I'll warn you now, there is a wall of text ahead and this has a few spoilers placed in that are from recent games.
Maybe I'm jaded, maybe I'm not. I've played games for quite some time now, and I've watched storytelling in games advance exponentially. However, very few producers seem to give the same motivation the character you are playing has. That's a bit cryptic, so I'll give an example.
Halo. Yes, I get it. There's an alien invasion and they're the bad guys. The chief kills them before they kill all of us. There's no real emotional connection. The story is too far from reality for the player to actually get attached. There's nothing driving the player aside from the challenge of the game and an interest of what will happen next in the story. We did not witness anything enough to draw us in outside of the action.
Max Payne is a step closer but not quite there. Mobsters killed his family and now he is on a vendetta. A compelling story has been produced to give the character, Max, a huge motivation and a reason to go on a rampage... but not us. We do not share this desire to get revenge like Max does. Its a great story, but it gives the player no true motivation.
So what exactly am I asking for in a game? Its simple. A defining moment where the player will feel the same thing the character that is he/she is playing feels. A reason to hate the bad guys beyond "Well, You're supposed to." Its a story device I see all too rarely in games. Sure, some RPGs try to give you this. The most famous example is FFVII, but you knew Aries for 15 minutes before she got killed. She never played a big enough role in the game for her death to matter anywhere beyond a sense of disappointment that you lost a character you had invested some time in. You weren't mad at Sepiroth for killing her. You were pissed at the game for negating any hard work you had put in to leveling Aries. This may be an outrageous assumption, but it holds true for the bit of gamers that I've have been around.
Warning you again, SPOILERS.
So, what games got it right? Well, two come to mind off the top of my head. The Darkness and Half Life 2: Ep. 2. In the Darkness you get to meet Jackie's girlfriend. Not only do you meet her, but you spend quite a bit of time with her and even like the character they've built. There's a small connection many will feel towards this nice girl(Whose name escapes me at the moment). That's even more rare of an event, to create a character that the player will feel a connection to. And then, there was her brutal killing, right in front of your eyes. At that moment, I... me, not my character, said to myself, "Oh, those fucking assholes. They will die for that!" I had the same feeling, albeit not as powerful, as Jackie did. I had the same motivation as him at this point. The mob would die because they took away someone I cared for.
HL2 did this as well. In fact, they did it better. You spend 3 games with these characters who you genuinely like. Alyx, Eli... hell, even Dog and Lamar are likable. Valve created believable characters who were likable and you got to know. However, it took until the end of HL2:Ep2 before I had any motivation. Up until that gut wrenching finale, the player is given no real motivation aside from they want you dead and you can't beat the game if you're dead. They hadn't taken anything from me. They were just doing the all too cliche, taking over the eath and you're the one man to stop 'em story. Then they killed Eli, while you had no choice but to watch. Pinned by the bug, you sat there and saw them kill this 'person' who had always been a kind, guiding voice to you. Gentle and nice, he was taken from you by the combine. And they did it in front of his daughter. After maybe 3 minutes of jaw dropped silence, listening to Alyx cry in to the credits, I had motivation. I wanted them dead. Not Gordon Freeman. Me. Walking in to Episode 3, I will be wanting them dead. Every last one and with a passion.
Its a genius and compelling plot device to help strip away the detachment between player and game and one all too unused. Why should I save the world? Why should I have to put myself through hell and back? Why should I care? How many games have you played where those questions aren't answered. Sure, you know why your character is doing these ridiculous feats... but why should I?
So I leave you with three questions. What games have I missed that did this and are there any other plot devices in games that produce the same effect that I've overlooked and am I completely off base with this observation?
Maybe I'm jaded, maybe I'm not. I've played games for quite some time now, and I've watched storytelling in games advance exponentially. However, very few producers seem to give the same motivation the character you are playing has. That's a bit cryptic, so I'll give an example.
Halo. Yes, I get it. There's an alien invasion and they're the bad guys. The chief kills them before they kill all of us. There's no real emotional connection. The story is too far from reality for the player to actually get attached. There's nothing driving the player aside from the challenge of the game and an interest of what will happen next in the story. We did not witness anything enough to draw us in outside of the action.
Max Payne is a step closer but not quite there. Mobsters killed his family and now he is on a vendetta. A compelling story has been produced to give the character, Max, a huge motivation and a reason to go on a rampage... but not us. We do not share this desire to get revenge like Max does. Its a great story, but it gives the player no true motivation.
So what exactly am I asking for in a game? Its simple. A defining moment where the player will feel the same thing the character that is he/she is playing feels. A reason to hate the bad guys beyond "Well, You're supposed to." Its a story device I see all too rarely in games. Sure, some RPGs try to give you this. The most famous example is FFVII, but you knew Aries for 15 minutes before she got killed. She never played a big enough role in the game for her death to matter anywhere beyond a sense of disappointment that you lost a character you had invested some time in. You weren't mad at Sepiroth for killing her. You were pissed at the game for negating any hard work you had put in to leveling Aries. This may be an outrageous assumption, but it holds true for the bit of gamers that I've have been around.
Warning you again, SPOILERS.
So, what games got it right? Well, two come to mind off the top of my head. The Darkness and Half Life 2: Ep. 2. In the Darkness you get to meet Jackie's girlfriend. Not only do you meet her, but you spend quite a bit of time with her and even like the character they've built. There's a small connection many will feel towards this nice girl(Whose name escapes me at the moment). That's even more rare of an event, to create a character that the player will feel a connection to. And then, there was her brutal killing, right in front of your eyes. At that moment, I... me, not my character, said to myself, "Oh, those fucking assholes. They will die for that!" I had the same feeling, albeit not as powerful, as Jackie did. I had the same motivation as him at this point. The mob would die because they took away someone I cared for.
HL2 did this as well. In fact, they did it better. You spend 3 games with these characters who you genuinely like. Alyx, Eli... hell, even Dog and Lamar are likable. Valve created believable characters who were likable and you got to know. However, it took until the end of HL2:Ep2 before I had any motivation. Up until that gut wrenching finale, the player is given no real motivation aside from they want you dead and you can't beat the game if you're dead. They hadn't taken anything from me. They were just doing the all too cliche, taking over the eath and you're the one man to stop 'em story. Then they killed Eli, while you had no choice but to watch. Pinned by the bug, you sat there and saw them kill this 'person' who had always been a kind, guiding voice to you. Gentle and nice, he was taken from you by the combine. And they did it in front of his daughter. After maybe 3 minutes of jaw dropped silence, listening to Alyx cry in to the credits, I had motivation. I wanted them dead. Not Gordon Freeman. Me. Walking in to Episode 3, I will be wanting them dead. Every last one and with a passion.
Its a genius and compelling plot device to help strip away the detachment between player and game and one all too unused. Why should I save the world? Why should I have to put myself through hell and back? Why should I care? How many games have you played where those questions aren't answered. Sure, you know why your character is doing these ridiculous feats... but why should I?
So I leave you with three questions. What games have I missed that did this and are there any other plot devices in games that produce the same effect that I've overlooked and am I completely off base with this observation?
