I’ve spent all of 2008 thus far slowly working my way through the annual cache of holiday-acquired games. I’m just about to finish up with DiRT, the offroad/rally racing game that I’ve mentioned before, and yesterday I started the latest installment in the venerable Call of Duty franchise.
While both of these games seem about as different as can be (and gameplay-wise, they certainly are), they share a common thread in that their graphic design has been impeccable. This is more readily apparent in DiRT, as you’re enveloped by Helvetica as soon as you load up the game. I’m serious; be prepared to budget an extra ten minutes or so just playing around in the menus; they are amazing. My favorite part has quickly become the metallic sheen on the gold/silver/bronze portions after you win races. There’s something remarkably special about it, and the menus as a whole are the icing on what is already a very strong game.
You’ll have to look a little further to be truly amazed by Call of Duty 4. Once you get to the cutscenes and mission intros, you’ll be treated to some blockbuster-quality footage. Honestly, and this may not sound great, but think of a Michael Bay movie. Not the blowing-stuff-up parts, but the exposition parts. And also Enemy of the State, that Will Smith movie. It’s just incredibly high-caliber work, and all I can think when watching is that Infinity Ward (the developers) must have been chomping at the bit to make a game that wasn’t set in 1945. Boy, did they kick some ass. All of this after the relative disappointment that was the previous installment (from a different developer), and the result is a disc full of awesome.
There seem to be an awful lot of those lately, and as a gamer, it delights me to be living in a time where games are becoming more and more powerful as a type of media. I love that so much effort and time has been into delivering not just good gameplay, but a good experience as a whole.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go fire up the 360.