Games are art. That's a phrase that a lot of people like to plunge into a conversation, propelled by their undying passion for the medium. When presenting their cases in the inevitable newly formed debate, gamers will often cite such works as Braid, which uses plenty of literary devices to present a narrative in such a way that would make high school English teachers wet their trousers with pretentious bouts of intellectual superiority. Many might think that if I were to use a game on this list to make a case that the video game is just as legitimate as any other kind of narrative experience, I would examine a game like Oniro, a game that perfectly nailed the whole "narrative" part and delivered a story which almost moved me to tears, all the while explaining itself through its mechanics and never becoming dull or repetitive.
Yes, it is true, that games like this have a significant role in the distinguishing of video games as a form of art, but such arguments tend to ignore the mindless adrenaline drips...the games that sell like hotcakes during Christmastime. What about the shooter that makes no attempt to tell a story or utilize any kind of arbitrarily named literary device? Should those be lumped into the same category as pornography under the title "things that make you feel good but you should probably keep to yourself?" I don't think so. I think there's just as much value to be had in a mindless but fun experience, and there's certainly enough opportunity for the developers to show their skill, which is what art is by definition.
And show off skill the developers of Shoot on Sight did. Not so much in the visual design department nor in the gameplay balancing department, but the game certainly feels great to play. It's a third-person shooter wherein you are armed with a pea shooter and a nuclear warhead launcher with infinite ammo and quick reload times...guess which one you'll be using most of the time.
Yes, the secondary weapon is quite hideously overpowered, but not so much that it breaks the game completely. You can still have a lot of fun while limiting yourself to the peashooter, and the upgrades for it will keep gameplay fun and varied. What it does do, however, is make the game a bit too easy. Once you learn how to catch enemies within the insta-kill blast radius of your secondary weapon, your own splash damage is pretty much the only thing that threatens you. There are little suicide bomber enemies that can take a good chunk off you if you're not careful, but your health regenerates fairly quickly, so all it takes is a little safe playing before you're ready to start jumping around lobbing pocket rockets at anything that moves.
And is that a bad thing? Absolutely not. In my book, this game is a success. It set out with the goal of providing a fun and addicting (in the good way) experience, and that's exactly what it is. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay trigger-happy.
Links
Kill all sons o' bitches: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1423
