Unchared 2 final thoughts (before I send a review to the magazine)

[Reasonable]

r505Matt said:

Reasonable said:

r505Matt said:
How convienient, let's not reveal anything (or very little) about a character, call it a mystery, and then make him capable of anything. I wager, by Uncharted 5, Drake will be able to fly, cross dimensions, and will have clones of himself fighting over control of the universe.

Backstory is NECESSARY in creating a stable story/plot. Otherwise it becomes a make-it-up-as-you-go-along type of story, which becomes hit or miss. I'm not saying you need to reveal EVERYTHING, but there needs to be something to explain his uncanny ability to kill (trained soldiers no less).

It's not a matter of realism, its more a matter of plausible fiction. But hey, if your blind fanboy-ism can suspend your disbelief THAT much, all the power to you.

I'd agree in principle but disagree specific to Uncharted 2 - the game does a better job than pretty much any game I've played of using subtle, effective film approaches to convey character traits and history.

Early on, when Flynn hands Nathan the dart pistol, Nathan puts him down by pointing out he knows how to use a gun, that plus the clear pointers to his past activities makes it clear than Drake can handle himself and a gun.  The high number of enemies he mows down in the game is irrelevant.  That's the difference between a game and a film.  In a film, for example, if you take the level where you leap from truck to truck, there would be maybe 2 to 3 vehilces, Drake would take out maybe 4 to 8 people in total.  In a game, that would take seconds, so there's lots of vehicles and he takes out lots of people in them, but that's irrelevant, a necessary mechanic.  From a narrative perspective we quickly and clearly learn Drake can handle himself, isn't above a bit of theft or shooting someone, but shy's from unecessary violence and is worried about harming anyone 'undeserving'.  Again, that whole element of his character is well conveyed in his early dialogue with Flynn and the amusing 'Ghandi' dialogue from Flynn (which nicely makes clear Flynn doesn't see himself as Ghandi and may be a lot more criminal of a character than Drake.

Really, Drake is shown surviving no more amazing stunts than Indiana Jones or any similar character.  His abilities are perfectly in line the serial mantinee routes of his character.  Now, if I was playing, say, Modern Warfare, and my solider suddenly showed amazing abilities to climb, jump and survive amazing drops and explosions I'd feel they were straying from an acceptable set of capabilities.  But Uncharted is (including Tomb Raider) by far and away the best realization of an Indy type character in videogames IMHO.

 

 

Haha good response, I probably shouldn't have said so much so soon, I'm still working through U1 (I don't own a PS3), so I should have mentioned it's definitely possible for exceptions to exist (as it sounds like here somewhat). Also, little things can help make up for lack of overt backstory. This scene you mention, about Nathan 'putting him down by points out he knows how to use a gun' is a nice little thing, and helps solidify a story in terms of plausible fiction. Maybe those things make it a 'good balance of mystery and backstory'. When I finally get to the game, I'll be able to see for myself.

@BladeOfGod There's a BIG difference between having the main character be a soldier killing hundreds in a game versus say a math teacher. I'm not saying it would be impossible, but without some explanation, most people wouldn't believe the story, or get caught up in it. Suspension of belief is a powerful tool in entertainment and literature, and shouldn't be disregarded. When you watch an action movie, and you start thinking "there's not way this guy could do this" instead of "whoa, that was awesome", there's a problem. Having a proper backstory/explanation for a main characters aptitude at anything in a game is important for this.

Most shooters feature trained soldiers. That is enough of an explanation. Or take a game like L4D or other zombie hunting games. You know that if your character has been alive this long, he/she must have some aptitude at staying alive.

In this regard, RPGs have it easy, since your character/party starts from essentially nothing. But action games need to be more wary. I guess it's important to note that not everyone really cares. As long as there are explosions, gun fights, good chase scenes, et; that might be all they care about.

Ah, okay.  I'll say Uncharted 2 does a far better job than 1 for explaining that.  In truth, I found myself seeing him and the characters afresh in Uncharted 2.  The first had nice dialogue here and there, but presented Drake, Sully, Elena, etc. as they were without explanation really, and trusted you'd just go with the stereotype.

U2 really does a good job of actually building some character - I think you'll find it does so much better than Uncharted 1, which was fun, but nothing like as polished as the sequel.