First Officer's Log No 8: Liberal Application of the Joystick... or, How I Learned to Love Video Game Writing and Storytelling

There is a constant argument in the field of entertainment, regardless of one's professional background, that video games aren't art. I'm not going to argue for or against it, because I haven't made up my mind yet. What I have determined is that sometimes a game can tell a great story, and where there is a great story, strong characters, and a compelling reason to keep going, there is something special. Perhaps not art, but certainly something special.

Imagine this scenario: A military commander is the second in command on an advanced warship. When the warship is called to a colony in distress, the commander and two others venture forth to determine the cause and try to save those they can. Instead, they discover a relic of an ancient civilization that grants the commander visions of a terrifying enemy on the horizon. Now, to stop a scourge of destruction, the commander must recruit a specialized team or the entire galaxy will be destroyed.

Or another: A country is overrun by darkness and dangerous enemies are present everywhere, especially after dark. The only one who can help is a white wolf, who must rediscover her previous life and use her mystical abilities to restore life and beauty to the world.

A third: A young man in Renaissance Italy witnesses the betrayal and execution of all the men in his family and swears revenge. In his adventure, he discovers a conspiracy that involves famous members of Italian society, from the Medicis to the Borgias, and must use his young friend Leonardo's inventions and brilliant mind to track the plot all the way to the highest levels of Italian society.

If any of those sound familiar, you're either a video game player or you have one in your family. The first is Bioware's "Mass Effect", a science fiction epic. The second is Clover's "Okami", which uses Japanese mythology as the basis of its adventure story. The third is Ubisoft Montreal's "Assassin's Creed 2", an adventure, a mystery, and a classic story of revenge all rolled into one.

Three stories; they could be novels, or films. There is a sense of wonder in each, an intriguing concept that draws the audience in. Like any good book, they offer unique characters, a grand scope of a story, and multiple layers of writing - from the cheap jokes that can sometimes remind us of the humanity of our characters, to the knowledge that more than one's self interest is at stake. Unlike novels and films, games like these offer an audience the chance to immerse themselves in the story, in the action, perhaps feeling as if they are part of the grand scheme.

There are many things to be said for a great book or a great film. There is something about a great story, though, that drags you in, regardless of the medium. I'd like to think that there's always something special out there, something that reminds me why I love good stories and great writing, what reminds me why I've always been drawn to them. Different mediums can tell great stories, and sometimes the medium can surprise you.

So it was these three stories that truly convinced me that video games have something to add to the world of stories. While it's not up to me to judge them as art, I think that these three in particular offered the familiar but made it better.

Until next week, fellow bibliophiles.