The Value of Reboots
Truth and Wonder
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.
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