Creating an effective narrative structure in video games is quite a challenge, even when compared to film. Movie storytelling is much easier because its lacking video gaming's central feature -- user interaction. I'm going to discuss the techniques used in the gaming industry today to ensure a games storyline is delivered effectively.
User interaction creates numerous challenges for game developers, the foremost being, "How can we tell our story with the user playing?" The short answer for a while was "We don't, we use cutscenes." A 'cutscene' is where the game literally cuts off player control for a moment and you watch a small movie which gets the story up to speed. For a while this concept was basically the only major story delivery method in gaming, and it created a definite separation in the game -- it divided the content and killed immersion. You felt like you where playing a game, then upon beating a level, you where rewarded with a movie. The story only came across during the videos, so you didn't feel immersed in the story/characters until one was playing.
Cutscenes still exist today, but they are integrated into the game content better, and story delivery exists during gameplay as well. Developers have come up with techniques to further emphasize immersion. Uncharted 2 uses a technique called 'Chasing' to deliver character development during the gameplay. Chasing is when the voice actors are given dialog to read pertaining to whatever the player is doing during gameplay , be it climbing over a ledge, shooting an enemy or running for his life.
User interaction creates numerous challenges for game developers, the foremost being, "How can we tell our story with the user playing?" The short answer for a while was "We don't, we use cutscenes." A 'cutscene' is where the game literally cuts off player control for a moment and you watch a small movie which gets the story up to speed. For a while this concept was basically the only major story delivery method in gaming, and it created a definite separation in the game -- it divided the content and killed immersion. You felt like you where playing a game, then upon beating a level, you where rewarded with a movie. The story only came across during the videos, so you didn't feel immersed in the story/characters until one was playing.
Cutscenes still exist today, but they are integrated into the game content better, and story delivery exists during gameplay as well. Developers have come up with techniques to further emphasize immersion. Uncharted 2 uses a technique called 'Chasing' to deliver character development during the gameplay. Chasing is when the voice actors are given dialog to read pertaining to whatever the player is doing during gameplay , be it climbing over a ledge, shooting an enemy or running for his life.
The player runs from an attack helicopter in Uncharted 2 as his character quips.This includes story-based dialog as well. Gears of War included gameplay scenes where you as the player were walking to the next area, and the characters would be having conversational dialog. Gamers are immersed players, as opposed to film watchers/book readers who are external observers (Simons. 2007). We need to remain immersed in the story for it to affect us. Metal Gear Solid 4 used cutscenes a little too extensively, but the fact that many transition directly into gameplay (with no 'cut') greatly emphasized immersion.
References:
Simons, J. (2007). Narrative, games, and theory.
Game Studies: The International Journal Of Computer Game Research, 7 ( Issue 1) .
Retrieved from http://gamestudies.org/0701/articles/simmons
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