Last Thursday, we talked about Salen and Zimmerman’s Rules of Play. We read the section concerning games and narratives. I have recently had to confront this issue directly, as I am attempting to create my own narrative through games.

One of my other classes has a final project that consists of creating a movie using game footage (machinima). Whether it includes gameplay or cinematic sequences is up to us, but we must use games to construct a cohesive short film. While it would be amusing to create a movie using a engines and mods such as the plethora available for Half-Life, I wanted to go for a less complicated structure. Since I have not even played Half-Life and would not dream of creating a movie using a mod, I needed to create something that could build upon my previous movie-making experiences. I have made many silly movies for class and for fun. My favorite type of movies would probably be educational movies, so I decided to build from there. I abandoned the idea of creating my own fictional story.

After discussions with the professor, I decided to make an educational movie for recovering Video Game Addicts. It will poke fun at the ridiculous laws and rules of games and also has recent political implications due to the fact that video games are often blamed for causing people to become more violent. I made a script for it with my partner, and found that we would need about 10-15 games to demonstrate important physical and legal principles of everyday life.

In order to find the games for our movie, we brainstormed. Just as in Rules of Play, we had to think about all the important elements of many of these games’ narratives, such as situation, character, conflict, uncertainty, and story events. While thinking back through games we had played and their stories, we revised our lists of physical and legal rules that govern our lives. Games such as Final Fantasy X are completely fantastic, largely dependent on imaginary summons and magic. There are even levels that can only be completed underwater with a human who supposedly has trained himself hold his breath so that he can be underwater for long periods of time. More conventional movie narratives, such as that in Indigo Prophecy, provided an inspiration for the reminder on who can and can’t be killed.

A short while later, I was able to turn in my other game rentals (such as LEGO Star Wars II) for the games I needed for the project. I recently captured the first five minutes of Indigo Prophecy, in which the character you play suddenly discovers a bloody knife in his hand and a stabbed corpse on the floor in front of him. While this will help humorously illustrate how it is not appropriate to kill average people, the game takes itself quite seriously. The menu screen refers to games as movies (i.e. “Begin Movie” for a new game), and it certainly feels like a cinematic experience as the narrator’s voice drawls over the soaring cinematic sequence that follows a crow to the scene of the crime. I can see now how much of the narrative is embedded in the beginning, and the choice to call the game a “movie” certainly implies that the narrative has already been laid out for the player to discover it.

Unfortunately, I did not have time to play through more of the game, since I had to move on to complete my first cut in the next couple of weeks. I would like to continue playing Indigo Prohphecy, if only to see how much control I have as the player (and to see whether there is the possibility of creating an emergent narrative). While my movie will not be a fictional narrative, the narratives in other games will help to reflect the narratives that people create in their everyday lives and (hopefully) create an effective humorous teaching tool for Video Game Addicts.  

I finally found some time to get back to playing LEGO Star Wars II with my sister. We were able to complete it in three or four sessions. While I had mixed feelings about this game, it can be analyzed through two very different perspectives: that of the critic and that of those looking to have a fun time.

As a critic, I have several reservations. The first game had straightforward gameplay and a clear path. I was able to play it with my four-year old cousin and still go in the correct general direction. With this game, however, we often found ourselves wandering around rooms, trying to push and pull and jump on everything. We kept scratching our heads, asking, “What do we do now?” We had to resort to a strategy guide online almost every level, while a strategy guide to the last game would be a joke. There was very limited help in the game (i.e. no real tutorial) and success in some levels seemed to be based on sheer luck.

My sister and I would sometimes find ourselves shouting at each other, thinking the other incompetent because the simplest task for the character was ridiculously complicated. One such incident occurred when we were trying to put on stormtrooper hats at a stormtrooper hat machine. These machines are generally placed in the screen before the stormtrooper-activated doors. The screen with the doors had guards that would fire at you, and when a character was hit, they would lose their hat. The guards would not re-spawn. Unfortunately, one of the hat machines was placed in front of a point where enemies would re-spawn at regular intervals. My sister and I would end up arguing, the guards (or even one of us) would end up shooting the other and then the hat machine efforts would go to waste. It was the frivolousness of such efforts that made the play frustrating at times.

The game was far too difficult for small children, making it a poor family game (as it was advertised). From a critical perspective, I felt that this was not a very strong sequel to the original LEGO Star Wars. I have told many other people of my frustration and how it is simply better to stick with the original.

On the other hand, I have to give this game some credit. Thinking back to Bernie DeKovern’s Well-Played Game, it isn’t always about winning or feeling happy and relaxed. Sometimes being totally involved in the game is valuable. Many of DeKoven’s guidelines, such as the willingness to play, safety, trust, and familiarity were met while my sister and I were playing. It did give us a reason to block out time to be together and bond over head-scratching puzzles. Occasionally, the trust was broken (such as the mistaken incompetence issues mentioned above), but we do trust each other to delegate tasks in the cooperative game mode.

The issue of familiarity reminds me of another reason that I had to love this game: it included memorable characters from one of the most beloved series of my childhood. We eagerly anticipated the Endor level for the chance to play an Ewok. Much to our dismay, there was only one Ewok, but we each took a turn and found Wicket adorable even when we were not in control of him. (Although I cannot guarantee that Wicket was always squished by accident under my Chicken Walker’s mechanical foot).

While the familiarity with the series made me roll my eyes at the slapstick-laden movies (such as Darth Vader coughing in the steam as his spaceship’s door is lowered), I have to admit that I did enjoy seeing Star Wars in a friendly LEGO atmosphere. My sister enjoys watching me play games more than playing them, and this one allowed her to join in with relatively little difficulty (compared to my usual RPGs or plaformers). Together, I think we were able to have a well-played game, even if the game was not as well-made as its predecessor.  

I have been so busy lately that I have neglected games at home. This has happened to me multiple times during my school career, and each time I feel myself getting increasingly anxious. Neglecting games means denying a real passion of mine, and I have decided that I really must make more time for fun games. So made a date with my sister tonight to play LEGO Star Wars II, a game that was released a week ago last Tuesday and I have talked about excitedly to no end. It was wonderful to finally sit down and play it with a pal; after all, its real strength is the co-op mode.

I was a huge fan of the first LEGO Star Wars for its cleverness and good-natured fun. There were unlimited lives and simple puzzles that depended on each player’s unique abilities. I had played it multiple times, with five different people between the ages of four and 24. I have found few games that can match it in appeal for a co-op game that even non-gamers can enjoy.

LEGO Star Wars II is based on the original trilogy (whereas the first was based on the new trilogy). The sequel is based on the movies I grew up with as a child, making it much more of a nostalgic experience for me. We didn’t have a large amount of time to play this evening, but it was enough to notice a few key differences.

In the first game, you would lose health points if you shot an object close to you (in order to get money inside it). You are not harmed by the exploding objects in the second game, which is nice since you don’t have to be as careful. There are also a couple of doors specific to characters you can unlock later. There were only a couple of locked doors in the first game. The new design really encourages the free play mode, which I have found to be one of the best features in the original game. Free play is an excellent way to show off the kitschy value of Star Wars scenes completely redone with LEGOs, as non-gamers can enjoy exploring the familiar worlds with less pressure. Also, the levels are more detailed. The graphics are better and there are more intricate interactions with the environment (such as sliding off awnings and sandhills or riding creatures and vehicles). The expanded environments can make it more difficult to determine where to go next, but it’s simple enough for most older players.

The original game also had a large dependency on characters who could use the Force to manipulate the environment. A Jedi was necessary in almost every situation, but it fit with the story. In the classic movies, the Jedi aren’t always around. This problem was easily overcome by allowing any character (except droids) to build with LEGO pieces. I had wished that characters could build in the first game, since it seems such an integral part of the LEGO theme. It is also very funny to watch a character’s arms flailing as the LEGO pieces are assembled.

From the small amount of time I have spent with the new LEGO Star Wars, I am quite pleased. While it is no perfect, there seem to be a lot of nice features to help keep the game challenging for adults but still accessible and fun for children. I am excited to play more and learn about all the new features. I hope it is another keeper because I do love playing games with non-gamers friends.