Blood for Blood's Sake: HUM299 Gaming Journal

Key ideas represented: Gameplay is comprised of discovering rules while deciding whether or not to play. The idea of “Ludic Mediation”: Transmitting the “will-to-play” to the player. The idea of “Bi-Planar Behavior”: The player is engrossed in the game although he knows that after all it is only a game. Borderlands is a compilation of many borrowed ideas. Though the assets are unique, each of the games “bullet points” pays homage to another work, from the Mad Max-esque apocalyptic setting, the system of looting and leveling pulled directly from the Diablo games, or the direct translation of the controls of Call of Duty 4. It is a first person shooter that relies on the cycle of killing, looting, leveling and questing of recent role-playing-games to fuel the long-term experience. Quests are taken, wherein the player runs across enemies that, when killed, drop money, ammo, experience and weapons. These items are obtained, used to kill stronger enemies and progress on the game...

Civilization 4 is a turn-based strategy game on a strategic scale which attempts to provide a simplified and abstracted version of the growth of many societies throughout human history. The player takes the role of the undying emperor and guides a people from barely more than a tribe to a world-conquering empire. This victory can be achieved through military force, cultural influence, winning the space race, or diplomatic unity. Civilization presents a wide variety of choices for how your society progresses, all of which are based around real world developments. Discovering bronze working allows for your society to adapt slavery, for example. And the multiple paths to victory allow for replayabiltiy and flexibility in the games message. One of the most important aspects of CivIV is this flexibility towards your goal. You may choose a peaceful resolution, even if building up a stack of tanks and utterly crushing all those in your path is oftentimes easier (and more cathartic). Interes...