Monday, 9 May 2005
A Whole New Ballgame
If you couldn't tell by the almost total lack of my writing about them, I'm not a big fan of video or computer games. There's only one game that I like - "like" to the point of it completely and utterly consuming what little time I set aside to play it. Otherwise, video games are a spectator sport for me.
Which brings me to a recent discovery. Well, "recent" as in, back in January. The discovery? Filmed video games, or walk-throughs. People record themselves playing and distribute the film across the Internet.
What's new, of course, is the ever-wider spread of high-speed access. That makes it much easier to distribute these videos, a sort of broadcast method. What's interesting is what these films represent: a first-person movie.
Actually, I could correct that: they're actually second-person. "First-person shooter" is a common term applied to games played as seen through the character's eyes. But I think the case could be made to call them second-person: The player isn't actually playing himself, but rather taking on the persona of the character on the screen.
In either case, what makes these films really cool is that they are essentially a whole new genre. Films normally tell their story in third-person: you, the audience member, watch several distinct characters. You can identify with one, several, or none - it's up to you. But in these second-person narratives, you are within the protagonist. You don't have much choice: either identify, or don't watch.
Watching "Half-Life 2" played though, I enjoyed it more than some films I've seen in the past year. Despite the rapid pace, it was actually creepy and held my attention pretty well. Throw in a couple of stars and a decent director, and it definitely would've been better than most anything of what passes for movie adaptations of video games.
So here, get in on the ground floor and be a part of this new narrative genre. Literally.
Half-Life 2 Done Quick: the second game in the series, and a much better story
Half-Life Done Quick: here for completeness, but not as interesting