left 4 dead 2, Shadows of the Damned and Bioshock
I am going to explore the genre of Interactive drama in this article, using three games to detail my points and views while ultimately providing a detailed analysis into the genre.An Interactive drama is a fairly new genre introduced into the gaming industry, it consists of a story being played out in front of the player, but offers up choices or decisions which can have a massive impact on how the story will carry on from the point of that choice/decision.
In the game left 4 dead 2 you are put in
control of 1 of 4 characters.
The objective of the game is to get from
A to B but unfortunately it isn’t that easy as the group are fighting against a
constant wave of infected zombie like creatures, some of which are special
infected these are.
•The
Witch: a special infected that that when startled becomes enraged can rapidly
swipe a character to the ground putting then in last stand and then if not
stopped by another player can kill said player.
•The
Tank: is a special infected that doesn’t go down without a fight, a giant
infected male that can sometimes rip pavement or rubble from the ground and
then throw it at the player with intent to kill.
•The
Hunter: is a smaller regular sized infected that lurks in the darker corners of
the maps and when the player isn't expecting it leaps on top of the player and
starts to rip away at the players skin unless another player can stop it in
time.
•The
Boomer: is a special infected that can puke up bile with intent to cover the
player this then summons a hoard of common infected that then attack a dazed
and confused player .
•The
Charger: the charger is pretty self explanatory, the charger with its hulking
size and giant arm singles out certain
players and well… charges and if a player isn’t fast enough the player will get pummeled to the ground by the beast and then repeatedly bashed in to the ground until the player is put in to last stand.
•The
Smoker: the smoker usually lurks on roof tops or in far corners of the map out
of the way of the action. The smoker’s unique ability allows it to extend it’s
tongue to extraordinary lengths and grab the player and suffocate them
•The
Jockey: the jockey is a small creature that runs around on all fours and jumps
on the players head to and claws at it and while doing so pulls the player into
other infected.
along the way if a character dies and is not able to be revived the game will continue on without then but the game will be made harder for all other players because there are less players to carry out certain team activity's like escorts and timed horde events. and if all of the players die the mission resets and and all progress is lost.
this game really teaches players to play as a team and not to be a lone wolf because you wont get very far.
Shadows Of The Damned
Shadows of the damned is a psychological
horror/comedy That follows the story of Garcia Hotspur, a Mexican demon hunter
who goes to the City of the Damned to battle its evils in order to save his
true love.
Demon hunter Garcia Hotspur comes home to find his girlfriend, Paula, being abducted by the Lord of Demons, Fleming, who brags that he will take Paula with him to kill her again and again. Garcia is powerless to stop Fleming, but instead follows him back to the underworld along with his demon sidekick, Johnson, who also acts as his gun, torch and motorcycle. In the demon world, Johnson helps guide Garcia through the twisted nature of the demon realm, defeating numerous enemies that try to feed on Garcia's flesh, and keeping him away from the darkness that destroys the human flesh. As they travel, they witness numerous deaths of Paula by Fleming and other demons, all to toy with Garcia's senses.
the reason it is classed as a psychological thriller is because through out the game the player and character never really know if Paula (the players reason main objective in the game) is alive or dead even after retrieving her. for all the player knows is the whole game could have been a figment of Garcia's imagination.
throughout this game the player is alone and this can also affect them psychologically creating edge of your seat suspense.
Bioshock
takes place in 1960 in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, where Jack, sole survivor of a plane crash, discovers the entrance to the recluse underwater city of Rapture, at the end of a civil war which left most of this utopia in disrepair. Finding himself in an alien world, he has no choice but to fight for his survival against the Splicers, degenerated citizens addicted to the genetic material known as ADAM, and all the traps laid down by the city's visionary founder, Andrew Ryan. His only help lies in Atlas, a revolutionary man seeking to escape safely to the surface with his family.
much like Shadows of the damned bioshock turns out to be a psychological thriller that were the story takes a sudden turn, along the way Jack finds out that him being in rapture wasn't a mistake and he was there for a reason [SPOILER ALERT] jack later finds out that he is the illegitimate son of Andrew Ryan and Jasmine Jolene, Ryan's mistress. An Audio Diary by Jolene, and photos found on Ryan's desk indicate that Jack was purchased by Brigid Tenenbaumon behalf of Frank Fontaine as an embryo. Jack was to be Fontaine's back-up plan if he was ever forced into an unfavorable situation by Ryan, which happened during Rapture's Civil War.
a horror element that is featured in multiple other games that could be passed as unintentional are the Audio Diary's littered around the game that give an incite to what rapture was like before jack arrived and the creepy part about this wasn't necessarily what was on them but the tone of voice used and the grainy gramophone style audio.
http://www.vg247.com/2011/05/13/quick-shots-shadows-the-damned-pics-show-weapons-tattoos-bad-news-for-a-giant/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadows_of_the_Damned
http://vonbuttons.deviantart.com/art/Special-Infected-209178999
No comments:
Post a Comment