First-Person with Meaning, Depth, and Authorship
by Aaron Thomas and Jeremy Kopman
In the summer of 2000, a man by the name of Warren Spector and his development team released a little game known as Deus Ex. The game was an intriguing blend of first-person gameplay with RPG character building elements: utilizing skill points, players gained skills in computers, electronics, environmental training, lockpicking, medicine, swimming, and of course, weaponry. While some growth in all levels was possible, there were never enough skill points in a single playthrough to master more than a couple of these areas. When coupled with the game's extraordinarily open-ended level design, the player was privy to a wealth of possibilities; a player could snipe, sneak, hack, swim, or attempt to assault their way through the levels, which incorporated designs that would support any of these skills. This gave the player a feeling of authorship as they built their character, as the choices he or she made would greatly effect the strategy necessary to progress in the game.
This, while rare, was not entirely unique to Deus Ex. The System Shock series of games, released in the nineties, was based on a somewhat similar presence. Personal experience with System Shock 2 led to knowledge of the skill points and upgrades in that game, which placed you in either the marines (Brute), the navy (Tech Skills), or psychic warriors (Mental) that strongly effected gameplay, requiring the player to use the main attributes of his or her military class to survive. While not as free as Deus Ex, this still provided for a far more personal experience than most first-person games. It should also be noted that Warren Spector was involved with the System Shock series.
This intriguing and deeply-immersive blend of role-playing and first-person gameplay interests us considerably, and it shows that gaming is beginning to evolve. We believe this is a result of games becoming more mainstream with wider acceptance by society, now that the media backlash against games as a new media is finally beginning to back off after thirty years. The superlative reviews of Deus Ex and System Shock and relative commercial success - both games spawned sequels, and Deus Ex was released in a "Game of the Year" edition - seems to demonstrate that not only are games becoming more mainstream, but that they are also gaining credibility as a viable artistic medium. If this is the case, then we believe that it is time to take the step from superficial, albeit extremely compelling and sometimes complex, thematics into an artistic and culturally aware realm, examining and commenting on the vast social, philosophical, and aesthetic issues our society faces; the moment is right for a game that actually challenges the player to think about the moral and social impact of the decisions made in the game.
Inspired by the likes of Deus Ex, we've considered creating a first-person game that forces the player to examine cultural issues. The possibility we've most considered is a game set during a war in which the player would control a squad leader, likely a sergeant. We've chosen this scenario because of the many possible moral questions that a soldier would likely face, and as a squad leader, this would add to the player's sense of responsibility and tactical possibilities for gameplay. Multiple paths could be taken throughout the game world, some of which could rely on the skills of certain squad members or the player; some paths could and would prove more costly than others, resulting in more deaths of your squad members, civilians, and the other side. The idea is to present a world of contradictions in which the player must make difficult decisions about who and how many should live and die, is the side he or she is fighting for the right one, and if not, does that matter? A branching story would be implemented to allow the player's moral decisions to affect the game's plot progression. Obviously, true non-linearity would be impossible but the goal is to leave as many opportunities open as we can to give the player authorship.
We believe this can be successful due to the popularity and respect afforded to a game such as Deus Ex, as our game draws a similar premise as a first-person role-playing experience. This is an interesting area to explore both artistically and commercially: artistically, because the first-person viewpoint is by definition so personally involving, and commercially, there is a wide body of precedent that indicates a promising sales-base. On consoles, 30.6% of all games sold are first-person-shooters and another 9% are role-playing games. The numbers are almost as high on PC where 16.3% of games sold are FPSs and 10% are RPGs. There is even an international market that could offer great sales opportunities. For example, in the United Kingdom, 4 of the top 20 games in September 2005 were FPSs and 2 were RPGs. Even more intriguingly, 9 of those games were war-themed, showing another promising angle for a possible market of war-themed game enthusiasts.
In closing, we feel that the first-person role-playing experience is ripe for change. We propose to create a game that will engage the player meaningfully and emotionally that will also allow the player to influence the gameplay based upon their reactions through the actions of their in-game character.