Angry Gaming 07.24.06: We’re Kind Of Running Out Of Ideas Here
Posted by Damian Sarcuni on 07.24.2006
Need A Supporting Character? Grab An Injun’!
Welcome to Angry Gaming, where we examine the nuances and features of all your favorite video games with the fervor, insolence, and scrutiny of a FIFA World Cup referee. I'm your host Damian Sarcuni and I've just broken my second PS2 controller in anger this month. Let's begin!
We're Kind Of Running Out Of Ideas Here
The Situation
While thinking up topics for this column one night, it occurred to me that inspiration is an exhaustible resource. Sure, I have tons of ideas to write about for now, but how long will it be before I get writer's block? How long before I grow weary of the constant 411 writing schedule and "take a vacation" like so many other columnists here have done before? I mulled this over with a game of Tekken 5 (more on that later) and it quickly hit me that game developers have long suffered from the exact same problem. Not only are games themselves released under tight deadlines, but designers have tons of other quotas to fill as well. For example, an RPG or Fighting game sequel is almost always required to have more characters to interact with than its predecessor. Enemies in any game can have similar moves and styles as things progress, but too many palette swaps on the same model and gamers will start to get bored. Since most video game companies are not big on using player suggestions as actual game content (excluding the Mega Man and Virtua Fighter series) designers are hard pressed to come up with new and original ideas. How do they get out of this dilemma?
Simple, they reuse the same old clichés in every damn game out there.
Walk into a movie studio with a script and tell the producers it's a completely original story. They will laugh at you and send you on your way. Producers know that every great story has already been told, and the best you can do is spruce up the retelling of one or more previous stories. However, game designers are blatant in their retelling. This is not just the case with storylines or characters but with actual game mechanics themselves as well. What follows are some of the absolute worst rehashed ideas and clichés that have been used in games from the 80's up to today. Try not to get too frustrated.
Need A Supporting Character? Grab An Injun'!
T.Hawk. Nightwolf. Michelle Chang. Natan. Tomahawk Man. The list goes on far longer than I care to rack my brain to remember.
Sometimes I think there are more Native American video game characters than there are actual Native Americans left on the planet. Video games in general have a huge tendency to incorporate stereotypical Native American characters into their games without any need for political correctness. Fighting games are especially guilty of this, which personally confuses me a lot. While I am no history buff, I'm pretty sure I don't remember anything in my high school global science text books about Native Americans being known for their adept skills at martial arts.
The story is always the same. Whatever evil is threatening mankind as a whole also happens to be threatening the environment, and out comes a single warrior of Native American descent, proud of his/her heritage, ready to defend the forest against any would be evil attacker. That's all the writing any developer needs to have down on paper to put a Native American into a video game, and the artwork is even easier. Native American video game characters are consistently spotted with their war tribe feathers tucked tightly into their headbands, long traditional pants or a skirt, knee high boots, topless for a man and a skimpy bikini top for a woman.
Of the above mentioned characters, only Natan of Shadow Hearts: The New World is even slightly compelling due to his "Gun-Fu" weaponry and fighting style. He still sports the usual headdress, topless buff body, and environmentalist pride, but at least they didn't give him the stereotypical Tomahawk axe. For most of the others, their stories and move sets are left so incomplete it's pathetic. Julia Chang of Tekken 5 repeatedly does the same 3 or 4 combos over and over again and boasts a boring pair of cut scenes throughout the entire game which focus more on the fact that she's a girl than anything else.
I don't know when gaming companies became as fascinated with Native American history as to include it in so many games, but they clearly aren't interested in getting it right. Native Americans were involved in some of the most bloody, grotesque battles in the history of the entire world and feuded with each other's tribes for generations. There is absolutely no excuse not to write a well thought out and researched storyline for a Native American character. In fact, games have been around for over 25 years and just now we are seeing a Native American main character in Prey. Let's hope the story moves away from the typical. No worries for game designers though, if they run out of war chiefs, they can always just make another Bruce Lee clone.
Impossible Final Bosses
This is another one for you fighting game fans. As if by necessity, many final bosses are made with ridiculously impossible and otherworldly abilities. These bosses deviate so far from any of the "normal" characters in the game you can barely put up a fight against them. There is nothing worse than a double hp'd, super combo throwing, teleporting, super fast, super strong one-hit killer who lobs fireballs that take up the entire screen at will. Oh, and did I mention the unblockable attacks?
M. Bison was a great final boss. Shang Tsung was a great final boss. Hell, even Geese Howard was a great final boss. Rugal, Krizalid, Jinpachi, and Abyss are just stupid. I understand that many of these bosses lose a great deal of difficulty with the successful performance of combos and chained special moves, but I (like most people, including gamers) don't have time to learn ten push button sequence that has to be timed exactly – OR ELSE. I'm sure that some otaku who spends his mornings in the back of any given Chinatown arcade feeding the latest fighting machine quarters like it was a used panty dispenser is laughing at my "noobness" right now, but frankly I don't care. Final bosses are supposed to be challenging and climactic. When you finish a game, you want to be satisfied with the overall experience, not glad that it's finally over. Any programmer who has given their final boss more than five abilities that range beyond any useable character in the game is clearly lacking in the department of legitimately difficult A.I.
Too Cool To Pay the Dues
There is nothing quite like a bad ass main character. We live in the age of anti-heroes and video games are the premiere breeding ground for the most shameless, brutal, unforgiving protagonists in any form of media. As gamers, we love it when a spy throws down his headset and disregards orders from HQ. We cheer when that youthful teenager leaves behind the safety and familiarity of home and sets off in search of adventure. We wince as narrow-eyed rivals battle each other first in an exchange of words and vicious taunts before coming to blows to back up the talk.
But it's all for nothing if we don't know why we should care in the first place.
Lara Croft sucks. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and the only reason she is sexy is because the designers made her that way. I'm not turned on or even slightly amused by her flirting nature and her quips about her enemies and exotic locations leave me cold. Why should I care about anything she does, because she has no fear, or because of her obsession for historical sites and artifacts? Hell, if I had five billion dollars and a private jet growing up, you bet your life I would speak 12 different languages, know how to ride a motorcycle, and remember the South American rain forest like the back of my hand. The character of Lara Croft never did a single thing to make me care about whether she succeeds or not because she doesn't ever struggle. Actually, come to think about it, I find it funny when she missed a really high jump off a cliff and breaks her neck. Ha ha, rag doll effects at their finest!
C.J. from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is cool because he grew up surrounded by crime and became a survivor. Kain and Raziel DIED before they received any of their powers. We've followed Solid Snake's career since long before he was an old hand at the war game. But who is 90% of the cast of Dead or Alive and why should I be interested? In keeping with the Tekken 5 theme, Raven certainly looks enough like Blade to be considered cool, and he's got a cool secret agent job, but does he have a story or a past? Where did he learn how to be a damn ninja in the first place? I don't think asking for a little history or a few dilemmas to help us identify with the character are too much to ask.
Conclusion
In an industry where so much money relies on appealing to teenagers and impressing gamers of all ages, I can't entirely blame game designers for sticking with tried and true formulas and stereotypical design. Also, there is hope. New types of game characters are implemented all the time, sometimes to much critical acclaim, and sometimes to complete disregard. If you want a good example of this, pick up a copy of Beyond Good and Evil, you'll be glad you did.
I think what it boils down to is what you look for when you purchase a game in the first place. Tekken 5 is exactly what it says on the front cover: the fifth sequel to Tekken. I should have expected that not only the fighting system would be rehashed, but the characters and storylines as well. This goes for any long running game series like Mega Man X and Gran Turismo. Still, it's difficult to excuse when other series like Legacy of Kain, Prince of Persia, and even Soul Caliber go through so much trouble to evolve their storylines and play systems. I guess some series set the bar and others are doomed to follow it, but either way, designers who rehash will get no sympathy here.
