Comments on: Resident Evil, But They're in Space!

By: Chuck

Chuck — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 03:56:56 +0000

Wrong metaphor. Gameplay is the script. UI is the cinematography. Story is the set dressing.

Well, first of all it wasn’t supposed to be a metaphor. I wasn’t talking about how movie elements function versus how videogame elements do, since they don’t map one-to-one and it’d be a mistake to assume they do. I was talking about their relative importance: cinematography is what makes a movie work uniquely as a movie, just as “gameplay” is what makes a game. (Editing is important to movies, of course, but it has analogues in other media).

Not even the best score, performances, script, or effects will save a movie that has lousy cinematography, just as a great story won’t save a game if there’s lousy gameplay.

But a movie with stunning cinematography and a medicore script is still a mediocre movie. Just as Dead Space has beautiful (but uninspired) art and sound direction and really engaging gameplay, but manages to be a forgettable and not very compelling game.

And of course I think the idea “story is set dressing” is absurd, and it’s exactly the problem that I’ve been complaining about in every one of these storytelling-in-videogames posts.

By: jmackley

jmackley — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:07:41 +0000

“What I’ve learned from Dead Space so far is that gameplay is to videogames (again: story-based, single-player videogames) as cinematography is to movies.”

Wrong metaphor. Gameplay is the script. UI is the cinematography. Story is the set dressing.

By: steve

steve — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:25:04 +0000

I am enjoying Dead Space, but after about 2 hours into it i am not sure what else it has to offer. The production values are top notch ( the sound team needs to get a raise after this one ), and the combat is fun so I will probably keep playing through it till the end.
And Chuck thank you for mentioning the UI. All i read leading up to this game was it’s total lack of UI, and full immersion. Well guess what, there is a UI, it’s built into your characters back, or projected onto the screen in front of you, it’s not gone. ICO has no UI, dead space has a ton of UI, it’s just well integrated.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:27:43 +0000

There must be something in the water in the British Isles where even movie titles require a nice fire, dog, and bottle of Brandy to get through it.

I think it would be interesting for a game to explore some of Philip K. Dick’s stories, particularly those that contemplate the nature of identity and self. For a medium that often requires the use of avatars (games), this seems like a rich avenue to explore.

Course, I think Philip K. Dick’s stories would be great for anything: films, games, cereals, vitamin enriched water … I don’t care.

By: Matthew Dessem

Matthew Dessem — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:50:26 +0000

Hey now--I had a roommate in college who reliably cracked up anytime anyone said "Get offa my land," Redneck Rampage-style. As did I. But the game wasn't any fun, I'll give you that. My favorite title that I never used was in the first (awful) script I wrote; there was a scene at the Academy Awards, which meant my writing partner and I had to come up with award-nominated titles. I have a sentimental weakness for the imaginary inspirational chicklit hit The Book Club Gang, but my favorite was the stirring drama about the Troubles in Ireland: Blood on the Shamrock. Which is at least a better title than The Wind That Shakes The Barley, right?

By: Chuck

Chuck — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:05:15 +0000

What is important is you need to stop thinking about video game stories and start writing “Koalapocalypse,” like, yesterday. That title deserves a movie.

In retrospect, I wish instead of Mantis Attack I'd used Preying Mantis.

“In Fucked, you play as some random dipshit who is collecting a check from the government …” Just to stir things up a bit.

They already tried that, and it wasn't half as clever as they wanted it to be.

By: BombIranForChrist

BombIranForChrist — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:14:23 +0000

“In Dead Space, you play as an engineer for some futuristic mega-corporation …”

Gad, if this isn’t the most cliched game story-line, I don’t know what is. Just once, just once, I want to play something like …

“In Fucked, you play as some random dipshit who is collecting a check from the government …”

Just to stir things up a bit.

By: Matthew Dessem

Matthew Dessem — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 06:26:04 +0000

I’ve kind of been dreading playing Dead Space, pretty much for the reasons you note–the story is just maybe a little derivative, maybe, and it did seem like the kind of game that wouldn’t let you figure out anything on your own.

But that’s not important right now. What is important is you need to stop thinking about video game stories and start writing “Koalapocalypse,” like, yesterday. That title deserves a movie.