Cracked Mirror's Edge

I've been playing video games since the late 80s and having grown up with that and my love of story I always appreciate the way some games attempt a good narrative, even if they fail in their execution on some level.  This also results in me being late to the party for some games as I take an extraordinarily long time to finish some of these things.

Game narrative can be as simple as finding a way through an obstacle course (a zombie infested mansion, for example) or saving a kingdom from a marauding dragon with the aid of questionable allies.  Regardless of how a game executes a particular story I can be particularly harsh on what it gets wrong because I see the potential for greatness.  This brings me to an action game from 2008 called    "Mirror's Edge".

There's a lot that this game gets right--a dystopian setting, a logical extrapolation of censorship taken to extreme measures, an attractive heroine with realistic proportions and authentic ethnicity (at least within the game engine, but more on that in a second) and finally, the game's selling point as that trailer shows, a first person parkour experience that is nearly perfect.

Basically this is an innovative approach to a first person perspective obstacle course.  When the obstacles are rooftops, gaps, ladders, sewers and the like, the game is an adrenaline rush.  The game shows its cracks when the obstacles become human.   Attacks are handled in first person like everything else but attack is limited to high, low and a disarm move.  The disarm move is particularly frustrating because its the result of a timed button press that can be easy to miss.  When the disarm happens you automatically acquire the weapon of your opponent.  But you can just as quickly drop the weapon.  There's good logic behind this move as carrying a weapon slows you down and this game, particularly during the action set pieces, is all about speed.

Other critics in pointing out the game's flaws have speculated that perhaps combat is difficult to encourage you to avoid it.  When I played through this I had fun trying to outdo my opponents and fire as few shots as possible.   It results in a lot of trial and error but, because I liked what I was seeing I continued to push through. 

The game's story is only hampered by two other things.  The first is it doesn't tell a complete tale.  You solve the game's main problem that propels your adventure but it doesn't really explain all the reasons why behind the action.  Like many Hollywood productions, it leaves room for a franchise.  The second thing breaks the immersion and this is where I feel the potential for greatness is truly lost.

The chapter breaks convey their narrative via these animated cut scenes with some really horrible art.  And considering how good the action looks inside the game what I wanted was to see them use that engine to convey those same scenes.  If it had done that I think it would've done a great job keeping you engaged within that game world.  When you're navigating the obstacle courses it's convincing.  When it transitions to in game scenes while still staying within the game engine it's immersive.  I just wanted to see the rest of it conveyed the same way.  I have seen other games be successful at this.  In the case of this experience I just feel it was a lost opportunity.

For those of you who want to check it out it's available for cheap for the XBOX 360 or PS3. 

Think of this as keys to my basement

It's occurred to me recently that if I were to fill my current basement up with all the things I've held in my possession over the years that did not involve furniture, appliances or transportation I believe I would have a basement full of narrative items.

By that I mean books, comics, video games and films and the means to watch or play them.  All of these, in one form or another have entertained me with Story.  And that, primarily is what this blog will tackle.

I'll be looking at Storytelling through the arts, primarily books, films, comics and video games.  It is my hope that I may make you aware of something that strikes your interest or perhaps makes you look at a topic in a different way. 

So, for those of you whom I've invited directly or have stumbled upon by accident, I bid you welcome and be well.