Monday Stuff – Gameplay vs. Atmosphere: Which is More Important?

The way I see it, there are two parts to making a game: Making the gameplay, and making the atmosphere. These two parts are integral to any great game design, but each one encompasses a totally different set of things. Gameplay includes things like controls, level design, etc, while the atmosphere can encompass everything from the graphics to the music, to the sound effects and character animations. Both are important parts of game design, and when a developer can bring together a perfect balance of the two, we get games that are so full of magic and wonder, we feel like we can never put them down. These, in my opinion, are games like The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Banjo Kazooie.

But what if you had to pick one side of the argument? Would you go with: atmosphere or gameplay? There are numerous examples of games on either extreme, both for Nintendo systems and for other systems. Take New Super Mario Bros. Wii, for example. This is a game with phenomenal gameplay, expert level design, and some great controls; it lacks, however on the atmospheric side of things. The music is okay, but it’s bland. The graphics are pretty standard and don’t really do anything gorgeous or unexpected in a lot of ways, and ultimately, it’s not something that you’ll get too immersed in and spend hours upon hours playing. At least, I certainly won’t.

And then there are games like Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, an atmospheric story of the fall of humanity and a touching look at what makes us human with some of the worst controls and overall gameplay seen in any game you could call “fantastic”. Yet, here I stand, making a case for you that Fragile is one of the best if not the best game I’ve played, and it’s based solely on that atmospheric portion.

Here’s the major dilemma I’m facing: If it isn’t obvious by my love of Fragile Dreams, atmosphere means quite a bit to me, and can easily make or break a game. You’d think I’d be the same way about gameplay, but take games like God of War or Call of Duty: Black Ops. Both have stellar gameplay, but in the atmosphere department (including things like music, graphical consistency, etc) they just sort of fall flat. Sure, they’re fun to play, but I would never ever consider ranking them up there with games like No More Heroes, or even the less-than-amazing Madworld. Yet, could you imagine if I did reviews of all these games, and gave Madworld an “8” and CoD a “6” just based on the fact that I liked Madworld more because of the atmosphere? People would be outraged.

Outraged.