Nov 30, 08:46 PM

No More Clutter

gears While we pay a lot of attention to the details, roadie cam, and visual beauty of Gears of War, stuff that’s on the screen, one of the greatest innovations the game makes is in what isn’t on the screen.

During gameplay, the extent of the HUD is just a graphic of your current weapon and an ammo meter up in the top left corner. When you start taking damage, a bloody gear graphic starts to fill in in the center of the screen. And that’s it. Very simple, nothing unnecessary to get in the way. Because you aren’t distracted by a bunch of other stuff on the screen, I think it really allows you to focus and experience the game in a much more intutive way.

I wouldn’t really call Gears a revolutionary game. But it’s the incremental improvements like this where innovation is really occurring in video games. Could on-screen simplicity become a major trend in new games? I hope so.

Check out some footage from EA’s SKATE (from MTV show Rob & Big)

Screens here.

-Jon
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