572 Fixed Cameras In 3D Games

Were these ever a good idea?

No.

Not really, anyway. In the early days of fixed-camera systems in 3D action games, their intensions were good. Freeing up the player from the stressors and bother of fiddling with their right analog stick to adjust the camera opens up lots of options for game designers.

But, other than the old Resident Evil games, I can’t think of many games that have taken direct advantage of the static camera from a gameplay standpoint. In God of War, it’s used for cinematic effect mostly.

And if the gamer is specifically used to playing games where camera control is available, it’s particularly difficult to get used to losing that control. Unless, of course, there’s a good reason for forfeiting the control (like to create tension in Resident Evil or for aiming in games like Bastion).

After writing this, I’m realizing that I’m more interested in talking about how character control is affected by a semi-fixed camera style, like the style used in God of War. We’ll talk about this in a future post!

[ Today I Was Playing: Borderlands 2 ]

#game-mechanic-system