When videogames mimic film, it's only fair that they be held to the same standards as the medium they've taken inspiration from. Plot structure, exposition, coherency, and overall narrative quality are hardly exclusive to film, but I feel videogames aren't held to similar standards in these areas when they should be. For example, how critics barely touched upon Darksiders' cringe-inducing, confusing, and cluttered story is deflating. At many points throughout the game, Darksiders made me stop and critically think why I enjoy playing games. Its narrative was so juvenile and so poorly executed that I questioned whether I was too old to be playing videogames at all. In a time where narratives are becoming increasingly important to the videogame experience, I think it's imperative that reviewers be more critical, and place a greater value on, narrative execution.
I'm no expert in either of these mediums, nor am I any more
knowledgeable on narrative design than the average person; I just strongly
believe that videogame narratives can and should be better. At the very least,
their plots should make sense and audiences should understand what's happening.
And from my experience, many videogames fail one or both of these basic
standards. To exemplify these failures and other narrative shortcomings, Halo
4's plot and fiction will be looked at.
In every other aspect, Halo 4 meets and in some cases,
exceeds expectations. The game looks amazing, plays great, and sounds
spectacular. The only major area that Halo 4 stumbles in is its story. Specifically,
Halo 4's plot lacks in three key areas: story structure, exposition, and
writing. Each will be discussed in detail below.
Story Structure
In order to critique its story structure, the main plot and
subplots need to be determined. To briefly recap, Halo 4's main plot revolves
around crashing on Requiem and releasing the Didact. And its subplot is
Cortana's struggle with Rampancy. So far so good. However, Halo 4 stumbles by emphasising
its subplot over its main plot. Halo 4 does this to such an extent, that
Cortana's fate and Master Chief's subsequent struggle becomes the main plot by
the end of the game. In other words, Halo 4's plot structure becomes reversed. It
does this by failing to accomplish four vital elements to its main plot: a
satisfying resolution, urgency, pacing, and exposition.
Halo 4 has two endings: one before the end credits, and the
epilogue after. Neither ending conclude or even emphasize the Didact's defeat,
the Composer's destruction, or Humanity's survival. The main plot is completely
overshadowed by the loss of Cortana and the emotional toll it's having on the Master
Chief. Though the Didact spouts a monologue during the end cutscene, it's devoid
of any relevant content to the resolution (or continuation) of this plot thread.
He just reiterates that humanity needs to be stopped which is hardly a
revelation. Since the main plot doesn't have a resolution, Halo 4's story
structure becomes reversed; the subplot becomes the main obstacle while the
Didact's story is forgotten entirely. The
result feels awkward and overall unsatisfying.
Not only was the main plot deemphasized during its endings,
but throughout the game as well. Other than Master Chief and Cortana, nobody
seemed very worried about the Didact or his plan. Though Del Rio's dismissive reaction
was convincing and fitting for his character, Lasky or anyone else failed to
express any urgency at all. This made the main plot feel very unimportant; the
stakes felt very low. And for a plot revolving around the eradication of the
human race, it's detrimental to the experience.
The lack of basic exposition about the Didact was also a
problem. Who is he? What is his origin story? It's difficult to be emotionally
invested when the motives behind his actions are vague. Though Halo 4's exposition
issues will be fully explored later, it's important to include it here since it
deemphasizes the main plot and further favours the more easily understood
subplot.
The main story also has pacing issues during the last third
of the game. In the last three missions, Master Chief went from one end of the
galaxy to the other, literally. He went from Requiem to a Halo installation to
Earth. Those three missions alone could've spanned a separate game or even an
entire trilogy. The result felt rushed and muddled; everything moved too quickly
to be convincing and was difficult to be emotionally invested as a result.
Lack of Exposition
As mentioned previously, Halo 4 lacked adequate exposition
during vital moments in its campaign. Important information about new
characters and basic lore were strangely avoided which hindered immersion. It's baffling how 343 Industries failed to address this lack of clarity
considering previous Halo games were largely criticized for having vague and
obtuse plots as well.
Here are some of the questions I had during my play-through
that the narrative failed to explain: "Why is the Didact evil?",
"Why is the Librarian a ghost, what makes her so special?", "What
is New Phoenix?", "What exactly is the Mantle?", "Was the
Forward Unto Dawn arriving at Requiem planned?", and "Why is Master
Chief still fighting the Covenant?".
A new Halo player would have even more unanswered questions like
"Who is the Didact and Librarian?" This is all basic lore imperative
to Halo 4's plot that is either not adequately explained outright or is hidden
in some book or collectable. It's odd how this franchise is so adamant about
relying on its audience to piece together its stories.
Writing
In terms of dialogue, Halo 4 is surprisingly one of the
better written games out there. There were very few moments of cringe-worthy
dialogue in this game, a feat other Halo titles -and videogames in general-
struggle with. The writing of its characters in particular is one of Halo 4's
strongest attributes. Thanks in part to its script, its characters are dynamic;
they have some depth and act like believable people. Del Rio may come across as
a jerk, but his attitude is justified and logical. He has a sensible reason to
be cynical and skeptical of Master Chief and Cortana. Though the main plot is a
muddled mess, Halo 4 is best when it focuses on its cast of well-rounded characters.
Though the script isn't a concern, the lore introduced in
Halo 4 and recent novels is. This last criticism doesn't strictly pertain to
Halo 4 but also to Halo lore in general and what that could mean for Halo 5 and
6. To be clear, I'm no expert on the Halo universe. In fact, I've yet to read a
single Halo book or even play every game (never played Halo Wars). From overviews and synopsises I have read however, I'm shocked at how
amateurish Halo is turning out to be.
Things like 343 Guilty Spark not actually being dead, strong
hints that Cortana is still alive, and the existence of another Didact are
just, well...lame. No matter what elaborate back-story 343 Industries comes up
with to justify these elements, characters should stay dead, no matter how
memorable or iconic they are. The written gymnastics 343i will have to perform
to bring these characters back won't be at all satisfying or convincing. It will rob
those prior dramatic moments of any emotional value and cheapen the quality of
the universe as a result. If any of these characters return in future
installments, Halo's bold new trilogy will get a lot less interesting.
The existence of two Arks, cumbersome and awkward names like
"Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting", and Master Chief being the
Chosen One also screams fan fiction. The level of quality here is approaching
that of Star Wars' expanded universe. But what's even more troubling is, unlike
Star Wars, this terrible fiction is used in Halo's main installments. Though
the original Halo trilogy has its share of problems as well, its lore managed to
stay reasonably compelling throughout. And although Bungie may be entirely
responsible for writing this amateurish back-story, at least they had the
decency to never release it.
Despite all of this criticism, I think Halo 4's narrative is more compelling and better executed than the average videogame story. Though its plot is somewhat confusing and cliché at times, its setting, characters, art style, and production values impress. But being merely above average in an industry where story is considered an afterthought isn't something to boast about. Let's not forget that Halo 4's main plot isn't even coherent. If anything is to be taken away from this article, it's that videogame storytelling has a long way to go.
At a time in this generation where the majority of games offer slight
variations of the same experience, I turn to their stories to offer something
compelling. Such a hope is a fool's errand considering games struggle to
achieve the most basic narrative elements let alone convey a compelling
story. I'm left bored and hungry for something different. And while that
sounds incredibly pompous, I doubt many would disagree.
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