It is not too hard for me to remember when I was 10 and received my very first video game system, an Atari 2600. After lobbying for it for months, my mother finally submitted and bought it for me for my birthday. I wasted away the days, playing “Centipede”, “Pac-Man”, and “Pitfall!”; marveling at the 8-bit, 1.19 MHz wonderfulness of it all. A few months later, my father-eager to outdo my mother-bought me a Nintendo and introduced me to a fat Italian-American stereotype that would change the world.
In the progressing years, I seen game systems come and go at the speed of technological progress. I have seen advances in real-time video processing and game logic analysis that would have made brains explode if it was seen when the industry started in the 70s; but, only recently have I seen games that were well-written and personally engaging. Well-written, relatable games are now the trend, from the absurd but engaging “Bayonetta” to the wildly popular “Catherine”-in which the main character must battle his commitment phobias. One of the best examples of this trend is the Half-Life series (which is my personal favorite).
The charm of the Half-Life series lies in the assumption that ordinary people will rise to extraordinary heights if the personal stakes are high enough. Both of the series’ protagonists are unassuming-they are both mutes throughout their games-but, their actions resonate and carry the theme. Gordon Freeman-the protagonist of Half-Life and Half-Life 2-was a Black Mesa theoretical physicist who during the testing of a crystalline artifact was caught up in an inter-dimensional rift, an invading alien force that seek to exploit it, and the overzealous Marine recon team sent to stop it. Chell-the protagonist of the spin-offs Portal and Portal 2-was a compulsory test subject, being among the survivors of a malfunction artificial intelligence’s mass extermination attempt 12 years prior during a take-your-daughter-to-work day at Black Mesa’s chief competitor, Aperture Science; the lab was sealed and forgotten about in the chaos of the original Half-Life game. Both characters’ chief motivation is to survive. Even in Chell’s interactions with GLaDOS-the AI that is Portal’s and Portal 2’s antagonist-there are moments of honesty and vulnerability. It is revealed that GLaDOS is based on a real, compelled human mind who is forced by “pain” to test and who feels real human emotions outside of her programmed restraints-she sees Chell as her best friend and only allows herself to insult and abuse Chell (GLaDOS attacked Wheatley when he attempted to insult her). When GLaDOS found test subjects to replace Chell, she released her (to a good deal of fanfare). This level of honesty reverberates through the experience and gives the situations credibility.
This, however, does not belie the single-most important part of the series: the writing and voice acting. The series does not use cut scenes; it is left to the player to interpret the action and figure out what is going on. In part, the technology helps. The Source game engine that the series was built on allows for facial animations-which allow for an emotional reading of each character. More importantly, though, is the fact that the games’ scripts were well-thought out, written, and developed to the strength of the voice actors. I was introduced to the series with Portal 2, and I was overwhelmed with the voice acting of Ellen McLain as GLaDOS, Stephen Merchant as Wheatley, and JK Simmons as Cave Johnson. Two of my favorite game quotes came from Portal 2: GLaDOS (to Chell, after Wheatly transferred GLaDOS to a potato battery): “Oh, hi. So how are you holding up? BECAUSE I’M A POTATO! Oh good, my slow-clap processor made it into this thing, so we have that,” and Cave Johnson (recording played over the PA system in the old lab): “All right, I’ve been thinking, when life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade! Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man whose gonna burn your house down-with the lemons! I’m gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that’ll burn your house down! ” (Courtesy: IMDB.com)
For those of us who love video games, we love them with a passion that is hard to describe. I love the story of a great game; but, you may love something else about them entirely. A good video game is art; it’s an invitation to escape into its creators’ minds. It’s a shareable love that many will experience, but few in the same way.