Articles

GameGuy:
The “Action” Edition (Hint -You don’t need a online connection.)
By Mark H. Walker

Computer games and action
go together like peanut butter and jelly, Eliza Dusku and desire,
product managers and half-truths. Since Wolfensteiners began wasting
pixilated German infantry in the late-eighties, gamers have had a
passion for all things action. It’s been a good ride, the Dooms,
Quakes, Tomb Raiders and Unreal Tournaments of
the world garnering a substantial corner of the gaming market.

But what now? Is tomorrow’s
action game a multiplayer slugfest like Unreal Tournament,
an adventure such as Tomb Raider, or a strategy-action hybrid
such as Giants? Unremarkably, the answer is all the above.
The genre’s fan base is broad enough to support numerous sub-genres,
but, at the same time, no multiplayer blast-a-thon, acrobatic puzzle-fest,
or first-person strategy title will be *the* next big thing. That
*big* thing won’t require an online connection, or even cat-like reflexes.
No, the next king of action will be a single player action-RPG.

Here’s why.

Multiplayer is an overrated
game seller. Yep, I’ve heard of Everquest, and yes, I’ve spent
more than my share of online minutes with Unreal Tournament,
but multiplayer lacks. It lacks foremost a sense of completion and
secondly the ability to play anywhere, anytime, at my own pace. Humans
are ordered animals; we like to finish what we start. That finishing
gives us a sense of completion, a feeling of progress. There is no
such sense in multiplayer fragfests. Furthermore I like to play when
and where I want, pausing the game if the phone rings or my children
call. You can’t do that with multiplayer. And you know what? I’m not
the Lone Ranger here. I think a lot of people want that same sense
of completion, the same freedom of play. Hence, the next huge title
will be single-player oriented.

RPG? Sure. Most role-playing
games’ big draw is story and character development. That same draw
will propel the future of action games. A glance at hits from the
last few years tells all. Half-Life, System Shock 2,
Metal Gear Solid 2, Deux Ex, and No One Lives Forever,
all had a strong story and/or character development. The reason is
simple; we play games to escape reality. Now, that isn’t a bad thing.
We also read books, watch movies, and party to escape our work-a-day
reality. It’s called having fun.

People want their games
to provide the same “fun” that a good book, movie, or bar
do. Doing so takes an enthralling story, one laced with believable
twists and turns, one that makes you route for the hero (or heroine)
and jeer the bad guy (or girl). One that makes you care.

By the same token, part
of that caring is committing yourself to a character. Certainly, an
intriguing plot does this, but role-playing games –and hence the
role playing elements in action games– give the gamer something better
than even the best book -the ability to create the character in your
own image. You may have boarded the System Shock 2‘s Von Braun
with a clean slate, but how your game persona develops is your own
decision. And it is that involvement with the character that keeps
gamers coming back until the final episode.

So, there you have it.
Forget multiplayer mayhem, not doubt it’s fun, and enhances any game
-witness the legion of Counterstrike fans, but it is secondary
to the single player element of an action game. The big selling action
games of the future will stress that single-player mode, because people
want to finish what they start, additionally they will emphasize story,
because story is what make the gamers want to finish the game, and
finally they will stress characters (and their development), because
characters are what make the story. Without those three elements:
Strong single player game, story, and character development, an action
game will have no future in the industry.

© Mark H.
Walker, LLC 2002
Mark H. Walker is a veteran interactive entertainment journalist who
has written over 40 books and designs games including his soon to
be released Lock ‘n Load.