Faculty of Arts

Other simulators

7. Sport games

8. Logic games

9. Online games

Today, many games introduce multiplayer modes as part of the gaming experience. Some say this is at the expense of a solid single player story, but this is just an assumption. Although multiplayer is favored by many, such an example being the famous MMORPG game World of WarCraft (Blizzard Entertainment, 2004) , with nearly 12 million subscribers worldwide in 2010 (Statista, 2016), single player games with great gameplay and storytelling are still very much in demand today.

The decisive influence, speaking of multiplayer games, is the fact that these games are played on an international level. Some of them have their own world championships, as ‘eSports’ or ‘pro-gaming’ is a form of professional competitions between players in RTS, FPS, fighters and other games, such as multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA).. Such games, namely DoTA 2 (Valve Corporation, 2013), League of Legends (Riot Games, 2009) or Counter-Strike (Valve Corporation, 2000), lack any narrative storyline, yet are still favored by players for the unique gameplay and slightly different experience they offer every time one plays them.
Subgenres:

Online FPS – These are first person action games but now with the ability to play with others. There are countless play modes available. From Capture the flag, Team Deathmatch, Attrition, to King of the Hill and others, each revolving around two competing teams, whose members work together to reach a certain score before the other team does. In a video game like Battlefield, players can even enter the fray in various vehicles such as tanks or jets.

Online RPG – Also called MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), where thousands of players are meeting at the same time in these enormous virtual worlds. Gameplay elements are the same as in RPG, but considering the amount of players entering the world, narratives are formed into so-called quests. Quests provide the same opportunity for every player, thus giving the same experience to everyone. Sometimes, quests are divided, depending on a player’s choice of class, level, experience, equipment and other factors. The impact of narrative choices within the story is limited to insignificant changes, such as the color of an armor and even if one player is able to make a strong impact on the story, this affects only the individual’s timeline and does not influence other players. Modern games introduced events, where players can join forces together and change the outcome, but they never truly influence the game permanently. In the end, the only one who can affect the storyline further is the developer with released ‘patches’ or expansion packs which add more content and move the story further.

Online RTS – A simplified version of regular RTS games. Two or more competing rivals, manage resources and their armies. Storyline is not present except in the case of cooperative campaigns, where players join forces against a stronger foe, but the stories are usually limited or inconsequential in the grand scheme of the game.

5. Gameplay as a narrative device

own destinies and explore worlds by themselves or in the company of their friends and others in the game community. This is a significant difference compared to books or films, where the plot is always set and one merely has the role of an observer. In games, however, people can actually alter the progress of the story and even change the stories themselves, as well as various subplots. This is mainly due to a huge variety of scenarios the games provide. While these vary from genre to genre, the idea remains the same and the fact that one is able to impact the storyline offers nearly limitless possibilities. This is achieved through gameplay, the game world itself, gameplay mechanics, story, music, as well as the game as whole in general. This can be divided into two types: linear and non-linear. In both cases, in order to advance the story, the player must interact with the elements present in the game in a certain way or manner, thus making the narration interactive.

Video games with linear gameplay confront a player with a fixed sequence of events, challenges and tasks. These can only be solved in one correct way; no other possibilities are allowed. Every player is put before the same challenge, in the same order, with the same solutions. Linear gameplays tend to be mostly the morally correct, good kind of choices, but in certain cases, bound by some deeper motive, they may force the player to make the wrong, bad decision, with which one does not necessarily agree. Regardless, it is bound by the story and the player cannot do anything to change the outcome. Another example of this might be a seeming possibility of choice. In linear narratives, these tend to be strong, emotionally draining decisions, as one has to choose either an unfavorable or even worse solution, such is saving a villager but destroying a whole village or vice versa in The Witcher 3 (CD Project Red, 2012). ‘Choices’ in linear games usually do not affect much, but serve to create minor deviations in the main story. Literally speaking, it does not matter if one takes the left or the right path, as they both lead to the same conclusion. A great example would be Gears of War (Epic Games, 2006), where the player is offered to choose a path several times throughout the story, only to eventually end up at the exactly same place.

Non-linear gameplay, on the other hand, is something that gives the gamer additional choices and helps expand narrative possibilities. Every player is faced with the same challenge, but this time, the order in which it will be tackled is entirely up to the player. This brings significantly more freedom, allowing for multiple paths to finish the game, to choose the right way to victory, or to preserve the moral values of the imaginary avatar, offering optional side-quests and sub-plots and further build the story and envelop the player in the game. For example, the massive universe of Mass Effect (BioWare, 2007), where the player gets to explore a whole galaxy.

6. 
   
   Download 184.59 Kb.
   
   Share with your friends: