Week 8 assignment

Storylines have always been an integral part of gaming ever since i have played games. I feel that especially in adventure/action games this is particularly true, as it is rare to have a game where you recklessly slaughter people for no reason at all (apart from the exception of postal). Therefore i think that basic storyline are essential for games to set plots for our hero to at least be motivated to undertake the task at hand.

However i do think that a strong storyline isn't always necessary. Like for instance David Freeman who spoke about games like GTA as being 'sandbox' is genuinely true. Yet even with a basic storyline GTA is still very successful, the reason for this is because with these 'sandbox' games you are given the option of choice. It is often in these games that you get the oppertunity to explore the environment or choose which missions to participate in.

Whereas the problem with some storyline games is that they funnel you into a specific direction and you can't decide on which areas to explore, i find this particularly noticable with games that don't have a gripping story plot.

Then you get games like Half life and you don't even care that there is a single exit out the room, because it has a great story. I remember when i played half life and i would constantly see the mysterious man wearing a suit in a room through a window and i kept playing just because i wanted to know who he was and what his involvement in the story was.

Therefore i ultimately enjoy games that have branching storylines, as they not only have a storyline, but you also have the choice as well. Even though Marc Laidlaw disapproves of these types of games because once they have been played they aren't usually replayed (which is true). i think that games like Silent hill or Knights of the old republic are fantastic because you know that the ending of your game will be totally different from a friends, because at some point you made a choice that differed from their own.

Then there are games like postal which i mention before, where you literally do anything you like. You can run for president or run around the streets urinating over people until they vomit or maybe even decapitate someone set their head on fire and kick it around the streets. With this game there is a great amount of choice, however because it lacks any sort of plot i found that i quickly got bored of this game and is it major flaw, which proves that games truely do need a plot even if its a basic one to be successful.