When playing the Playstation 3 title Heavy Rain, the first trophy you unlock
simply by beginning the game is entitled ‘Thank you for supporting interactive
media’. If you know little or nothing about the game, you may be forgiven for
wondering what on earth interactive media is. Is it a game? Is it a film? The
truth is, it’s both. And it’s neither. And it’s probably the future of
entertainment.
Your average film consists of three acts, following any
number of major characters, through whatever plot twists and narrative events
the writer deems necessary. On top of that, there are many layers of artistry
then applied in the very making of the film: the mise-en-scene determined by
the director and cinematographer, the design by the production manager, and the
performances of the cast to name but a few. Yet as wonderful, mesmerising and
magical as the possibilities of film are, there is always the central issue
that it is someone else’s story, that you are simply watching what someone else
wants you to watch. You will always be taken along for the ride, as wonderful
as that ride may be.
Video games have a somewhat similar issue. They are, in the
end, scripted stories in which you play a part. Even the biggest sandbox
role-players ultimately end pretty much the same way with each playthrough,
with very little variation in between.
Heavy Rain on the
other hand is ‘interactive entertainment’. Having experienced it, I wouldn’t
begrudge anyone who declares it better than any film they have ever seen or any
game they have ever played.
After the initial 2 hour drag through the control tutorials
and the basic set up of the situations of the main characters, you begin to
find yourself immersed in a way virtually indescribable to anyone who hasn’t
experienced it. The beauty of the ‘game’ is the knowledge that any of the
characters can die at any moment, and that your decisions will greatly affect
the outcome of the game. If you go away and play Heavy Rain now, I guarantee that your story will be markedly
different to mine – there will be entire sections you won’t have played (or, if
you prefer, scenes you won’t have seen) , and in turn entire section I won’t
have played. By the end, three of your guys may be dead, or just one, or maybe
none of them. The killer could have been arrested or killed, and the kidnapped
child may be dead or alive. In fact, the identity of the arresting
officer/avenger will be entirely different, again depending on the choices you
make. Will you cut off your finger to get a clue to your son’s whereabouts?
Will you let the grieving mother tag along on your investigation? Will you save
her from drowning in a car, at the risk of you dying yourself?
This is what makes interactive media the future of
entertainment. Since stories began, we have been asking ourselves ‘what would I
do in that situation?’ In Seven, would
you have shot Kevin Spacey? Would you have split from the Fellowship, or stayed
under the protection of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli? Would you have bothered
saving Private Ryan? Here, these decisions are yours to make, and your
consequences to deal with. It helps that the overall story is fantastically
written (I understand the irony of noting the freedom of choice in this and
then praising the scripting, but until quantum computing reaches its zenith
there will always have to be a set number of outcomes within any given story),
and that you care about not only the characters you control but those around
them. Never have I had to pause a game before and think ‘OK, should I shoot him
or not?’ For Modern Warfare fans, the real morality and emotional weight of
actually shooting someone may come as a real shock, especially when you have to
live with the consequences. And I’m still pissed my stupid FBI guy got killed
in a car crusher, but that’s another point entirely...
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