October 31, 2007
By DERRIK J. LANG, The Associated Press
All's well doesn't usually end well in video games.
That's because the climaxes of most games simply never satisfy. Alternate endings are frustrating. Abrupt conclusions are jarring. Sequel-hinting cliffhangers are irritating. And finales featuring the protagonist's death just plain suck.
Ultimately, what's more important? The journey or the destination?
To answer that question -- spoiler alert! -- we played squad-based shooter "Clive Barker's Jericho" (rated M, $59.99 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, $49.99 for Windows PC) from beginning to end in one sitting. If anyone can craft a compelling finale to a game, it's master horror storyteller Clive Barker, right?
Also in this week's installment of "Up Down Left Right," Dean Martinetti, producer of the upcoming alternate history-set first-person shooter "Turning Point: Fall of Liberty," discusses the creative process behind crafting a game's conclusion.
Nowadays, tacking "The End" onto a video game just won't cut it.
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Watch the video here: http://asap.ap.org/data/interactives/_entertainment/udlr32/
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"Up Down Left Right" is a weekly AP video feature starring asap reporters and gaming gurus DERRIK J. LANG in New York and RYAN PEARSON in Los Angeles. From separate coasts, they provide their take on today's -- and sometimes yesterday's -- games. E-mail them at updownleftright(at)ap.org. Future episodes can be found at http://www.ap.org/ovn.
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