Video games are often described as lacking in narrative depth; that is, the gameplay is (obviously) more important than the need for a sophisticated plot or narrative structure and so any storyline takes second place, or even is not considered as part of a games design and delivery. It has even been argued by video game theorist Jasper Juul that ‘…game and narrative are two separate phenomena that in many cases rule each other out.’(Juul, 2001) For some games, there is no need for a narrative; best selling titles such as Tetris do not need a narrative structure, involving simply the scoring of points in order to progress through the game. This has been the case throughout the relatively short history of video gaming; the playing aspects of video games - the puzzles and violence found in many games, has, until recently, been the major selling point and indeed remains a major aspect of video game design. Games such as the bestselling Tomb Raider (Eidos Interactive, 1994) contain a story that is simply a device by which the game strands are held together; the game revolves around the search for the Scion, a tenuous narrative strand which allows the player to complete a number of puzzles and search for treasure without the need for a sophisticated story.
However, the recent past as seen a change in the demographics of video game users and so designers have had to change the construction of games as a result of this. According to the Entertainment Software Association, the average American gamer in 2009 is 34 years and somewhat surprisingly, considering popular beliefs, (Barry Atkins says in 2003 that the video game is ‘...fiction for children and adolescents...’ (Atkins, 2003, p5)) ‘Women aged 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33%) than boys age 17 or younger (20%).’ (ESA, 2010) However, the change in video game players has meant that it is no longer adequate that games are merely point scoring exercises; similarly, having a narrative that is merely a device by which the game play is justified is no longer sufficient to hold the attention of a modern audience; that is one made of mature adults as well as younger people.
The difficulties in creating something which can mix game play and a strong narrative are evident upon a cursory exploration of video games; there are at least two distinct problems arising as game designers try to make narrative more sophisticated. Aside from what is seen as the weak plot in many games, there are also problems with delivering the story to the player without interrupting the playing of the game; that is interacting with the events of the game as they unfold. There are two basic solutions to this; the first being that the gameplay becomes simple with a reliance on cut scenes (pieces of cinematic style footage in which the player has no control over the characters or their actions) which interrupts the game play. This is the case with the 2010 game Final Fantasy XIII, which relies heavily on cut scenes to carry forward the story; however, despite the quality of graphics and the sophisticated storyline of the game, gameplay itself is somewhat restrictive, essentially consisting of ‘…fighting your way through soldiers, monsters and robots … down a long hallway toward an orange target symbol on your mini-map that triggers a cutscene, a boss fight, or both...’(Glasser, 2010) for the majority of the game, which can take upward of 60 hours of gameplay, based on personal experience. The large amount of cutscenes featured in Final Fantasy XIII also means player interaction is disjointed; the role playing element of the game, an important factor in the franchise, is lost in favour of the fantastic quality of the in game graphics and the fight sequences (Kohler, 2010) as the story becomes more important.
The second way to incorporate a strong narrative into a video game has been to concentrate on the game playing experience and insert aspects of the storyline at intervals. This has the advantage of making player interaction more central, but has the misfortune to make the narrative feel less important. Indeed, if a puzzle or fight sequence within a game is particularly difficult and it takes a long time to progress, the game runs the risk of having the player forget the narrative as they concentrate on gameplay. For these games, playing disrupts the storyline, which results in a disjointed narrative experience; this can be seen in Tomb Raider where the narrative, although simple, is lost as the gameplay takes precedence.
Whilst it is true that establishing the presence of narrative within a video game has been problematic, the past few years have seen marked changes in the way that video games are presented to the changing audience and the type of games that are being released. There have been many games which are aimed at adults, reflecting a level of real life, as in the case of the hugely popular game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, (Activision, 2009) with its portrayal of terrorism and warfare in such locations as Afghanistan, which can be seen regularly in the media. Alongside this, recent games have involved a serious endeavour to strengthen the narrative content alongside the improved capabilities of modern games consoles and personal computers, something which was recognised in 2003 by Barry Atkins in More than a Game when he saw ‘...the first signs here of a form of fiction...’ (Atkins, 2003, p2) when playing computer games. This technological advancement has produced games such as Red Dead Redemption, (Rockstar, 2010) a role playing game or RPG, which has the player take on the persona of John Marston and carry out a variety of tasks in the Wild West, including hunting, breaking horses and chasing down outlaws.
Red Dead Redemption features a ‘sandbox’ narrative; that is, the narrative is to some extent non linear and is typical in RPG games, where the player can roam throughout the games landscape at will completing various tasks at leisure. Despite this non linear approach to the game, there is a firm story running through it, not merely an effort to hold the player’s attention long enough to progress to the next level or section of the game. Set at the turn of the 20th Century, Marston is hunting and killing an outlaw gang on behalf of the Government and the player follows Marsden through a series of events (some of which must be completed in a linear fashion) which culminates in his death. However, this game is still predominantly, a ‘first person shooter’ or FPS and the narrative, although stronger, is still lacking the sophistication of a novel or film.
While Red Dead Redemption contains a discernable plot which can be followed through the game, even one quite primitive by literary standards, there have been a number of other games in the last eighteen months which have the potential to lead the field in the creation of video games with some of the sophistication of a novel or film, with narratives substantially stronger than earlier games. In 2010 there have been at least two major releases which push video game narrative boundaries, Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream, 2010) for the Playstation 3 and Alan Wake,(Remedy 2010) for the Xbox platform.
Alan Wake, said by Time Magazine to be the top game of 2010 (Narcisse, 2010), is an RPG with a linear narrative and contains aspects which allow the player to explore the narrative potential of the game as well as conform to the more traditional shooter style game. The narrative content of the game is typical of the novels of prolific authors such as Stephen King or Dean Koontz and indeed the relationship to the work of King is foregrounded in the opening words of the game: ‘Stephen King once wrote that ‘Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there’s little fun to be had in explanations…’ Alan Wake tells the generic story of an author with writer’s block who, when on holiday in Bright Falls a fictitious American town, is tangled up in a supernatural event. Taking the role of the author, Alan Wake, the player tries to save the life of Wake’s wife Alice. As a third person shooter (TPS); that is a shooting game where there is a visible onscreen character, there are enemies which need to be neutralised; the player must shine a light onto the ‘Taken’, (characters that have been transformed by the Darkness - the representation of evil in the game) draining the Darkness from inside them, before being able to shoot or otherwise destroy them. The fundamental narrative of Alan Wake is simple enough to conform to the stereotypical gameplay of the TPS game; which James Merry describes in 2000 as often being
‘…nothing more than the player’s character’s fiancé…being kidnapped by a horrible evil character. The fiancé…must be rescued…’ (Merry, 2000)
As well as this basic adherence to the shooter gameplay, the creators of Alan Wake also made it possible for the player to choose whether they wish to explore the more sophisticated narrative, explaining that having the gamer collect pages from the manuscript that is Wake’s novel means that
Everyone who plays will get the skeleton of the story but there is a lot of optional content with TVs and radios in the game to flesh out the story. We do flashbacks as well. There is even a live talk show with live actors. And we use live actors for some of the other scenes as well. This is all optional content. (Howson, 2010)
For the player who chooses to explore this optional content, the attempts to build a sophisticated narrative are evident; the game raises issues around identity, the concept of good and evil and also questions what is real. Wake, as the protagonist requires the use of his mental faculties over physical strength to defeat an elusive enemy who takes the form of Darkness; he must write a novel in order to save the life of his wife, Alice, whilst also trying to discover whether what is going on in Bright Falls is simply a manifestation of his own psyche.
Alan Wake makes use of many of the tropes of psychological thriller fiction; the game is narrated in the first person by Wake as he recounts the events taking place and the players viewpoint is restricted to having the same knowledge as Wake, even if that is erroneous. Furthermore, the use of the interior monologue allows the player to gain an insight into Wake’s mind, as he relates his thoughts and fears to the player. In keeping with the psychological thriller theme of the game, Wake is not endowed with superb physical prowess; he quickly becomes out of breath when running and frequently needs to recover from battling. This further highlights the fact that Wake cannot use physical prowess to conquer the Darkness, but must rely on his mental faculties. There is also a significant portion of the game given over to backstory; Wake’s personal history and his reasons for being in Bright Falls. This allows the game designer to present Wake as a three dimensional character and encourages an emotional attachment between the player and Wake.
The Playstation 3 game Heavy Rain, again marketed as a psychological thriller, is another example of the way that narrative has become stronger within video games in the very recent past. In this game, the player takes the part of a number of characters and the decisions the player makes as the character affect the outcome of the game. Although the classification of Heavy Rain as a psychological thriller puts it in the same genre as Alan Wake, the differences in both gameplay and narrative are extensive. Where Alan Wake’s story is supernatural, featuring as it does ‘The Darkness’, which is a manifestation of evil, Heavy Rain is firmly grounded in reality and tells the story of a serial killer known as ‘The Origami Killer’ whose modus operandi is to drown his child victims and leave an orchid and a piece of origami on the their bodies. All of the characters played in the game are searching for the identity of the serial killer before his latest victim, Shaun Mars, is killed and the game design utilises the way that the player interacts with the game via the control pad.
For gameplay, Heavy Rain builds on experimental techniques found in the game Fahrenheit, (Quantic Dream 2005) with the control pad being used in innovative ways. Where Alan Wake has Wake pointing a torch, shooting and looking around him, Heavy Rain has the player complete a range of everyday tasks as well as those central to the narrative; the control pad is used in a variety of different ways, being shaken and tilted amongst other things, not just used for direction and pressing an ‘action button’ which is usual. This intimate interaction allows the player to become emotionally involved with the characters as the player literally becomes them, completing tasks such as brushing teeth and taking a shower as game ‘author’ David Cage explains; ‘They [the tasks]…tell so much about the characters, contribute to the role play, triggering empathy and identification – I could not imagine not having these moments.(original emphasis) (Stuart, 2010) Cage is clear in interviews that the narrative content of the game is important, so important that he took
‘a year to write this, to get the story [he] want[ed]. [He] also wanted to get rid of any supernatural elements, any sci-fi and what have you. [He] wanted to write about real people in real life.’ (Kendall, 2010)
As with Alan Wake, there are evident tropes of the psychological thriller; none of the characters are endowed with more than average physical prowess and the ‘central’ character Ethan Mars has to pit his wits against the serial killer, who gives him fives tasks to complete in order to save his son, Shaun; these tasks involves both physical and mental bravery, involving such things as cutting off his own finger and facing electrocution in the attempt to save his son.
Structurally, both Alan Wake and Heavy Rain are similar to visual narratives. Alan Wake’s construction is similar to that of a television series, with six ‘episodes’ complete with opening and closing credit sequences and the even the familiar words ‘…Previously on…’ recapping what has already happened. This is a movement away from the previous work of the game designers; the game which preceded Alan Wake, Max Payne (Remedy, 2002) is created to feel like a film, albeit quite primitively. As the managing director of the development company Remedy, Matias Myllyrinne, says in an interview shortly after the release of Alan Wake, Max Payne ‘…kind of stretched the film-style of storytelling over a game.’ (O Hannessian, 2010) However, Myllyrinne goes on to say that this format was not something that was suitable for Alan Wake, as the story was much larger than in the Max Payne games. Heavy Rain is more explicitly connected to the medium of film; this game utilises methods such as the split screen technique showing different events occurring at the same time in the same screen (Figures 1&2) which heightens tension in the narrative as well as ‘the excitement and frenzy of certain activities.’(Chandler, 1995) This technique can be found throughout film, and has recently become popular in television serials such as 24 and CSI:Miami.
Figure 1: Heavy Rain (Robinson, 2009) Figure 2: 24 (Wikipedia, 2010)
Both the games Alan Wake and Heavy Rain allow the gamer to literally see what the character sees; there are methods by which the player can make the camera of the game look around them in the first-person; that is the camera angle temporarily becomes the eyes of the character, allowing the gamer not only to see what the character sees, but, more importantly, how the character sees something. As with the use of mundane tasks in Heavy Rain, the gamer becomes the character thereby heightening the emotional links between the player and the character.
Allowing the player to become emotionally involved with the characters in the game serves to garner the player’s interest in the narrative of the game; the player carries on playing in order to find out what happens next or how the story ends, rather than just to progress through the game and gain points or ‘kills’. Here, Alan Wake and Heavy Rain’s narrative successfully manages to hold the players interest; the usual cutscenes are dramatically reduced and the character can interact with the surroundings as the narrative is expanded. These scenes combine player activity with the cutscene; in Heavy Rain an example of this is when Ethan is talking with his psychiatrist. This segment of game consists of a lot of backstory, linking the introduction of the game, Ethan at home with his family, to the present of the game, which has Ethan as a single man with weekend access to his son. Previously, this would have taken the form of a cut scene, with no control over the proceedings on the screen; however, in Heavy Rain, the player can control Ethan to move around the room and interact with the furniture and objects found there while the psychiatrist explains the backstory. Within these portions of the game, there is also the use of Quicktime Events, (QTE’s) which, as the name suggests involves character events being played out in a fast manner. In Heavy Rain, this involves pressing highlighted buttons within a short time, with the failure to do this resulting in a penalty. There is also the potential within the QTE’s of Heavy Rain to change the path of the game, although, as a review of the game says it is ‘…in the game's latter half where your decisions really start to matter and it's here that the game impresses with its sense of consequence.’ (Wales, 2010) The presence of the QTE allows the narrative to progress without the player having to become a passive observer; the player continues to interact with the game as the story unfolds, avoiding one of the main problems of narrative delivery.
While Alan Wake has a linear narrative, with only one path that the gamer can take to get to the end, Heavy Rain has a different narrative structure. The game has the player making decisions which affect the outcome; whether the serial killer is apprehended and the child, Shaun, saved. Playing as the character Ethan, who is being manipulated by the serial killer, the player must decide whether to shoot another character to save the life of his son, with the instruction ‘Are you willing to kill someone to save your son?’ It transpires that the target is a drug dealer, who might, in other games, be thought of as worth killing; but within the context of the game, the player must make a moral decision as to whether to kill another person. In a way not usual for video games, the death of a single character becomes a major event; the player must decide whether to carry out a cold blooded murder, as the control pad simulates the reactions of the character. The pad shakes in the player’s hand, making it harder to aim the gun and hesitation can result in the character being shot, ending Ethan’s involvement in the game. Here, the game takes a common aspect of video games - killing, and makes it shocking; it makes the player seriously consider the consequences of their actions. This is evidence of social commentary, making comment on the frequency of violence in games and life, and having the player reconsider the morality of such actions. As with the everyday tasks of the game, it is clear that the peripheral equipment, the QTE aspects of the game and the ability to change the outcome of the game in this way immerses the gamer in the narrative, to the extent that the player effectively becomes the author, writing their own version of the narrative, although there are only a certain number of scenarios available to the player.
In the introduction to Intertextuality Graham Allan says that ‘texts, whether they be literary or non-literary, are viewed by modern theorists as lacking in any kind of independent meaning,’ (Allen, 2000) and this is something which can be seen in both Alan Wake and Heavy Rain. For players of Alan Wake, there are clear references to other texts and a quick search of the internet can uncover literally dozens of these cultural references, ranging from the Smoke Monster in Lost to the Raincoat killer from I Know What You Did Last Summer (Weijo, 2010). Although not academic, nevertheless, these references help to establish the type of game being played and highlighting an intertextual relationship can also serve to establish the game as a more sophisticated narrative, rather than just gameplay; some of the texts referenced in the game ‘...include the like of Twin Peaks, Lost and the works of Stephen King’ according to an interview with the games writer, Sam Lake. (Cowen, 2010) Twin Peaks is one of the first, and clearest, instances of intertextuality within Alan Wake; indeed, the games designers are clear that ‘...Twin Peaks is actually a big inspiration...’ (Howson, 2010) for the town of Bright Falls, which is the setting for the game. There are a number of clear connections between the two; for instance, the diner in Bright Falls is called the Triple D ‘Oh Deer’ Diner, echoing the name of the Double R Diner in Twin Peaks. Furthermore, the Light Lady in Alan Wake, who carries a lamp around with her is similar to the Log Lady of Twin Peaks, and‘…their appearance, behaviour and importance to the plot is almost identical…’ (Giant Bomb, nd) As well as these clear references to Twin Peaks, there are many other filmic intertextual references visible throughout the game, including a flock of birds which attacks Wake and his friend Barry, in the same way in which Hitchcock’s birds attack in the film The Birds.
Whilst there are many references to film and television within Alan Wake, there are also many allusions to Stephen King and his work within the game. As already stated, the game opens with a quote by King, but there are references to The Shining (King, 2007 ed) amongst others, with Wake comparing himself being chased by a crazed man with an axe to Torrance chasing his wife with an axe. There is also a sequence near the end of the game where Wake is being chased through a maze; again this can be compared to The Shining, where Torrence is chasing his son through the maze. However, the biggest instance of King’s influence is the storyline of the game, which has similarities to Misery, featuring as it does an author who is held captive, whilst being forced to write a novel with a particular ending.
When playing the game Alan Wake, it quickly becomes clear that the central theme of the game is light and the way light destroys darkness. As already mentioned, Wake must use a torch to destroy the Darkness in the ‘Taken’ before they can be neutralised; but this is merely part of the preoccupation with light that the game displays. There is the ‘Lamp Lady’ who carries a lamp everywhere she goes, and has lights burning at all times; if the player gets lost in the game, heading towards the light is the easiest way to get back on track; Wake can recover faster than usual if he is within a circle of light and it is light that drives the darkness out of the ‘Taken.’ As a motif in literature light has a clear meaning, with the relationship between light and religion being well known; there are many references in The Bible to light and to Jesus being the light. These include Jesus being ‘…the real light which gives light to every person (John 1:9) Jesus described himself as light: ‘I am the light of the world. No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness. (John 8:12)…’ (Dues, 2006, p182) Light plays a major role in the game, and as such can be easily interpreted as having a religious significance. Here, in what can only be described as obvious religious imagery, light is the saviour of Wake, his wife and the community of Bright Springs, with The Darkness being representative of evil, especially in the way it can penetrate a person and only be destroyed by the presence of the light.
Alongside the presence of light as a motif of Alan Wake, there is a preoccupation with the written word in the game; as previously discussed, Wake is a frustrated writer who must write to save the life of his wife. However, there are also more subtle ways which the written word takes a dominant place in the video game; there are 106 pieces of manuscript scattered throughout the game, which when read together make up the entire narrative of the game, which makes up some of the optional narrative content of the game. Literally speaking, the game can therefore be read as well as played, with the player gaining access to parts of the backstory of the game and insights into other characters that the restrictive narrative style of the game does not allow. Throughout Bright Falls, there are many signs which can be read, giving the history of the area, a tactic which allows the player to gain an understanding of the setting, and again fills in elements of backstory which Wake (and the player) would otherwise not know. There is also the presence of glowing words; that is, written messages which can be seen to glow when light is shone on them. Words are known to have a religious significance, alongside the representation of light; indeed one of the more famous passages from The Bible is ‘In the Beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.’ (John 1:1, King James Version) Alongside the religious motif, the presence of text is significant in showing the importance and power of the written word within both the game and life; words give meaning to the fictional town of Bright Springs through the signs displaying aspects of the history; words are also able to build a cohesive whole, as in the way the manuscript pages build up the entire narrative of the events in Bright Springs. Finally, words are a way of changing events; this is clear in the game as the physical manifestation of the Darkness wants Wake to write a particular story, which will allow its influence to spread further than the boundaries of Bright Springs and in the way Wake eventually understands that in order to save Alice, he needs to write his own ending.
It is clear then, that the video game has become more sophisticated throughout its short history and that game writers are beginning to consider more than shooting and point scoring when they embark upon creating a new game. This includes inserting examples of intertextuality in the text and an exploration of themes and motifs as well as making allusions to contemporary life. However, the narrative of games is often derided for being simplistic and lacking any depth when it is present; something which film has endured for much of its existence. It is true that video game narrative is in its infancy, indeed there is a vast scope for improvement within the games analysed; Heavy Rain’s conclusion where the serial killer is unmasked is not a sophisticated piece of storytelling, involving action replays which undermine the previous narrative, inserting actions which were not evident when playing as the character at the time the events took place. While the narrative of Alan Wake is fairly generic, echoing a number of stories by authors of the psychological thriller, nevertheless there is definite potential for the expansion of the video game narrative as a genre, with the techniques used in these games being built on and expanded to allow games to involve the player as much as reading a piece of fiction can. Technological advancements should also aid in this, with recent innovations regarding the Xbox Kinect making the potential for interaction greater as the player does not need a control pad; the player can mimic real actions as the camera attached to the console interprets the movements and shows them on the screen. While the player will not have the sensory interaction that the control pad offers in Heavy Rain, for such actions as moving through landscapes this could be invaluable.
It is evident that the video game has the potential to grow into a sophisticated narrative form, rivalling the efforts of filmmakers of the 21st Century, who are exploring the potential of animated film, by creating an interactive experience in which the player is not only an observer, but also an active participant in the outcome of the narrative. There are a number of issues with the way that the narrative is delivered to the player, but this can be overcome with close attention to the story that is being created and careful consideration of the whole narrative. It can also be suggested that the continuing technological breakthroughs by console making companies can create a more immersive experience for the player and affect the way that the narrative is delivered. With the popularity of video games, it is possible that video games could become a mainstream and popular way for people to enjoy narrative, with games such as Alan Wake and Heavy Rain being instrumental in expanding the interactive fiction of video games.
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