Howdy! I'm Alex Mathai and I've actually written a couple of posts here on MMW as a guest of Mike Larson. Anyway, here are a few of my thoughts from the past week!
Video Games and
Writing?
This week has been an exciting week for gamers around the
world. Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) launched late afternoon last Sunday
and has continued to stun gamers with premier game after premier game
throughout the week. Each major gaming console (Sony, Xbox and Nintendo) and a
few of the more popular gaming companies exhibited their new technology and
their impressive lineup of games planned for the next couple of years. Fans
were wowed and surprised by each reveal, and more than a few plans were made as
to which company would be receiving large chunks of people’s paychecks.
By now, you’re probably scratching your head and thinking,
“But Alex, why are you talking about video games when this is obviously a
writing blog?” Well, curious reader, I’m glad you asked…
The writing in video games is amazing! To outsiders, video
games look like cartoons with needless violence and fighting, but I’m here to
tell you that it’s so much more! If you look deeper into video games, you can see
the artistic elements they encompass. Graphics, game play and voice acting are
all important, but to me, the writing and plot are major factors.
Video games have improved immeasurably since the Space
Invaders “kill all the aliens” plot line. Modern plots are more complicated
than a Shakespeare drama played out before gamers’ eyes. For example, let’s
look at one of my favorite games: Assassin’s Creed.
The basis of this sci-fi game is that there are two warring
underground factions – Assassins and Templars. Both orders fight for the same
goal – world peace – but they go about attaining this goal in completely
different ways. The Assassins’ want world peace through free will while the
Templars want to imprison and control everyone to create order. There are artifacts in the world dubbed
“Pieces of Eden” that have the power to control the masses’ minds. The
Assassins want to protect the Pieces of Eden while the Templars want to exploit
their power.
Still with me?
In the first game the gamer plays the part of a modern young
man named, Desmond Miles, who is an estranged assassin kidnapped by a Templar
organization. The Templars want to find the locations of a particular Piece of
Eden, and Desmond is the key. In his ancestral memories, Desmond knows the
location of the Piece of Eden…he just doesn’t realize it. The Templars have
built a special machine called the Animus that can unlock these past memories
of Assassins. Forcing Desmond to search (and the gamer plays) through the
memories of an Assassin during the 2nd Crusade, they eventually find
the location of the Piece of Eden.
Now I don’t know about you, but I wish I had thought of this
premise! This is an amazing blend of Science Fiction and Historical Fiction. Think
of how many books in a series you could make, how many worlds you could
explore, how many plots you could follow! So far the Assassin’s Creed franchise
has explored time periods during the Crusades, the Italian Renaissance, the
American Revolution, and most recently, the French Revolution and Victorian
London. And… while the game writers take
liberties with the story, like a good historical novel, they try to keep the
history accurate. What an exciting way
to learn history.
I’m not the only one who has noticed Video game writing has
been gaining popularity and recognition. In January of this year, several games
(including Assassin’s Creed) have been nominated by the Writers Guild of
America for the 2015 award recognizing outstanding achievement in video game
writing. Here is the article if you are interested (Assassin's Creed, The Last of Us, Alien get Writers Guild nods).
Now, I’m not trying to convince you that video games are
better than books. Nope! I’m a pretty big gamer, but I still set aside my
controller in favor of a good book. I just wanted to draw your attention to the
different aspects of writing that you might not have thought about. It’s
fascinating to see how writing in video games has evolved. There are even some
games that place the dramatic plot arc in the hands of the player. The choices
that are made during the game affect the outcome of the story. If a player
chooses to rescue one character instead of another, that choice comes back to
haunt them later in the game. It’s like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, but
in a more visual way!
Since I’ve made my case, what do you think? By playing or
just in passing, have you noticed the changes in the writing of video games
over the years? Also, video games are made by a team of writers each
contributing to the whole. How do you feel about collaborative writing and have
you ever tried it?
Thanks for reading!
