It mightappearthatit’sdifficultto
intertwinegames-as-a-servicewith
storytelling– butsomeofthosewhooughtto
knowbestdisagree.WillPorter,bestknown
forhiswritingworkonAlien:IsolationandNo
Man’sSky, says:“I don’treallyconsiderit a
threat,I considerit a differentwayofgoing
aboutnarrativethatcanstilllivealongside
themoretraditionalmodel.Tobehonest,
manymoderngamessticksorigidlyto
three-actHollywoodheroes’journeysthat
rarelyfittheextendedruntimegamesallow
for– soin somewaysI thinka shake-up
thatencouragesexperimentationis tobe
welcomed.”
RhiannaPratchett,oneofthegames
world’smostrenownednarrativewriters,
withthelikesoftheTombRaiderreboot,
Mirror’sEdgeandOverlordin herportfolio,
alsorefrainsfromfingeringgames-as-a-
serviceasanexistentialthreattonarrative,
butdoesagreetheycanbeproblematicfor
gameswriters.
“Froma writer’sperspective,thereare
alwaysnarrativechallengeswhendealing
withanykindofopen-endedstory,”she
explains.“Youendupembeddingmoreofthe
narrativein yourcharacters,ratherthanplot.
Thatcanbefun,butasstorytellerswetend
toprefer(oratleastfeelmorecomfortable
with)somethinghavinga beginning,middle
andend.”
That’sa subjectthatAmyHennig,whoshot
tofameatNaughtyDogastheleadwriter
ofvariousUnchartedgames(andlastyear
sawa single-playerStarWarsgameshewas
directingforEAcanned)addressedatthe
recentRebootDevelopBlueconference:“It’s
a veryweirdplacetobe,becausestory,for
me,is bydefinitionfiniteandintentionally
authored,”sheexplained.“It’snotsomething
thatjusthappensthrougha seriesofevents
thatunspoolprocedurally.It haslandmarks
anda deliberateend.”Thejoysofplayingsolo
Evenif thegamesindustry’scollectivewriting
brainstrustfindsa waytoadapttoopen-
endedgames,it’sstillclearthatin theminds
ofthebiggestpublishers,single-player
campaignsareincreasinglybecomingseen
asoutofstepwithmoderntrends.Whichexplainswhytheyareconstantlytryingtoget
ustoplayco-operativelyorin PvPsituations
wherestorylinesdon’tapply.
Andthat’sa shame,sincealways-online
gamespresentgamerswithcountless
hassles.There’stheorganisationalelement,
forexample– onceyou’reoldenoughtohave
a workinglife,gettingthreematestogether
toplaywithyoucanbeanimpossibility
and,attheveryleast,is incompatiblewith
spontaneity.Ontopofthat,there’sthesheer
repetitivenesswhichis allthatremainsafter
narrativeis strippedoutofgames.Thisis
typifiedmostobviouslybybattleroyalegames“It’s a different way of going about
narrative that can still live
alongside the traditional model”
More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 065