Reskins

Often, the conclusion I originally envision for a video ends up not even surfacing by the time I actually complete a script, and this next video looks to be continuing that tradition. Instead, I’ll dedicate this space to the topic at hand, which I think I can summarize in three ”games.”

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Vietnam

DICE’s 2010 surprise smash of sequel really nailed almost everything. Gunplay, squad-tactics, map-design, vehicle battles, visual spectacle, satisfying progression, and of course, destruction, so when you’re tasked with making an expansion pack for a game that doesn’t need to be expanded upon, what do you change?

Simple.

Everything else.

The time-period, setting, color pallet, music; anything that doesn’t require you to change the game mechanically, which it turns out, is a lot; so much so that even with the unchanged sound effects, fonts, and even certain weapon models, Bad Company 2 Vietnam had an experience that was distinct from the original game.

Chokepoints were more claustrophobic with the maps’ new emphasis on trenches and underground tunnels combined with new weapons like the Flamethrower that even appeared on one of the tanks. Snipers being the only class with proper Scopes altered the frequency of players being spotted and marked for your allies to shoot. The Assault class’ under-barreled grenade launcher sprints into enemy objectives were no longer possible.

What’s ostensibly a Total Conversion Mod ends up being more than the sum of its parts even in game-design, let alone in the game’s vibe. You just don’t charge up inferno hills to Ride of the Valkyries in Bad Company 2’s original multi-player. Firing a stock AK with leather straps wrapped around your forearms, as subtle of a change as that might be from CVC gloves wrapped around a Magnum Ammo USAS-12 - you scumbags - it does contribute to Vietnam’s gritter atmosphere.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Do I even need to elaborate for this one?

Blood Dragon was a game so bold, so distinct, and stylistically separated from the game it was built upon that Ubisoft are still - kind of - using the name to this day? I’ve even seen people who didn’t like Far Cry 3 fuck with Blood Dragon, and it’s easy to see why. If what turned you away in Far Cry 3 was it’s intentionally unlikable characters, drug infused ancient warrior motif, and dubstep wubs, none of those things are in Blood Dragon.

Mechanics are important, so important.

But like a script for a film, just because a foundation is solid, it doesn’t mean that alone appeals to people. Every single one of us has heard about something that’s sworn to be amazing by everyone you know, and you even know they’re not necessarily incorrect, but you just don’t feel anything towards, and I find that’s rarely due to mechanics.

It’s often characters, music, art-style, etc.

And what’s really great about reskins is that if you’re not tired of the core-gameplay loop, you’re in for the best of both worlds. You get to rekindle and your skillset with the previous game’s established mechanics while at the same time still getting a new experience.

This is a sentiment I’ve often heard from hardcore fans of other franchises.

The excitement Splinter Cell fans get when they discover that Double Agent on 6th Gen Consoles was made by Ubisoft Montreal on the same tech as Chaos Theory, and are thrilled that they get to play more of the thing they love without retreading old levels.

They get to experience something for the first time twice.

But even then… Blood Dragon is not what I’m really thinking about.

Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure

It’s almost literally Tony Hawk but Disney characters.

Almost because technically the game has made a couple tweaks to Neversoft’s mechanics to make the game more accessible for it’s younger demographic that was obviously targeted with this game, but generally, this game is such a Tony Hawk game that even THUGPro by default comes with a map from this game out of the box.

So what am I saying?

I want more games that are an amalgamation of all of these.

Back when I was playing Rainbow Six Siege, I wanted a Bad Company 2 Vietnam-esk Expansion Pack that was Siege + Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex. Tell me you can’t already see playing as Batou and punching/running through breachable walls? Rather than leaving it to modders to port Keanu Reeves into Max Payne 3 for John Wick videos, why not sell a $15 XBLA Mini-Campaign with a Le Castle Vania EP to accompany it? And let’s not even get started on the sheer number of original games that’ve spawned from Half Life mods.

If reskins had no effect on the player’s experience, we wouldn’t have them in the first place. I don’t want reskins to go away, I want them to be given a bigger platform than FOMO on a Fortnite battle-pass.