GAME 100 EXPLORING GAME WORLDS – VIDEOGAME IN-CLASS APPRAISAL TEMPLATE

Student Name________________Russell Miller_____

Today’s Date___________________2-1-10____

Game Title Examined___________________Aster Blaster_____

Year of Publication_________________2008_______

Game Publisher________________Corus Entertainment______

Game Developer _______________________Corus Entertainment____

Game Genre (e.g. shoot-em-up, racing, sports, puzzle, MMORPG, ‘sandbox’, music sequence following game (e.g. DDR, guitar hero)

shoot-em-up

Type of game ‘world’ or environment (e.g. flat environment, puzzle/maze space, 3D world?)

flat environment

Perspective taken by player (e.g first person, third person perspective, top down, isometric) in relation to main player controlled character.

first person

Gameplay – what does the player have to do?

destroy ufo's and obstacles, avoid getting destroyed

Is the gameplay intuitive? (i.e. is it easy to understand what to do without instructions?) describe.

very intuitive

Is the gameplay patterned (game does the same thing over & over) or is it random (happens differently every time?)

random

What does the type of graphic approach used as well as the audio tell you about the limits of the technology at the time the game was published?

Although this is a recent game, it uses old methods. It is vector graphics, created in Adobe Illustrator, imitating the Powerpuff Girls graphic design. The dynamics are simple, it looks like it is a Flash game, created using Actionscript. But that is my speculation

Describe your views about the game from the point of view of

1. ease of play

not easy, the ufos are hard to avoid

2. enjoyability

not that enjoyable because you can't turn around (at least I couldn't figure out how), and you get killed too easily as you are trying to figure things out

c) level of engagement/immersion

high level of immersion

Had you played this game prior to this time? If so, when?

No

Describe other games it reminds you of. How does it do this?

It reminds me somewhat of the flying combat games, but at least here I can keep myself aloft, but it is still difficult to manouvre