Split Second integrates the typical race HUD in a rather ingenious way.

There’s no doubt you haven’t heard of Black Rock Studios upcoming racing game Split/Second. A lot of interested has been bubbling with the recent videos showing some pretty impressive gameplay. The game flips some of the traditional elements you’d see in a typical racing shooter by adding destructible environments and special abilities that allow for some intense fast paced gameplay.

As seen in the screen shot above Black Rock has rather ingeniously introduced a integrated HUD into the mix. Instead of the typical direction with HUD elements located on the periphery Black Rock has clustered it all near the rear of the players vehicle and angled it in a way it feels like it’s apart of whats happening on screen. This not only puts relevant information right where the players are looking, the  center of the action, it does so without interruption.

Black Rock takes it a step further by adding effects to the HUD making it feel just as much apart of the action as the exploding buildings, crashing cars are. The HUD flickers and fades, glows hot and shifts around compensating for the moving camera. This adds to the action and these small but important effects serves to not only pull a player into the gameplay but still deliver important contextual information. When you see Split/Second’s clustered integrated HUD in action it really feels cinematic. It’s rare when a HUD can ads to the drama of the gameplay experience.

Be it be ammo readouts located on a weapon like some modern shooters have done, or health displayed on a playable character model similar to Dead Space. HUD integration is a good way to draw a player deeper into the experience. I encourage you to check the video after the break to see Split/Second’s HUD in action.

In case you haven’t seen this amazing video of the gameplay from Avalance Studio‘s Just Cause 2 I suggest you give it a look. The game looks beautiful and appears to have the potential to be a heck of a lot of fun. As it stands in this demo there’s an awful lot going on onscreen for me to get excited about the UI treatment. A lot of this could be streamlined to create a better experience for the player. As of right now I see a lot that would frustrate.

On the positives I do like how when not in use the ammo and the weapon display fade get it out of the way if not in use, otherwise I don’t see much more in the way of innovation. If anything I see a lot of typical mistakes being made. The inconsistent messaging is of particular concern. Money earned and something called chaos are tracked in separate locations from altitude and damage messaging these in turn are in a separate location from subtitles. This scattered HUD requires the user to look all over the screen to gather important data and look away from the action. I am more partial to seeing developers use other forms of feedback like damage showing on the avatar via Fight Night or the screen going red around the edges like in Call of Duty. A player shouldn’t have to look away from the combat to see if there is a collectible nearby, it’s distracting. At the very least center information on the action, Half-Life‘s centering of weapon selection is a great example of this.

The game HUD should be nearly invisible; everything should work in harmony towards focusing the player on remaining engaged. Just Cause 2 looks like and amazing action hero romp and it’s not due till 2010 this should give the plenty of time for Avalanche to put in that extra polish.

BioShock 2 returns to Rapture

The internet quaked with excitement as 2K released the first BioShock 2 game play footage via GameTrailers. I loved BioShock, even with it’s mediocre ending, it was still one of the most engrossing and memorable games I have played in ages, and it’ll hold a special place in my heart. So seeing the new footage excited me.

If you haven’t played and beaten the first game you may want to avoid the video after the jump. Otherwise, give it a look. It’s still in development, and it’s a very short video, but the game is looking very playable. The video shows some new faces and some old friends, and a quick peek at a neat underwater scene (I’d like to see more of this.) I’m going to wait for more game play footage before I really delve into commenting about the UI. My initial reaction is it’d be nice to see some of it toned back and moved more along the lines of EA‘s DeadSpace or take a page from Fight Night’s strategy.

Check the video after the jump, and leave a comment, what do you think?

Lord of the Rings Online is going strong. Massive content patches, solid game play, excellent customer service and a enthusiastic user base it’s no wonder Turbine has had so much success with the game. Their first major content release post Mines of Moria recently hit the servers and with it a whole slew of changes.

Something recently caught my eye was their attention towards fixing the new player experience, tweaking the game play in an attempt to draw in new players and focus on giving them a fun experience. MMOs can be overly complicated, and their strategy seems to be to ease a player into the game and not  overwhelm them with details.

One particular thing that excites me is seeing a developer focusing on the reduction of load screens by removing the need for zoning. As I said in a previous post, the need for zoning can be a major hindrance to game immersion. It pulls a player out of the game. Seeing a developer like Turbine embrace this strategy is a positive development. For the full discussion: Read the full Dev Diary here.

Jack Moffett at Design Aday wrote a nice little article over on how games entertain users with tips during load screens.  He praises the game industry for bringing underused functions to the forefront during peaks of downtime and encourages his readers to incorporate this strategy within their own designs. Load tips are handy, and this is becoming more and more common. I agree with Mr. Moffett, it’s a good time and place for communication. However, the imperative for developers and designers should still focus on reducing load times or going as far as too eliminate load screens altogether. There isn’t anything more jarring to player immersion than having a load screen pop up in the middle of the action.