Platform Gaming

One of the biggest regrets I’ve got about playing computer games is my inability to handle most first-person perspective games. No, it’s not that I’m not quick on the trigger (mouse) in those things. Rather, it’s that I am especially susceptible to vertigo, or motion sickness. In medical (?) terms it’s the result of a perceived imbalance between what you supposedly see and what your actual senses. And when the two don’t agree, that’s when I start feeling dizzy.

Funnily, not every first person game causes the same effect. Specifically, the slower moving games, or if the gaming environment is brightly lit and with a far horizon e.g. like one of those large overland zones in EverQuest, I’ll be OK. It’s when the game zone is in an indoor, dark and dinghy environment like those in Fallout 3 when I won’t last more than 5 minutes before feeling like throwing up.

All that said, I’ve been leaning towards adventure-platform games. Those I can usually handle, and more importantly, it’s a cooperative play experience for Ling and myself. Whenever I’m stuck in a puzzle, Ling will chime in and the both of us will figure out what to do or where to go. That’s why we both had a ball of fun in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune a year ago.

And just a few days ago I picked up Prince of Persia, the most recent installment of a series of platform games which goes back 20 years ago. The game is visually stunning. Not quite like Uncharted’s tropical jungle vistas, but the color palettes and cel-inspired drawings of the characters are so retro. Ling doesn’t think the game is quite as good as Uncharted nor the characters as interesting. But it’s still fun having the titular hero, the Prince, leaping from platforms, walls, vines, cliffs, gears, and crevices.

In fact, I think this is one game my nephew Danyel will enjoy. Too bad he’s gone the Wii route though, so this game for a present is out LOL.