Reward in Video Games

The definition of a reward is: an object given to the player character that grants him a boost in power, aesthetics or influence.

No. It doesn’t. I’m a damned liar and I don’t know better.

The truth is that a successful game shouldn’t think that graphics or game mechanics alone is what made it sell well and receive critical praise. It’s in the very foundation of the game itself. It’s not just game mechanics but the actions/motives that decide them. In any genre of game where shooting is involved, the reward for killing someone who may be armed, is possibly being able to pick up their gun or ammo, or to gain XP or health. Some games may not give out any of those obvious rewards, The reward is the sensation of killing something and watching it drop to the floor with a scream and a gurgle.

What Crysis 2 did so well is fuse that emotion of pulling the trigger, seeing the bright muzzle flash, and the resulting blood spatter on the walls into a continuous stream of reward. Make a gun feel powerful, or heavy, make a big gun with tons of ammo fun to fire and you’ve got the core foundation of the game down right. It’s common sense, but there are many games out there that make the mistake of dismissing the core “fun factor” of reward, nailing the feel of it before adding cool graphics and epic story.

Killing an alien in “Resistance: Fall of Man” wasn’t terribly fun. Guns didn’t feel real to hold,

it's a bit tough to fire, mind you.

nor particularly fun to fire, and the enemy death animations were rather boring. Same goes for “Metro 2033” in almost every way, the enemies fall immediately to the ground like old dogs,

Not at all what I meant. But it makes sense. That's all that matters.

without even the slightest indignation of wanting to live, you don’t feel like it was you who struck them down, but them, upon hearing gunfire having a heart attack and dying in the same breath.

Yosuke Hayashi, designer of the upcoming Ninja Gaiden 3 mentions that he wants people to feel “the life of the enemy slipping away as the player holds their sword in them”. He wants people to know that they caused death, they are responsible for the death of a human, and not a robot. That’s a very ambitious goal, and one that gives the player an emotional reaction. I am a huge fan of the series, and If I need a box of tissues to use after the death of each enemy, then so be it.

That was my biggest problem with “God Of War III”. Enemies that fill the screen that need to be taken out. They act like drones, making a B Line towards you, their code reads something like this:

If Instance_exists(Kratos)
{
Move_towards_instance(Kratos)
}

Well, that’s if the game was made in Game Maker, anyways.
The emotional impact could be improved further if the A.I in many games acted like it should, But like a benevolent child on Christmas, it must understand that pain brings reward.

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