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Blood + Fire
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Funny, one of our columnist for NZGamer just put this article up...
http://nzgamer.com/index.php?type=3&id=134
Stories in Games
Quote:
“Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important.”
Thus spoke John Carmack, creator of Doom 3, and all-round smart guy. This is the man who builds rockets for a hobby. So obviously, when he claims that no one really plays games for the storyline, he has to be correct about this as well, right?
Well, maybe. To get a bit of perspective on the importance (or lack thereof) of stories in videogames, let’s take a look through the years at various big-name titles and the emphasis they placed on plot. Generally speaking, there were far fewer games with detailed storylines and characterisation back in the early nineties. For one thing, videogames were (and still are?) seen as fun timewasters – not something to get involved in. On top of that, there simply wasn’t enough memory available on old NES, Master System, Amstrad, or Commodore disks and cartridges to include a decent story. Often, the only time you’d learn that a game actually had a story was if you read a three-line blurb about it in the game manual. So technological limitations, coupled with the traditional view of videogames as light entertainment, often kept a game’s storyline short and unimportant – it was merely an excuse for whatever the developer threw at you.
On the other hand, the PC of the day sported a number of titles that were actually story driven. These role playing games actively encouraged the player to get involved with the story, caring about his or her character and their actions. The emphasis was placed on making a (somewhat) believable world, fleshing it out with far more dialogue than was common at the time.
However, this focus on compelling stories was mainly confined to rpg’s or adventure games – games that focused on things like sports, fighting, or action, still contained very little story elements. It was like that years ago, and it is still like that today. So genre, it seems, strongly dictates the importance of a story in a game. The question is, why is a detailed storyline so important in some games, and not in others?
The answer to this lies in the main advantage that videogames have over other forms of entertainment – they are interactive, not passive. When you go to read a novel, you do so for one reason only – to be wrapped up in its plot. When someone plays a videogame, however, they could be doing so for several different reasons, depending on the type of game it is. Maybe they’re after an adrenaline rush, or they crave some fast-paced action – or, maybe, they want to be sucked in by an immersive story.
Consider a game like Warcraft III. If it were a novel, you would be passively reading about how the heroes won all the battles and saved the day. However, because it is an interactive game, you are forced to take actively participate in winning those battles. As a result, the games focus shifts from being about the story of some heroes and the battles they fought, and becomes a multi-faceted entity that contains story, strategic thinking, risk-taking, and micromanagement. Instead of being able to sit back and enjoy the story in the knowledge that the heroes will win, you have to win the battles for them.
The point is that games can have multiple purposes, and being told a story is just one of them. So my reply to John Carmack would be that storylines in some types of games – such as the games he likes to make – are indeed unimportant. But in other genres, a good plot can be just as important as the gameplay or graphics, and can lift the game up to new heights. It all depends on what the gamer is after, which is a great thing about videogames – they can offer all sorts of different ways to have fun. Telling a compelling story is just one of them, but when used correctly, can have just as much an affect on the game as the graphics or gameplay. Consider games like Silent Hill, or Baldur’s Gate, or any decent adventure game, where the story is tightly interwoven with the other aspects of the game, creating a far greater playing experience.
I mentioned earlier that videogames were considered to be fun time wasters, and nothing more. To many people this is still the case, and it seems to be the viewpoint of Carmack. However, it is clear that many gamers also enjoy getting immersed in the world of the game, if the story and characters are of high enough quality. At its best, an involving videogame can surpass a passive form of entertainment like the novel – its interactive elements allow it (in theory) to tell stories on a level that books can only dream of. I for one hope that we’ll see more games released that treat storylines as an integral part of the gaming experience – not as an excuse.
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