Storytelling in Video Games

Recently I purchased and played through a game on my Xbox 360 called Mass Effect. This game is a futuristic action/role playing game, in which humanity has taken its place among several space-faring races and the hero has to save the galaxy. It has garnered several awards since it was released last year, many in response to the storytelling elements like writing and voice acting. Having thoroughly enjoyed the game myself, and it prompted this entry of Big Balls about storytelling in video games as a whole.

It seems like 15 or 20 years ago, very little story was involved in most games. Sure the hope of the player was to rescue the princess or save the world from a megalomaniac at the end of standard-setting games starring Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, respectively. Those two games alone resulted in dozens of cookie-cutter platforming games with a taped-on story with no discernible meaning (Earthworm Jim and Crash Test Dummies help prove my point). For most games of the 80's and early 90's, story in video games was limited to some text scrolling across the screen at the outset and a few simple 8- or 16-bit graphics to move the action along. It seems rather remarkable now, 15 years after I first experienced video games, how far the industry has come.

Mass Effect involved well over 100 people to create, and quite a few of those were solely concerned with how to make it seem as immersing an experience as possible. Needless to say, their hard work was noticed. It was developed by BioWare, a company that has always been about making quality role-playing games. As was mentioned above, the game is set in the future. Humans have encountered several races in the galaxy, and is capable of faster-than-light travel. The developers worked to create a galaxy rich in the various cultures that inhabit it, and the ability to use your ship to explore many different star systems at will make for tons of side content not necessarily relating to the main story. Part of that exploration involves the codex, a library of information that grows as you see what the galaxy has to offer. The level of detail put into making the universe feel alive is quite astounding.

Another aspect that make the story feel deep and immersing is how the story unfolds through the eyes of the player. Much of the time between combat scenes is spent having active dialog with non-player controlled characters. Each time a response is required during the course of the conversation, the player is given several options to choose from which determine where the dialog from that point goes. Often one of the options represents the "Paragon," and another represents the "Renegade." As you choose one of those two, you gain a reputation among the other characters as being more compassionate or ruthless, respectively. From there the main storyline can take multiple different directions, and greatly differentiate one player's experience from another. When every single conversation had during the game can have multiple outcomes, it really makes the player feel like they have more control. The game's writing alone was a huge undertaking in development and makes the game worth picking up. Furthermore, when the sequel to the game is released next year, players will be able to use their characters from the first game to continue the story, and all of the variable events will carry over (i.e. when a player has to choose between saving one person or another).

Mass Effect is just one example of a trend in gaming these days as a result of many players expecting more out of their games than action or platforming. Writing for games is more like that of movies or TV shows than ever. Obviously, some games prove to be more successful in that department than others. However, because content like this has been shown to create quite a deep and entertaining experience, I think many gamers will be calling for this type of storytelling and pushing game designers to find creative ways to oblige the market. Everyone appreciates a good story, and with video games the ability to truly and deeply affect how the narrative progresses really puts the medium on a different level than other forms of entertainment.