Games are not just simple entertainment products or art… sometimes they are a world full of wonders. For instance, developers often make players think they are safe, only to deliver a twist right in the face of gamers to teach us a lesson about not trusting everything we see at first glance.
In part 1, we explored various creative tricks used by developers to create blockbuster game titles. Now, let’s continue to discover what will astonish gamers!
Doom & Assassin’s Creed – The Less Health, The More Resilient
Both of these games have a common point, which is that they manipulate the health bar of the main character to prolong the battles a little longer. If you pay attention, you’ll feel like when embodying Doomguy, you are like Rambo, continuously firing without any fear of death even with hordes of demons charging at you. Or in Assassin’s Creed, although the main character is an assassin, he is quite tough, able to take hits just as well as some muscular fighters.
However, the reason you feel the main character is so resilient is because developers have fine-tuned your health bar, giving you the impression that the character is about to die with a nearly empty health bar, but in reality, there is still quite a bit left, enough to endure a little longer to turn the tides. In other words, the developers are giving you one last chance before… game over.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary – Real-time Graphics Change
This is not a secret feature and does not significantly affect gameplay, but it is quite unique. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary was released in 2011, and this graphics-changing feature surprised many gamers. The reason is that with just one button press, you can smoothly switch back and forth between the old and new graphics.
To achieve this, the developers used two engines simultaneously, allowing players to change graphics on-the-fly without needing to exit to the main menu to set it up again, which is quite convenient.
Left 4 Dead 2 – AI Targets the Best Player
Shooting zombies in Left 4 Dead 2 is a lot of fun, especially when you have teammates playing along. But what’s special about this game lies in the “A.I Director”. It’s quite intelligent and always knows how to make you adhere to the “rules”. For instance, if you stray too far from the group, the Director will summon zombies to attack you; or if you perform too well, the Director will notice and zombies will swarm towards you more. It’s like you are being hunted if you act “abnormally”.
Alien Isolation – Alien Has “Two Brains”
The mechanism in this game is quite similar to hide-and-seek, but interestingly, the Xenomorph almost always predicts the movements of the main character Amanda Ripley. The reason is that this alien creature has “two brains” that are always in a state of contradiction with each other.
One will always know where you are hiding, while the other is completely unaware but will always hunt Ripley. This mechanism makes Alien Isolation unique and very realistic. If it only had the second brain, gamers could just throw something to create a noise to lure the Xenomorph away, and it would be an “easy game”.
Bioshock – Enemies Always Miss Their First Shot
Developer Ken Levine shared on Twitter that to make it easier for gamers in the underwater city of Rapture, he adjusted it so that the first shots from enemies in Bioshock always miss. This way, your journey through Rapture will be much easier, giving you the feeling of being a true “super soldier” who can traverse enemy fire unharmed.
Source What Culture translated by Gearvn