why are there so few state-of-the art action/adventure PC games?

[Xenohitsu]

I think action/platform jumpers are the hardest to program because of their multi-level map requirements, but at the same time they're not much different from any other 1st person shooter with multiple levels and a jumping ability (space). It's incredibly fun to play a game like Time Commando, which was cutting edge for it's time, and can even use pre-rendered scenes like in FFVII, but most games are either FPS, strategy (Age-of Empires), or open-world games like The Witcher II. The problem with open world is that getting lost becomes boring unless there's something to do in any direction, like in Just Cause 2. The role-playing element is fine except that linear gameplay is more fun (like in Dragon Age) as long as there's more acrobatics involved as opposed to having a first person view. The only game recently that looks interesting is Devil May Cry. Lost Planet 3 look okay. Mario Bros and Zelda/Link were probably the most creative, and it's unfortunate the PC doesn't make as many.

 

[pwnmachine]

It's all about popularity and sales, third-person action/adventure games are just not as popular on PC as their console counterparts. This discrepancy causes developers to be weary of spending millions on a AAA pc game that may just barely turn a profit.

I would love to see some more games in the genre, the new steampunk game from CDProjekt seems interesting.

As for your comment about Mario and Zelda, those games havn't been creative in years...The last good zelda game that had a bit of imagination was nearly a decade ago. As for Mario everything that has come from that brand has been a re-itteration of previous ideas(Galaxy is an exception).

Also I have to disagree with your point that linear gameplay is "more fun"...

 

[Pvt.Dancer]

I also think that unless you have a controller, 3rd person games just don't feel right to me on a PC its not awful either just doesn't feel as good to me I guess some rare exceptions of course like the original splinter cell felt fine on a PC to me but the others just felt like they weren't made to function well with the good'ol Keyboard Mouse combo just IMO.

EDIT: Just had an example in the other direction Dead space 2 didn't feel right with my keyboard and mouse and maybe that was just the FOV but the way it moved didn't feel like it should on a keyboard and mouse.

 

[pwnmachine]

I played through DS2 on PC with m/kb and it was extremely floaty and loose, after that I try to avoid m/kb for tps.

There are only a select few tps games that actually feel good with a m/kb, other than that they just feel off...

 

[Pvt.Dancer]

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so. Plus for the most part most TPS games have such awful FOV it bugs me... then again so do a lot of FPS's that were ports. which a lot of TPS's are ports.

 

[Xenohitsu]

It's all about popularity and sales, third-person action/adventure games are just not as popular on PC as their console counterparts. This discrepancy causes developers to be weary of spending millions on a AAA pc game that may just barely turn a profit.

I would love to see some more games in the genre, the new steampunk game from CDProjekt seems interesting.

As for your comment about Mario and Zelda, those games havn't been creative in years...The last good zelda game that had a bit of imagination was nearly a decade ago. As for Mario everything that has come from that brand has been a re-itteration of previous ideas(Galaxy is an exception).

Also I have to disagree with your point that linear gameplay is "more fun"...

well i prefer linear gameplay because the some storylines are more interesting when they are more closely knit and also because i occasionally have a short attention span, causing me to lose direction if i have too many to choose from. a linear story is easier to follow and remember how each event is related to the previous one. Mario 64 and Zelda 64 could be defined as open worlds, but they are much smaller and maintain much more linearity than the massive multiplayer rpgs which i'm more critiquing.

 

[Johan45]

@ pwnmachine,
you're absolutely right it's all about the money.
And the DeadSpace games both felt weird. Trying to run around a corner and face the right direction really had me struggling.
I'd have to say the best third person game I've played lately woud be the new Deus Ex Human Revolution but it was wriiten for a PC not a console. They wanted to stick as close to the original as possible.