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The Value of Reboots

Truth and Wonder

By Harley E Ripley IVPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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The epic value of reboots is that it gives us a chance to re-experience art

through different mediums. Like viewing Starry Starry Night in VR, or

watching a timeless classic film Remastered in 4K, or playing an old video

game with upgraded graphics and masterful gameplay. Reboots have been

integral in today's society, as our technology has allowed us to experience

colors and depths innumerable. The beauty of reboots is that it can be done

over and over again if enough elements are enhanced or augmented.

Some believe reboots to be cheap imitations of their original classics, and

to their credit some of them can be pretty straining to sit through. The fact

remains that the technology makes the evolution constant. And if you think

about it, aren't sequels someone's take on the original, changing the style of

writing if not the overall tone or vice versa. Unless the same people that

made the original made the sequel the sequels almost always feel like

reboots themselves. And if you can appreciate the constant change art has

undergone, you can marvel at the mastery of newer and newer techniques

to bring classic concepts to the modern world.

Video game reboots, in their entirety, are more often than not a nostalgic

nosebomb to everyone familiar with their predecessors, and are often

completed within the first 24-72 hours of their purchase . So expansive of

the worlds, that they grow into something entirely new, where further

plotlines and new mysteries abound, around every corner, turning days of

enjoyment to weeks of adventure in universes that seem closer and closer

than reality every day. With the advent of the Resident Evil Franchise

undergoing gratifying reboot after gratifying reboot, many gamers are

hopeful for the return of other favorites down the road.

As for me, I hope they reboot the Max Payne franchise. Resident Evil 2 and

3 made for much more solid controls. I believe we all have the preference

to be able to hit our targets, and the combat engine of yesteryear made the

action of raising your weapon in a pose before firing more important than

actually being able to pinpoint your target. This trend began with a crude

laser sighting with the advent of RE: 4; you could aim, but you still had to

stop moving to do so, a huge stone in the shoes of gamers who've been

running and gunning since Goldeneye. Speaking of running and gunning,

how awesome is the Uncharted series?! Endless hours of Tomb Raider-like

puzzles and cinematic death traps, followed by a multiplayer challenge

function to sharpen your skills, whether it's run-and-gun, line defense, or

ghostly assassination of the enemy squad who, try as they might, can't

seem to find or stop getting their necks broken by you.

The original Tomb Raider, like many PS games, had shoddy controls which

made the games more arduous and less enjoyable. Same with Max Payne:

nobody wants to play a game where moving diagonally confuses the game

and you run or jump or shootdodge yourself right off a building or

cliff...Repeatedly. Since the reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise I haven't

missed a title, with puzzles, gun fights, and cinematic escapes that keep me

on the edge of my seat the entire 8 hours it takes to play through the

campaign, as well as an open world that allows for exploration and side

quests, which I can't help but complete before moving on to the main

mission (can I get a witness).

But I digress.

Reboots do so much more than repeat the same theme or idea over and

over again. They edify the footsteps of those made before in what I can only

describe as homage after homage to those countless artists that reignite

passionate themes time and time and time again.

In closing, some call reboots rip-offs, little more than cheap imitations. I

direct those voices to the cover picture, and remind them that we'd still be

watching things in 2D if not for the reinvigoration that generation after

generation have committed to bringing the masses.

vintage
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