Are the new adventure games too similar to each other, just like the first-person shooters used to be? Forbes seems to think so.
Citing the Star Wars and Tomb Raider titles as "Unchartedlikes," it seems we've got a new clone template for our gaming platforms. It's not a real secret that developers search and scour for a formula that can be rehashed for the sake of appealing to what's selling to a rabid audience desperate for a fix. That there have been nine Call of Duty titles since 2003 just shows how profitable and long a genre can be copied and pasted, along with the additional shift of multiplayer from being PC only to expected in nearly every game.
But let's get back to the two Uncharted clones:
"Both games have a lot of cover-based shooting and jumping around, as well as a focus on the cinematic potential of scenes with incomplete player control. These are games going for character, atmosphere, and a smooth line between gameplay and cinematic that can facilitate the sort of story that Uncharted is famous for."
Even Kratos has been doing more Drake-like creeping, the article suggests. Which is amazing since God of War has had cliff jumping and climbing with quicktime events since 2005 while Nathan Drake waited two years until he made his first leap of faith. The cloning process isn't a surprise to anyone who wants to make a buck. But it wears away and instead brings us innovation that blends into future game developments. The first Max Payne brought us Bullet Time, which in turn became almost expected in gun battles on the Playstation 2; eleven years later, Max is still dual wielding pistols, but now he's taking cover just like Marcus in Gears of War.
Claiming that Star Wars 1313 and Tomb Raider are mere clones of Uncharted is lazy. It's the equivalent of saying any platforming game is a Mario Brothers clone and how dare developers look to other games for inspiration. Besides, if they were true clones of Uncharted, fans will be clamoring to have Nathan Fillion play the protagonist from 1313 AND Lara Croft.
The point is that this isn't cloning. Think of it more like the evolution of where we're headed, especially with Beyond: Two Souls, which is just a clone of Dragon's Lair when you're too busy mining for catchphrase gold with "Unchartedlikes."
