CHENNAI : Think about all the videogames in the world — the assortment of them. There are the simulators that make beasts fight beasts and tear them from limb with realistic physics, drive trucks, or be a goat; race cars with different power boosts; finding the ‘Hidden Items’ in games with eerie soundtracks that make you feel satisfied after solving a mystery. Videogames are the fountain of creative entertainment.
Now, think about your favourite mobile company. They churn version after version of new smartphones with subtle changes — a camera that captures objects clearer than you can see with your eyes, a bigger and sharper display, and specs that make it work faster than ever. But after about number 10 in the series, it gets tiring. Maybe there’s nothing new they could do that would ‘Wow’ us anymore. Maybe it’s just the law of diminishing marginal utility — meaning we appreciate the changes a little lesser as we get more of the same thing.
Which brings us to the focal point of the article — we could have the best version of a Battle Royale brought to us right now and we still wouldn’t acknowledge that it is nonpareil, because we’ve already seen too many of them.
CS:GO Danger Zone is the youngest in the list of big-name games joining the zombie march of Battle Royale. But let me recognize its unique qualities:
a) It is not a circular shrinking battle arena like the other games. It has these hexagonal non-airstrikes threatened safe zones highlighted on a tablet that the player holds.
b) There are distraction drones which seem like a cute diversion to a dark game. They can deliver weapons to your location with the money you scrounge for in-game.
c) There’s the centre-screen target and that super-smooth, image-stabilised stairs climbing action (not so unique, for an FPS)
d) It’s Free-To-Play
Like the in-game drones, CS: GO Danger Zone could be an interesting distraction — but not a game that I would shift to, given my hours of investment in PUBG. The Battle Royale format is transforming the fountain of creative entertainment wither into a mere puddle. Show us something new, developer overlords!