Katiyal, a game software developer based in Gurgaon, tells you.
He adds that the AC franchise was getting a little long in the tooth. “I abandoned the last of the franchise somewhere 2/3rds way down,” Katyial says. But there are other avid gamers and software developers who feel the latest franchise of AC is one of the best ever.
“Ubisoft has done a good job to bring together an interesting refresh of the franchise. From the use of darts, which makes a different in the gameplay to the introduction Ships and ship fighting. The ship fighting may not seem very realistic, but it gives a satisfying feel to overhaul a ship and get into a shooting match and win it,” 35-year-old Swapnil Sharma, says.
One of the other problems with this version of AC is that the developer has paid too much attention to the side missions — beating ships and forts can gets really addictive. So much so that the gamer would be more interested in these missions rather than concentrating on the actual game.
For game developers in India, side missions are something that an Indian gaming company has to master if it wants to be anywhere on the global map.
“We must learn from big corporations how to treat a franchise game. They pack every title with as many side features as possible. That acts as a pull rather than the main mission,” Katiyal tells you.
The Indian gaming industry needs a huge boost in terms of funding and skilled manpower. “People in the West have the best equipment needed to develop games of high standard. In India, we are still at the experimental level. But we are getting there,” Katiyal says.