6. Gameplay Variation
When you break them down, video games are nothing more than a repetition of the same action over and over again. Sure, environments may vary from level to level, but it all comes down to repetition. It is a game's job to hide this fact as much as possible, and this is achieved by engaging the player enough that they are having too much fun realize it. The more obviously repetitive a game is, the more likely that the player will grow bored quickly. In order to keep the player interested, developers have to spice the gameplay up by offering a different variety of tasks for them to perform. Early games were much more repetitive, having the player perform one of two actions at a time. However, as game design has gotten more complicated and sophisticated, so have the games, as developers continue to seek out ways to lessen the repetition. As a result, many games today can no longer be defined by any one genre, as more often than not they are hybrids. Take
Fallout 3 for example. It is at once a first-person shooter as it is an RPG, but it is also an open world action adventure game. The game consists of a multitude of tasks to occupy one's time, including exploration, gathering supplies, leveling up your stats, shooting, fetch quests, and talking to NPCs.
Fallout 3 is so varied that I doubt anyone could be bored by it. The
Uncharted series is another series that you get enjoyment out of because of its constantly rotating gameplay. It is a third-person action adventure game, so it has many shootouts, chase scenes, and explosions, but it is also a platformer, letting the player climb seemingly unclimbable structures and jump huge distances. Rocksteady's Batman games are so revered because they allow you to beat up the bad guys, take out guys in stealth, glide over roof tops, search crime scenes, and solve Riddler riddles, and these elements come together to make the player feel like Batman. More so than ever, the games of today offer a wide variety of gameplay styles that combine to create a single cohesive experience, and the games are all the better for it.