Tag Archives: Mass Effect

There’s been some controversy this year (stoked by that venerable film critic, Roger Ebert) about whether computer games are really “art”.  I’m not going to weigh in on this directly, but tangentially – through the lens of storytelling.  Can digital games tell stories which are as compelling and interesting as an epic poem, a novel, or a good movie (let’s call them “passive literature”)?  The answer is: yes, they are already, not quite at the level of timeless classic literature just yet.  There’s a long way to go, but we could get there in our lifetimes.

I wanted to explore this by reviewing a genre of computer game – the CRPG (computer or console role-playing game). Typically these are single-player games, where the player takes on the role of a defined protagonist in a quest. These are the closest types of games to novels or movies, except that the player can and does make decisions during the game (they don’t just passively sit and watch, or read and turn the page), and often these games run into 40-80+ hours (vs. say a 2-3 hour movie).  If we consider the genre as a whole, let’s compare their storytelling elements to the traditional components of a novel’s or movie’s story: plot, structure, characters, theme, setting, style and tone.  Then we’ll conclude with some thoughts on how game designers can continue to improve the story and experience of their games.

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