This post is going to different than my usual fare. It’s different because I’m bringing video games into the mix. Why? I had an experience playing a video game last week that got me thinking about our experiences in movies and to a lesser extent, video games. What is the usual intent of a movie or video game? To entertain audiences, right? For the most part, yes. But there are great number of exceptions to the rule. What do I mean when a movie or game is compelling or shocking? A compelling story draws its audience in with a great story and great characters to the point where they want to find out what happens next. It evokes a level of insatiable curiosity that can sometimes have unintended consequences. A shocking experience infers that an audience is surprised by something that they were not expecting to see. Usually, that shocking experience is often not pleasant. It’s a form of provocation that certainly has its uses. Shocking audiences is the trademark of many of today’s horror movies. For video games, it’s very much the same, except the audience is actively participating in what’s happening in the game. Video games are an interactive medium, so the experience tends to be a little bit more personal. The thing to realize about what makes a game or movie compelling or shocking is that it depends on the individual. What might be compelling or shocking to me, may not be for someone else. We’re all built to react to things differently.
Some people have often mistaken shocking for compelling. Here’s a secret: A shocking experience doesn’t necessarily make for a compelling one. Likewise, a compelling film doesn’t need to be shocking in order for it to have an emotional impact on an audience. But here’s the real kicker: An experience can be both shocking AND compelling. Take Saving Private Ryan for example. That movie opened with one of the most shocking and violent war sequences ever filmed. Yet, it was also compelling because it was a real event during World War II, and it helped push the story forward. It also had the benefit of realistic characters that we got attached to. This is what helps make a compelling story and/or experience: Having characters that we can relate to and understand, so when they are put in dangerous situations, we feel for them. 12 Years A Slave is another such compelling story. Again, it’s based on actual historical events, so that makes for more unique experience. Is it a fun movie to watch? Not really. But it was an excellent film, nonetheless. That’s also another issue that I would like to discuss. A compelling film experience doesn’t always make for a fun one. It shouldn’t have to either. Historical films or war films can be compelling without being overly entertaining. It depends on how well the story is written and how the characters are conceived. Horror films have a hard time being compelling because they spend so much time trying to be shocking. I’m not necessarily saying there’s anything wrong with that, as I tend to enjoy some of these movies, like Saw or Evil Dead. I’m a movie buff, obviously, so I watch a lot of different movies. Now, we know that movies and books can be great and compelling experiences, but what about video games?
The reason I brought video games into the mix, was because of a specific experience I had playing a game called Spec Ops: The Line. This is a 3rd-person military shooter. This game came out back in 2012, so it’s not really new. In terms of game play, it’s pretty average. In fact, if it wasn’t for the story, setting and characters, Spec Ops would just be another run-of-the-mill shooter. The game takes place in Dubai, where it’s been buried by severe sandstorms. Your character, Captain Walker and two other soldiers are dropped in to find survivors and evacuate them. Right from the get-go you’re dropped in without knowing what’s going on or who the enemy is, if there is any. Almost right off the bat, you’re forced into fighting back against what appears to be insurgents, only to find out later that they were some of the survivors that your squad was looking for. The game does a very good job of blurring the line between who is who and what the hell is going on. You also end up going up against armed soldiers. AMERICAN soldiers. But you don’t know why they’re shooting at you or why they are there. It’s a very ambiguous and messy situation. The reaction your squad has to the situation is eerily realistic. They’re confused about what’s going on, and later start turning on each other when certain things become clear. It’s compelling because the game keeps you in the dark. But there is a level in which you are forced to use white phosphorous mortar shells to clear a path through the city. Through an infra-red camera, you can see people and vehicles moving, and you have to target some of them. There is a bridge which has two tanks on top of it and a ton of people below. You have no idea who or what they are, and you assume that they are the enemy. The aftermath is truly horrific. We knew the soldiers had it bad on the field, but the people in the trench below the bridge? Civilians. This game just made you slaughter dozens of men, women and children. With the horrific images in your mind, you realize that the soldiers that you were killing earlier were trying to help the civilians. That takes everything that came before and hits you in the gut with it. When you understand how white phosphorous affects people, it makes it even more horrific. It’s not shocking for the sake of being shocking. It’s shocking to illustrate the dangers of assumption, command blindness, and lack of credible information. Without such information, things can go horribly wrong.
Spec Ops: The Line is a good example of a how a video game can be truly compelling. It certainly wasn’t entirely fun to play after that particular revelation, but I needed to find out what was going on and why things happened the way they did. So, I kept going. Let’s just say that the ending has an Apocalypse Now kind of vibe. It’s compelling because you are participating in the game’s events. In fact, the opening credits have YOU as a special guest. There aren’t a whole lot of games out there that can craft an experience like that, and it’s a shame. Gaming has the potential for incredibly in-depth and involving narrative experiences, but nobody is really taking advantage of the medium in that regard. Sure, we have a lot of shocking stuff in games like Grand Theft Auto, but they are cartoonish at best. The line between shocking and compelling can be blurred to great effect, and when it’s done correctly, it’s an experience like no other. Is it a fun experience? Not always, but it leaves an impression that sometimes doesn’t leave. I feel that the best experiences are the ones that definitely leave an impression for good or ill, even Cannibal Holocaust. Everybody has different experiences while watching movies or playing video games so not everyone is going to agree with what I’ve said. There’s no right or wrong opinion here, it’s simply a matter of perspective.