Who else agrees that modern times, is the most boring setting for a game?

I mean come on, the only exception I can think of is Uncharted and Just Cause 2, mainstream games such as BF and CoD are boring as hell in modern times. I couldn't get past the first couple of minutes into the singleplayer of MW2 or Bad Company 2 without getting sleepy and bored as hell. There really isn't that much interest in modern times. It seems the only way it can be interesting is if it is a super action movie like game or something.

I prefer Scifi/fantasy since the worlds are unknown to all but the creators, there is so much you can do with the worlds unlike modern times.

I guess i agree with this one.

Doesn't matter to me at all what setting it's in as long as the game is executed well

It's not so much modern times as it is modern times + boring, ordinary environments that I see every day in real life. Some developers can even make fantasy and futuristic environments look very ordinary. I mean, it doesn't cost any more to make something fantastic than it does to make something ordinary. It just takes a bit of imagination.

Doesn't matter to me at all what setting it's in as long as the game is executed well

seanmcloughlin

Agreed, but I would love to see some creative, open world rpg that combines mideval / sci-fi elements into one game. Something like a Mass Effect meets Skyrim type of setting.

Doesn't matter to me at all what setting it's in as long as the game is executed well

seanmcloughlin

Depends on how it's done. Look at how different GTA3 is from GTA4.

GTA3 was set in the modern world but created such a looney version of it that it appealed to the masses as being able to do the things you normally couldn't in a big city like that. Whereas GTA4 was so deadly serious and realistic that it sapped all the fun out of it even though it took place in the exact same setting. I remember being able to stage hour long sieges with the army in 3. But, in four, you're lucky if you survive to a four star wanted level.

Bascially, the modern world is fun, but realism is not. If we wanted that level of realism, we wouldn't be playing games.

I have to agree. I can't think of really any "modern times" video game I like. Darksiders technically was modern day, but you don't see much of that.

Really? What about Uncharted, Persona 2,3,4, Devil Survivor, and the GTA series? Yes some games that take place in modern times are boring, just as how some games set in fantasy and scifi worlds can be boring as well. It all depends on what we can do in that world, how we can interact with it, and of course, what is happening in that world. Call of Duty's campaign mode tends to bore me pretty easily too, and I don't think that would change whether I were shooting humans in modern times or aliens in space.

That depends on what it's about. Why would a time of technological advancement and discovery be a boring setting for any game? Would Forza be as fun driving cars from 1900 or today? That's already one example of "modern times" producing a great games. You'd have to be a pretty inept developer to make a boring game given the current state of the world. It all depends. For example, I'd love to see a game about the war against terrorism, although it'd never be made as it's too close to home for any developer to touch at this point.

There's a TON of material right now that is great for gaming. I don't think it's a question of whether it's boring or not, but whether it's the appropriate time and place to bring it up in such a medium as gaming.

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines disagrees.

Yeah I agree. Fictional settings are so much more interesting.

As I've said before, video games are supposed to be an ESCAPE from reality.

But also, historical settings are good too. Such as 1940's LA in LA Noire because it's a time period and setting that hasn't been explored too much in video games before.

completely disagree.

the most boring ones for me would be the past, around 1960s

space ( not always boring, but more often than not it bores me)

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines disagrees.

Former_Slacker

Tha's fictional which is more fantasy than modern times,

Say what you will about the gameplay, but Alpha Protocol did an amazing job with the modern day setting. And what about the Hitman games?

I agree, modern times suck for the most part. I generally prefer sci-fi and fantasy, and once in a while historical settings as well. But yeah, no modern settings.

Playing a criminal is one of my biggest fantasies, so I love the GTA series. But other than that, nothing has really caught me. (Heavy Rain was okay.)

However, I do love the mix of fantasy/sci-fi and modern world in games like the Arkham series.

i would love to see more cyberpunk, historical-fiction, and post-apocolypse.

when i think of modern shooters, i always think it has the most potential to be awesome. but it always devolves into invading Russia or fighting Russians ad nauseum. Primarily because it plays on Western fantasy on the Cold War, and also because you can use the full arsenal of modern warfare in-game. Because video games have an affinity to ramping everything to an 11 and holding it there.

I would love to play more games that are more low key, like say fighting a warlord in Zambia. something more akin to that.

i also love alternate history, or speculative future conflicts.

Not so much the time period, I'm sick of games where you play a "square" where you're basically a cop or soldier (even more banal where the "bad guys" are either Russians, middle east etc.)

I don't mind games based in modern times especially if it's something to do with crime like the upcoming Sleeping Dogs. I loved Max Payne 3 which was set in modern times since I really enjoyed the dry humor and the story.

I find historic games boring to be honest especially games like the Assassin's Creed series. I'm not a fan of war shooters either especially any of the Call of Duty or Battlefield games or any FPS games in particular,

Yes and no.

I'm going with fantasy.

But a mix of fantasy and modern times like Alan Wake are good aswell.

I prefer modern or apocalyptic, I can't stand futuristic because it's always overly exaggerated and unrealistic and I absolutely hate medieval settings with knights wizards dragons and crap like that, I'd say that is the most boring setting.

Setting is such a non-issue for me nowadays. It's the story that the setting contains is what needs to interest me. Off the top of my head, most games set in modern settings are cop and gangster-movie stories, WMD Tom Clancy-esque stories... essentially anything with guns. Not that I don't like guns--I do, but I'm not going to blame the setting for that. It's just the way big-budget productions go. AAA titles are equivalent to the summer blockbuster, and if it don't keep people entertained, it gets panned critically.

I like it becaue it can give a believable "what-if" scenario. It makes things much more relatable.

Well it needs more colour in my opinion. In reality most landscapes that modern times are suppose to set on are not all grey brown and any other dull colours out there. But at least Crysis did it right and Uncharted series as well. I guess developers were lazy or just did it for the cineamatic "experience" or something.

I love a variety of settings, including modern. But my favourites would have to be post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk and dystopias.

For me to enjoy a modern setting, the story has to be really damned good. Alan Wake comes to mind.

The setting that draws me are post-apocalyptic games, like Fallout.

Agreed. Fantasy is fun, but I find that post-apocalyptic games get my attention more than anything. There's more room for conflict in these types of games. Usually there's the protagonist vs. some non-human threat vs. human threats and it makes for an interesting dillema.

Agreed, for me its just as boring as apocalypse games, always have the feeling of ''been there done that''

i dont mind any setting as long as the game is good. though i wish there more history games based off the mongolian empire and roman empire(prefer them to not be rts because it has been already done) and sci fi games like mass effect and (hopefully) prey 2

the modern games are rather boring because all they are doing is "ermergerd ertz en teh dersert ergern!!!"

honestly...there are more places than the desert in the world to fight a war...also...why are they always shooters...cant we have a good rpg or 2? i liked alpha protocol but it was really buggy and a bit too actiony for my tastes when it comes to an rpg...we've had so many modern shooters, but theres so much more you can do with this time period that people are just ignoring...

that being said...i would love to see a game that resembles ghost in the shell or appleseed...its by far my favorite universe and i think its sad that there arent any games that really capitalize off of cyberpunk...

While I would agree I think its how games are done now that are causing the problems. For example I am just playing borderlands and it really is like playing a more shooter type version of fallout. The games are practically the same, I mean I thought it would be sort of different but its really the same. Emenies are mutants or raiders.... you have to find a vault. I mean a vault, they should have called it something different atleast. The people all look pretty similiar and its just pretty much exactly the same, I just find it more fun :P.

But yeah back to the point, I think if you were to be given a ww2 or ww1 game, in the form of how people are creating games at the moment, it would initially seem new, but the way the game plays will be the same. Noone is trying anything radically new, its all follow the leader. We went from ww2 to modern day to now slightly in the future. Whatever is next, expect it to be around for the next 4 years.

Its actually the exact opposite modern setting can be eqully as exciting as your prefered setting, it just modern games nowdays doesnt've much of creativity....

I have to agree with the TC. I don't find any games set in the present day appealing at all. I tried to give Battlefield 3 a chance, but it was just........meh. I guess I want to experience something new when I play games. Bring on the future/post-apocalyptic/fantasy/historical games!!!!!

I don't think the setting has an extreme impact on the setting. There can be good games set in modern times, and there can be bad games set in modern times. There have been quite a lot games recently, though, that are set in the modern time. It depends on exactly where in the world the game is taking place.

I agree that games set in historical settings are interesting.

Playing a criminal is one of my biggest fantasies, so I love the GTA series. But other than that, nothing has really caught me. (Heavy Rain was okay.)

However, I do love the mix of fantasy/sci-fi and modern world in games like the Arkham series.

roguebot

I agree!!!!

It's the circumstances and not so much the time frame that makes a game interesting to me. If you were playing a game that takes place in history or even a fantasy setting where you're in some golden era of peace, and everyone is just farming and making shoes it would be kinda boring.

****y games will make any setting horrible

I.E. FF13 was a ****y game, and its setting was boring because of it. dosent matter where it was, a crappy syfy hell or w/e it was, it wasnt gonna be fun in a bad, boring game.

this thread and everyone agreeing with this threads title is... well, use ur imagination.

any good game will make any setting good. no good setting will make any game good by itself.

i didnt love red dead's setting cause it by itself was great, but because the game was awesome and made the setting awesome.

setting doesnt really matter to me, i only notice i inherently dislike overly syfy type locals only because the people that usually occupy these settings are whiney little **** or are pretentious.

i dont care if a game takes place in a bull's ****, if a games good, well obviously the developers made it work.

Game Devs don't realize that they can create ANYTHING in a video game.

yet they always go for this modern setting.
i wouldmuch ratherplay Final Fantasy or a Tales game than GTA(unless it has fun cheats).