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Oct 6th, 2008 at 11:08:54 - Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas (PS2) |
Aside on "Active" vs "Passive" playable characters
My thoughts about the active vs passive character's voice: The most recent GTA game I remember playing was GTA 3, around November 2001. The biggest distinction between that story's protagonist and GTA: SA's "CJ" was the switch from the character having a passive to an active voice. In GTA 3, your character never spoke nor used any strong body language in the affirmative or negative towards another character in the game's world. However in SA, "CJ" speaks up, talks back, and defends himself verbally. Although his actions or words may not directly be in line with what the player is feeling, I feel they serve as a strong moral or at least narrative compass by which the player should act. On the negative, however, if a player emotions or desires aren't in the least in line with the characters, there's a definite disconnect between doing what you want to do and doing what the game wants you to do. Aside from any moral dilemmas this may create, this "rail-runner" type of disconnect also breaks immersion and forces the player to act outside the scope of any conceptual interactivity to the narrative.
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Oct 6th, 2008 at 11:08:34 - Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas (PS2) |
Introduction
The introduction to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas plays out like a movie, with characters represented via social roles and racial stereotypes propegated through mainstream movies. The player's avatar is represented via the character "CJ", an African-American gangster with a sordid past returning home to attend his mother's funeral. Immediately upon his arrival, he's taken hostage by the local police (one of which is played by Samuel Jackson!) and is framed for murder. After being dropped off in "Baller country," the player is left with little alternative other than cooperating with the police by making his way home and starting the first mission. The game continues much like any other movie or story whereby the player's used as a pawn, as the protagonist finds himself in a moral dilemma with repercussions yet to unfold...
During my first few moments of actual game play, the limitations forced on the player to act with any kind of moral guidelines or frameworks became glaringly obvious. Upon meeting another non-playable character, how many ways can you interact with them? You can stand in their way, shoot them, or run them over. I'm reminded of a quote Ernest Adams once gave during a lecture on interactive narratives: "When all you have to interact with the world is a BFG, everyone else is a cacodemon..."
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Oct 6th, 2008 at 11:20:10.
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