Hello everyone,
I am a student studying video game programming. I have a little experience with programming and have created a few games, but nothing that big yet. For the class I am in now, we are working on designing interfaces. Long story short, I have a concept I came up with and would like feedback from those willing to give it. While it is just an assignment, I actually feel like it seems like a pretty good idea in my head, so I possibly would be interested in seeing what I could do with it later if I get some posative feedback on it. Please let me know what you think of my concept and functions. So, without further Adieu. . . . .

[font=comic sans ms,cursive]Destroyer of Planets[/font]

Platform: Sony Playstation 3
Genre: Platform/action-adventure

Basic Game Document:

Summary:
The game takes place several hundred years in the future, on the distance planet of Cyntrez. After the destruction of the Earth, the remaining survivors of Earth have made the planet their new home. Shortly after their arrival on Cyntrez, people have begun disappearing. The player is a highly trained assassin sent on a vital mission by mankind’s leaders to undermine and destroy the rebel faction that is thought to be behind the disappearances.
Through the mission, the player discovers that the rebel faction was created to battle an unknown race of advanced humanoid shape shifters. After successfully destroying the rebel faction as ordered, the player is thanked for taking care of the problem. The trusted leaders of the world reveal themselves as being the humanoid shape shifters the faction was battling and attempt to exterminate the player. The player barely escapes and begins to uncover the deep conspiracy behind the demise of Earth, the reason for the disappearances and the origins of Cyntrez and the humanoid inhabitants of it.
Game Challenges:
The player will have to navigate the 2D environment using the joystick and action button to navigate the environment (in the spirit of classic Metroid style gaming). Using an array of advanced human and alien weaponry, the player will have to blast away all the forces that oppose him to save the human race and expose a vast conspiracy that threatens to completely destroy all that is left. First they will have to destroy a rebel faction, then as the story progresses, they will realize what few friends they have, as both human and alien forces oppose them, in the ultimate showdown that will decide the fate of mankind. Another challenge the player will face is collecting all (or as much as possible) alien and human weapon technology and biogenetic upgrades to become powerful enough to take on the alien humanoid leaders.
Victory conditions

• Player completes all missions and destroys the alien humanoid leaders.
  

Loss conditions

• Player dies and does not have any more lives to continue.
  

Functions: (just to name a few)
The melee attack function will allow the player to perform a short range attack against nearby enemies. The fire weapon function will let the player fire his/her currently equipped weapon in the direction they are aiming. I will achieve the best usability with these two functions by grouping them in the same optimum area, with L1 controlling melee attack and R1 for firing weapons. This also will increase the usability of other functions, as the thumbs will be free to handle other common actions like walking and aiming. A third function will be pickup/interact, which will give the player the ability to interact with objects located in the environment. This will be a very common action used in the game, as enemies may drop ammo and other objects the player can use, as well as using it to open doors, operate controls and interact with terminals, so it only makes sense to use the most convenient gamepad button X for this function.

I don't want ot offend you but this sounds like a basic Twin-stick shooter to me. It's a solid concept as it's been used many time before but it's pretty basic. What about this do you think will differentiate it from other similar games? Do you have any ideas for new interesting mechanics or concepts that could lend an angle to the gameplay?

I don't want ot offend you but this sounds like a basic Twin-stick shooter to me.

This assertion is so bizarre that I wonder if CsDbn25x has edited his post heavily after you replied. He's describing a metroidvania type platformer, even mentioning Metroid by name, nothing even slightly like a twin-stick shooter.

Thank you for your feedback so far. No offense taken supageek, but Stroppy is right, it is definitely not along the lines of a twin-stick shooter.

By no means is it a completely original game, like I mentioned, it is meant to be similar to classic Metroid gameplay. Even though it's been forever since this type of game first came out, they are still very enjoyable (at least in my opinion). I definitely think that the more recent, Cave Story proves that this genre is far from dead and can be just as fun as ever.

As for differences that make this game stand out. . . . the gameplay itself will not be that different from other titles like this, it is meant to be a farmiliar interface. The main difference is the story and twists the player will experience throughout it.