Ok So I need you to stop and really think about this one cause it’s kind of a big deal. Not to mention a long rant so stick with it…
So we all know of the concept of ‘death’ in video games correct? I.E your walking around with your assault rifle, looking all bad ass. If your health bar drops to zero or reaches Zero HP then BOOM you lose and now you’re singing soprano in the choir of angels right next to Moses and the others.
But let’s break down this concept into two separate factors…
On one side we have the story implications of ‘death’ in video games. I.E if you fight this boss and lose, that boss KILLS our hero and thus the quest comes to an end (Sad Face, violin music etc etc) Now this is the problem with video games stories that I’m actually writing about but before any of this can make sense we need to look at the MECHANICAL implications of death.
You see ‘Death’ provides the gamer with tension, without it the player simply wouldn’t be bothered by what’s happening on screen. You’d just take your time; walk from A to B, not even bother with taking cover because you can’t lose! Eventually you’d reach the next level. Needless to say that would SUCK, you wouldn’t be worried or be forced to use any skill. The game would get real boring real fast.
As a result ‘Death’ keeps you on your toes and keeps you moving.
Now that we understand the nuts and bolts of this concept let me finally get to my point…
NO ONE IS SCARED OF DEATH ANYMORE!
I’m coming at this as a story writer who’s played countless RPG’s, FPS’S, Adventure titles and so on. I’ve saved more villages than the Red Cross, Oxfam and The comic relief foundation put together and to be honest, despite my ‘heroic deeds’ I’ve reached the point were I feel no tension about my characters mortality.
So let’s say I’m playing a game and I now have to fight this tremendous FIRE BREATHING DRAGON. I’ve been given my sword and a bunch of spells to use….
now as a gamer the only thing I’m ‘worried’ about is beating this dragon WITHOUT it beating me right?
HOWEVER!!
Even if it DOES beat me, Even if this dragon Goes all ‘George Forman’ on me and grills me into a charcoaled pile of dust. This game is only going to reset me to the beginning of this fight. Sure it might be frustrating and it might mean having to re-do a large section of the game BUT it still makes the ‘story’ implications of death feel somewhat trivial. From a story stand point this dragon is already dead because the story can’t continue in any other way. Either this dragon dies or *blank*.
The very concept of death for your main character kind of becomes a non issue because in essence your characters CAN NOT possibly fail; there is no other outcome but success!
Now the Savvy amongst you are probably thinking ‘But Chad, Of course they let you retry, you cant have your main character just die half way through a game, otherwise the story would just stop.’
And I agree.
From a STORY prospective, if your main character dies then that’s pretty much goodnight.
But you must understand that ‘Death’ from a mechanical stand point is just a ‘price for failure’ and one that games have been using for years now.
However there are many things OTHER than death that could act as a way of creating tension. Things that can impact the game and the player more dynamically.
Let’s return to our hypothetical village.
You and your mighty Band of heroes have managed to get its health down low but your team is low on health too…
Suddenly the dragon uses a new attack that you weren’t expecting!
Your team is wiped out, you see a small cut scene of your character blacking out…
(Blank screen)
All of a sudden, you’re eyes spring open….to reveal your in a strange room but hey YOUR ALIVE!!
You look over to find the rest of your party are also alive!
But what about the village? What happened to little Hillershire??
IT’S RUINED THAT’S WHAT!!
YOU FAILED!
That Village is GONE!
Remember that cute lil girl who gave you a flower because you promised to save her village? SHE’S DRAGON FOOD NOW!
Remember that Hot Inn Keeper who you thought might have a crush on you? ROAD KILL!
All the weapons you could have bought from them GONE!
All the additional side quests GONE!
The reward money? UP IN SMOKE!
See the story will continue but by god will you pay for it!
See when you present a game that makes you LIVE with your failure instead of just letting you retry, all of a sudden you become desperate not to fail…it becomes even more tense because the game will LET you fail. You could make it even MORE tense if you make it so the player CANT retry (at least not until he’s completed the game once through)
All of a sudden every option, every decision and every major fight becomes a big deal.
And as for the little encounters? You can keep those the same. Make sure their easy so that failure isn’t really likely (which is the way it is now against many ‘random encounters’) and have it so that if you somehow DO lose, you’re revived by a passer by or by some other divine force. In other words keep the present system of simply setting the player back but DON’T use death as the excuse!
Before I leave I’d like to give you a new hypothetical situation. (with this new idea)
You’ve been asked to help defend yet another village (This time it’s the village that saved you after your last failure)
Your party members are torn. Half of them think your party should help in order to do the right thing, payback those who saved you and perhaps redeem some honour.
The other half (smarter half) have pointed out that the village would be out numbered 7 to 1 and that this would be a suicide mission. Also there is a rare opportunity for you to return to your home nation and perhaps bring in some more re-enforcements for later battles.
You cant do Both, either you stay and fight and miss the boat home (Which could play a role in the next few major battles you face)
Or you go back home and leave this villagers who saved you to their doom. While also further dampening your moral and reputation not to mention personal pride.
Now considering how you failed the last mission, and how this is a game that will let you fail again. Those 7 to 1 odds look real bad (and so they should) and so you would be less likely to just “heroically” dive into the action without thinking.
At the same time these people DID save you and their tribe could really use your help. This could be your chance to be the hero you’ve painted yourself as while also acquiring the fame and prestige you desire….however, the choice is yours.
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