A few weeks ago I sat down with a blog in mind, all ready to write. It was about stories in games and how, to be frank, they don’t do it for me. I realised I was probably in the minority with this view. I have no idea what was going on in Halo ODST or Gears of War in any great detail and neither did I care, I just wanted to shoot stuff, to game. The same for the Grand Theft Auto series. I understand why people enjoy the story and I appreciate that effort goes into creating it but I sit there resisting the urge to hit A through cut scenes and am just itching to get on with the next mission. It may be blasphemy but for me a cut scene is often a good chance to grab a drink or reply to a text while I listen half-heartedly. I was going to blog about how if I want a story I’ll put on a DVD and if I want to game then I’ll load up a game; for me, the two are separate interests.
Occasionally a game is so wacky that the storyline holds my attention. Take Beautiful Katamari in which the King of All Cosmos was playing tennis one day when he accidentally tore a hole in the universe with his serve. Naturally it created a black hole sucking everything but Earth into oblivion. Playing as the Prince you have to roll up everyday items to create new planets before blocking the black hole. I’m still awaiting the game to movie franchise for that one. Or how about Peggle with its on the edge of your seat narrative. Why are there pegs? What do they do? Who put them there? What have the orange pegs done to deserve obliteration?
I digress. So there I was, furiously typing out my heinous views, preparing myself to be shot down in flames when Modern Warfare 2 arrived. There may have been a lot of hype and excitement surrounding its release but all I wanted to do was shoot my friends in multiplayer, the campaign would be played eventually when I got around to it. How wrong was I? After just a couple of days of slowly working through, it was completed. Not only was it completed but I had enjoyed every minute. I was genuinely touched at some of the twists and sat slack-jawed when two characters met their demise. The ending may not have done it for some but I was immersed enough to have a moment of stunned silence after it had finished. Very swiftly followed by me wailing “Nooo! More!… Mooore!”.
With hindsight Batman: Arkham Asylum managed to do exactly the same thing. It evoked emotion, in the same way as a film or novel might, a great example being the Scarecrow sections. I adored that game and despite it appearing very different to MW2, to me, the game played out in a very similar way. The story unravelled around me in the dialogue and my characters’ actions without the use of excessive cut scenes which made the ones that were there all the more enjoyable. So I’ve had to reassess my previous views. I’m still not a big fan of long cut scenes but a storyline can be a huge part of a game for me, so long as I feel a part of that story. Now I realise there are games I play purely for indulgent fun and there are games I can play to experience.
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