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[10/14/2010]
(This is an old post, from the old version of this blog. I did not update it in any way.)
So, I recently bought ASSASSIN'S CREED II and it arrived yesterday (actually I had to go pick it up, but this post is not about my ridiculous mail service shenanigans).
I have mixed feelings about the game so far, for plenty of reasons. Most of them are technical ones, but one in particular got me thinking — you see, the game has a prologue in which you play as Ezio, the main character, before he becomes the titular assassin; the transition is actually seamless, but all that is wrong with his life occurs during this prologue.
I came to the conclusion that prologues are useless, and now I will explain why.
First off, during this prologue, Ezio has 1/128th of his abilities. You can't perform any of the stylish kills that got the game famous or even fight properly. While his mysterious (and awesome, I'll give you that) le parkour remains intact from start to ending, it is incredibly boring to go around the city running errands without being able to properly defend yourself.
This is my first qualm with prologues in gaming — you only get to see the most basic features of the game and have nothing to get excited for except for, in most cases, thirst for revenge.
I'm a big fan of in medias res, which is when you are dropped in the middle of the action and only later learn of the circumstances that got you there. The first game did this (not counting Desmond, of course) magnificently: you controlled the Altaïr as a full-fledged assassin, right in the middle of his most important mission, with most of his weapons at your disposal. While the average player might not be familiarized enough with the game to make proper use of those skills, it is a fine taste of things to come; almost immediately after the mission, Altaïr is demoted from his position and the game proceeds to teach you from the start — and you have something to expect. No such luxury anymore, unfortunately.
My second qualm is with the emotional baggage, and this usually applies to other media as well instead of just games. You've just started with the thing, and yet the game dumps tragedy and drama fully expecting you to care — but you don't. Do you care about every stranger you meet on the streets? If you do, well, go hug a hobo.
It can be done right, of course, but I would say that you first need to have a taste of the life that character leads, to learn what is normal to him under a period of time, and ONLY THEN see it crushed under a peasant's foot. While we do learn that Ezio likes sex and has a nice family, the experience if very short and, even if his whole motivation derives from it, irrelevant.
Ultimately, his tragedy is not ours. Thus the purpose of a prologue — making us care — is ruined.
Another game springs to mind when I think about irrelevant prologues: Heavy Rain.
Fahrenheit, the previous game from developer Quantic Dream, started in medias res; ironically, David Cage felt the players would not care about Lucas' struggle if it was shown like that, so he put a ridiculous prologue in Heavy Rain where the main character shows us his sexy body while taking a bath, then does some everyday things and then plays with his kids.
Fun, perhaps, but I certainly didn't care when one of those kids met an unfortunate end. Or maybe it was 'cos he looked like a spawn from uncanny valley, idk.Labels: games
Por Allec Ribeiro às [7:43 AM]