What games don't we have that we ought to?
wo years ago, I found myself inside one of the sand-caked, desert tombs on a Halo 3 multiplayer map, and didn't want to leave. What if my character's surroundings, it occurred to me, weren't incidental props meant to liven up an obstacle course for competitive shootouts — but for me to explore? The maize glint of rock and ruddy, rough-hewn altars were more attractive than Oblivion's albescent elven temples but just as compelling. What if my teammates were to instead join me in searching this place for treasures, braving whoever or whatever lurked? At the time, there was talk of a multiplayer Elder Scrolls title — nothing emerged, so I tucked away my little rumination and moved on.
Last night, playing Borderlands, I realized that my wish had been, if not literally, at least sincerely fulfilled. Here were four acquaintances walking among industrial ruins — cracked cement, flickering neon, corroded rivets, flowery graffiti — that a first-person perspective magnified so much as to almost be touched. We fought monsters and looted what remained; at every step, wonder, danger, adventure. In 2007 I asked for a cooperative, immersive dungeon-crawler, and Borderlands could very well inspire a new genre — one with plenty of unrealized potential.
What else resides in dreams and on drawing boards? What game do we need; which kind do we need more of?
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