Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
▪
The location is a war zone—all civilians have died or left, and only
enemy combatants remain in the area.
▪
Seen in:
Call of Duty, Battlefield, Titanfall, Gears of War
, sections of
Uncharted 2
and
3, Halo
Sometimes “what happened here” is the primary question of the entire
game, or at least it's the mystery the player must solve to complete a level
or section of the game. It can be directly relevant to the story, the player
and the challenges he is yet to face.
In other words, a warning.
Some of the most powerful warnings in stories are established in Act I or
early Act II, by implying or even clearly showing what happened to very
similar protagonists who were previously undone by a threat the Hero will
soon face.
In the movies, think of
Alien, Aliens
, or John Carpenter's
The Thing
. On
TV, there are a number of classic
Star Trek
episodes that open with the
En-
terprise
answering the distress call of a sister ship or starbase, only to find
it crewless, nearly destroyed, or both. In all of the above examples, the
main characters almost immediately begin asking and investigating “what
happened here”—and by the time they find the answer, the same threat is
now upon
them
.
The pattern may be somewhat predictable, but its effectiveness remains
potent. It can be a powerful form of foreshadowing and building up the
threat to clearly, visually demonstrate that whatever dark forces are in play,
they have already proven their ability to take down would-be Heroes.
For a game example, we can look to the opening cutscene of side-
scrolling beat-'em-up
Castle Crashers
. In this introduction, the Dark Wiz-
ard is seen attacking the castle, stealing the giant mystical gem from the
throne room, and making off with it the way he came. Once the players
get control of their avatars, they head after the Wizard, and it's here—in the
background art while the players fight their way through enemy sol-
diers—that they see the flaming and bloody remnants of the battle which
must have just taken place.
This is simple window-dressing, perhaps, and too lighthearted to really
cause any sense of worry in the players, but it's still effective and efficient.
The backdrop elements have no bearing on gameplay, but they silently re-
inforce the unseen story of the invasion by the Wizard and his many min-
