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I think we are reading too far into the actual meaning of gameplay. We could waffle on all day about the complex meaning of gameplay and get nowhere. To me, gameplay simply means, to play a game. I’ve used the term ‘gameplay’ all my life. Let me give you an example of how I would use gameplay in a sentence; ‘’the graphics and storyline in Pac-Man are amazing, but what really sells the game to me is the gameplay’’. Gameplay means what it’s like to play the game.

Grrrrr... Confusion – how to define gameplay?

This is too difficult. I’ve had enough trying to define the meaning of the word, so I’m just going to go off on one. Right. Halo 3 has the best gameplay in the world. When the Beta was released, bungie released a statement saying that they were not aiming for the level of detail in gears of war, but that they were aiming for brilliant and seamless gameplay. Do you know how much science went into designing the multiplayer maps? It’s insane. I read in an issue of edge magazine that Bungie used detailed software that showed the main density and movement of player kills and deaths, with help from an army of testers. They then tweaked tiny things in the map to try and even out the spread of deaths/kills across the entire map and to make it even for both teams, even on asymmetric maps. But Halo was all about the multiplayer, so all this is understandable. Games like Oblivion, Farcry 2 and Fable 2 are all about single player story defining gameplay. It’s all about choice; evil or good, the high road or the low road, stealth or more bang for your buck.

Why don’t all the game developers join together in one massive team and make the biggest and best game the world has ever seen, mixing all the different gameplay styles in one big pot? Why? Because it would make no difference. Halo 3 is perfect gameplay in my eyes, but I get bored if it’s the only thing I play. I like to switch between games, trying out all the different gameplay styles. Mirrors Edge blew my mind, when I first started to play it I thought it was the best game I’d ever played in my life, but after a week I got bored of it because I realised I was just doing the same thing again and again and again. I think the main reason why halo 3 works as a game for me, the reason why I can always rely on it to entertain me is because the multiplayer gameplay allows for such vast variation. Every day I find a new way to outsmart my opponent. I feel there is always room for personal improvement.

If I try to go into gameplay anymore I’m going to have a seizure. So I’m going to stop now.