Perspectives in Video Games

A game perspective is the camera and world of the game working together to create a believable scene for the player. They do this by using different viewing styles like 2D, 3D and isometric.

2D

2D games are on a flat plain made up of 2D sprites this limits the movement of the play depending on the camera's position in the world.

Side scroller

If the camera is facing sideways it’s classified a side scroller like mario where the player can only move right, left and jump to get around the level. Some games have depth to give the illusion of 3D they do this by putting in the foreground, midground and background. The foreground objects are darker and larger than other objects to show they are very close to the camera. Midground is where the playable character is and where the detail is in the scene. The background has objects getting smaller and fading to show how far away they are.

Top Down

If the camera is looking down it's classified as a top down which can be used in a literal sense with the player only seeing the head and shoulders of their character where older games used side views of objects like trees so the player can recognize it. Games that have the true top down perspective like the original grand theft auto are somewhat rare because there is not much to work with as a game developer and it's easier to use 3D nowadays so it's more trouble than it's worth. Old school games like Legend of zelda used side views of characters and objects in top top down games so the player can easily recognize objects. This was done out of necessity because they didn’t have the graphics to add in a realistic perspective but old top down games still look good even to this day.

3D

Most 3D games use polygons to make up everything in the game from buildings to characters. 3D allows the designer to build big complex levels and gives the player the ability to control the camera so they can look at what they want in the game. There are two camera types that are used a lot in 3D games these are the first and third person views.

1st Person

The first person perspective is looking thru the eyes of the character you are playing. This is very popular at the moment with shooters like Halo and Call Of Duty because you can see the detail of guns up close.

3ed Person

A third person game has the camera behind the player they do this to show the player there character or an interesting character that the game devs made. RPG’s manly use third person perspective to show off the character you're playing or to use a melee combat system with works well because you can see your character swing the weapon.

Isometric

An Isometric camera is similar to a Top down but it’s on a 45 degree angle. Isometric camera is used to add depth and show the playable space and to make game objects to look 3D. Isometric games can range from MOBA’s to RPG’s and also RTS’s like League of Legends, Diablo and Command & Conquer.

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