These are pamphlet designs for a mock Andy Warhol Gallery opening.
This was designed for a bifold pamphlet so the first picture is the front and back and the bottom picture would be the inside of the pamphlet.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Critical Response Essay One
Legacy Game Analysis
A paper on a legacy game named, Bazaar.
By
Ryan Harvey
Monday, February 16th, 2009
Legacy Game Analysis
Bazaar
- a marketplace or shopping quarter, especially one in the Middle East.
For
years Bazaars have been shopping centers and places to share information, a
sort of social ground for Southern Asia and the Middle East (Yang 1-24). Bazaar
is the name of the multilateral competition game that is analyzed in this
paper. It is a game of skill, luck and colorful pieces. The game play can get
very complex very quickly. The object of the game is to have the most, highest
scoring cards, with the least number of tokens left over after the player have
purchased this card. The original version of this game was made in 1968 by 3M
and there appears to have been only one remake of this game. In 1987, Discovery
toys began marketing Bazaar making only minor esthetical changes. Bazaar
mirrored a lot of things that were happening at the time it was made as well as
things happening today in basic economics. This game speaks to the people who
play it, not just in a transcendental way of shopping smart but in a way that
teaches people young and old, life lessons (1987 ed. 1).
Bazaars
in the Middle East run on a similar basis as the game Bazaar does with its “money”
system and process of exchanging goods. The game comes with multiple tokens and
signs including five groups of different colored gems (tokens), several exchange
boards (symbolizing the randomness of economic values) and around 40 wares
(cards that symbolize material possession). Each exchange board has different
exchange rates on them. In a bazaar the value of certain objects and services
fluctuate due to the availability of the items in the area. For instance, a
spice vendor had a fungus come and kill the majority of his crops then, the
price of spices is going raise. Once the player acquires the necessary gems to purchase
a ware he/she may buy it and score points. Much like in the game of Bazaar in
real bazaars people who need certain products save up for it, trade products
that they grow or offer services they provide and the vendor might require. Players
score when they buy a ware with the least amount of gems left over, for every
gem left over that’s a point off of how much the ware is worth. Players must
use strategy and all the luck of the dice roll to win this game. When someone
lives in a third world country they need luck just to make ends meet and
provide for their family. Smart shopping is taken to the max in these countries
as well as recycling items they already own. In the game players need to be a
smart shoppers, whether to save up for the ware worth more points or buy lots
of smaller wares. Players also need to be a smart traders in both situations
always trying to trade something worth less to them for something worth more.
In real bazaars this is common knowledge and people must be proficient, or they
might not get something they require or get something that is not a necessity (Yang
221-260). An instance of how this game makes it difficult to make decisions is players
might save up for the highest face value ware showing while other players might
have purchased cards of lesser value that were easier to get. This is also an
example of negative and positive feedback; the better ware a player takes time
to earn the more time your opponents have to get multiple lesser value wares,
this helps the people who would be behind because of their opponent’s powerful
wares to catch up (1987 ed. 1-4).
The
game Bazaar uses a system that is self centered and this makes it well rounded to
a variety of age groups. The greed in the game for material gain (wares) makes
it marketable to children but the skills that are required to win take time and
in essence age thus, making it liked by adults as well. The games structure is
an Agon style, because the player chooses their path and it is in a structured
environment with rules limiting the efficiency so it also qualifies under Ludus
style. Making this type of game takes what was happening at the time and
reflects it in the game quite well. The fact that the game lets the player
chose their path is quite like the events taking place around the world. The
U.S. chose to feud with Iraq about oil and chose to enter the war in Vietnam,
both of which led to Americans hating other race groups. Fighting over
resources is common in third world countries, people who start coos and such
try to take resources that might be sold at bazaars. There might be stealing
and sabotage to competing crop growers in order to make the most profit in a
bazaar. The term Ludus can apply in all of these real life scenarios such as
when the U.S. needed oil, the military could have just taken it but, it was
unethical and morally wrong (COM-222 Notes). The U.S. continues fighting with Iraq
and other countries to get their oil which is unethical. At the same time the
military completes tasks according to structured military directions/rules
which are also not the most efficient way to go about business. Quantifiable
outcomes would state that there are different outcomes to the choices made and
there is almost always a winner or loser even if the game doesn’t state it. The
game Bazaar states that the winner is chosen based on points, which in turn
come from both the amount of wares and the strategy which bought them. In war
and battles for resources it could be said that there are no winners because in
real life, where real people die, there is no gain. This is a key determining
fact between a game and real life. In the game Bazaar no backyard wars over
food and fights between competitors take place. Another way of describing this
system is as an open system because the players agree to the rules and have a
say in what they contribute to making the game move towards its end, in
actuality the only thing left to chance is the roll of the die. Most of the
time in war, people do not have a say/choice in what they do, who they fight or
for what reasons. Some people would say “war has no rules”, even though it does
have plenty (at least in the U.S.) and that most of the fighting is a gamble,
whether or not life will be lost. Although this game mirrors real life in many
ways, but it is still artificial and creates its own conflict. The conflict
includes, but is not limited to, die rolling, choices in which wares to go after
and trading in one gems for other gems which a player may not ultimately need
in the end. This integrated system of conflict could reward a player
immediately, somewhere down the road or hurt your opponent. When people in
bazaars do not have enough “money” to buy what they need, they may save up to
buy that thing; this is a gamble because it could be bought by someone else in
the meantime (Fullerton 77).
In
1968 the U.S. was involved in the Iraqi government, the U.S. tried to encourage
their government to become democratic. Oil defines the Middle East and the U.S.
needed oil to fuel the war in Vietnam. The Middle East was unwilling to cooperate
thus, began the Middle East’s quarrel with the U.S. The Middle East did not
like the U.S. and when the American people found out they started hating back.
When the game was made it mimicked Middle Eastern consumer life. Bazaar gave
players insight into trading and bartering that people in the Middle East
participated in every day. This game was made a year after ARPA Net was put
into action so at this time the world was really concentrated on security and
war (COM-222 Notes). This game was a nice step backward that took attention away
from current affairs. I believe this was a way for the game industry to provide
a looking glass opportunity, by showing Americans an aspect of Middle Eastern
culture and to inform us of how people live in other countries. This Game tried
to make people feel sorry for other countries that cannot just drive to the
store and buy food. They have to walk to street vendors and barter with what
little “money” or items they owned. So this game, in short, tried to draw people
away from the fact that the U.S. is fighting Middle Easterners for resources
and show us how every country is different. Most countries are not as well off
as the U.S. Bazaar incorporates social symbolism of bartering in the game for
wares as equivalent to bartering in real life for cloths and food.
Bibliography
Yang,
Anand A. Bazaar India. University of California Press, 1999.
Sackson,
Sid. Bazaar Special Edition. California: Discovery Toys, 1987.
Fullerton,
Tracy. Games Design Workshop. Burlington, Ma: Elsevier inc, 2008.
Dr.
Voorhees, Gerald. COM-222 Notes. High Point NC, 2009.
“Conquest
of the Conquerors”
Game
Design Document
Ryan
Harvey
COM-252
Dr.
Gerald Voorhees
March
5, 2009
Game Proposal
I want to create a game called “Conquest
of the Conquerors”. Imagine an experience that draws you so deep into the game
that you lose sense of who you really are. With this game you may become an
Archer or a Templar and take role playing to a new level. This game will change
the way Legendary Roll Playing Game’s are viewed by the world, creating an even
larger cultural fan base. It is a game that mixes ideas from “War Hammer”,
“Magic” and of course “Candy Land” ; then takes elements that only this game
possesses to mash these ideas together into something bigger than itself. Your
goal is to a race to the top of a monstrous mountain where a fortress stands amongst
the Gods that must be taken back from evil forces and used to bring order to
the chaotic land. There will be two paths up the mountain and various obstacles
that will stand in your way as you venture alone or with a squad to meet your
fate. There can be 2-6 players but a max of only two teams with 3 on each, so
chose your partners in battle wisely. Players will take gambles using various
types of cards to assist them in conquering their destiny. This game is not
just luck as it also takes great strategy to successfully overcome evil; players
will be stretched on competitive and intellectual levels. This game is not for
the weak, this game is not for the submissive, but for the true Hero’s in this
world. Do you have what it takes to face this challenge and set off on a conquest to conquer
the last glimpse of hope?
Player experience goals
My player experience goals are what I
want the game to feel like for the players. This game should be like playing
“War Hammer” with the aspect of upgradable characters that have special
attributes. These attributes and upgrades will help the player overcome
obstacles within the game. For instance, many obstacles will be character
specific, like if a tree monster attacks you, the best character to use would
be one that has some sort of fire ability. The game is a card based game so it
pulls aspects of “Magic the Gathering” such as, temporary upgrades and use of
cards. Temporary upgrades allow you to use them a limited number of times, thus
making sure you plan your moves accordingly. Each character will have a
figurine representation on the board letting the player live the game through
their character. My game is also going to feel sort of like a tower defense
game only instead of controlling the towers, you are controlling the attackers.
As you move through the board the game will try to defeat you at every turn by
throwing new obstacles at you and your team.
This is where my game really takes on its own unique feeling of play,
you can play on teams. With a maximum of two teams and three players to a team
will need to combine skills and cards drawn in this unique concept to conquer
the castle. There are two ways up the mountain, therefore choosing the path
that will lead your journey will affect how quickly you move up the mountain. You
will use your special skills and luck of the draw to conquer the obstacles that
change every game. The obstacles are drawn at random for each path so you never
quite know what you are going to get. Choose your characters wisely.
Apparatus
The
apparatus of “Conquest of the Conquerors” includes all the objects that will be
necessary to carry out my game. The characters that each team/player can choose
from include a Swordsman, an Archer, a Templar, and a Wizard. There will be six characters in use during a
full game (though substitutions with new characters may arise) and each will
have different stats. Their stats will determine how much damage each character
can withstand as well as how much damage the character can deal out. These stat
cards will also provide the user with information regarding the abilities the
character will have in avoiding certain harmful attacks, including how much
magic these individuals will be able to control. The amount of armor a
character has will also be recorded on these cards. Certain characters might
also be able to upgrade certain aspects of their stats based on drawn cards and
battles won.
This brings me to my next point, game
play cards. These game play cards consist of Action cards, Stat cards, Team
cards and Mystery cards. Action cards are drawn when a team or player runs into
trouble involving the board itself, movement on the board and if teams or
players cross paths. These Action cards will be drawn when a player/players
land on a space that contains a conflict. The cards can consist of anything from
stay and deal with the game generated problem or to run away and move back
spaces. These cards may allow players to, in certain cases, choose who will
deal with the problem at hand, to switch certain characters on a team, trade
stats with other players in the game or maybe even jump around the board and
avoid the problem all together.
Stat cards will consist majorly of
upgrading and degrading certain stats. These cards will be drawn when certain
numbers are rolled on the die. The cards may instruct the drawer of the card to
keep the upgrade or take stats away from a character. The cards may tell you to
steal stats from the other team or to divide out the gained stats amongst your
team however you see fit. These cards will play a primary role in making teams
stronger or strengthening individual players so they can lead the team in
attacks and clear out obstacles. In case a hero on the team falls, due to some
mighty force, a team player might draw a card that can revive a player only
once. Once this card is drawn the card stays with the team until used.
Team cards will deal with actions aside
from drawing Action cards. These will also be drawn based on certain rolling of
the die. They will act mostly on an individual team/player bases, rarely
involving the opposing team/player. The Team cards will strengthen bonds
between members allowing them to overcome more intense obstacles; the strength
of these cards will make them very hard to attain and even harder to use. They
will only be able to stay with a player a limited amount of turns, after that
they will be returned to the bottom of that deck. Therefore they must be used
within that turn limit or not at all. In addition to this turn limit, each card
will allow a special move but only certain moves can overcome certain
obstacles. The power of these cards make them one of the most powerful decks,
but also the hardest to use affectively. However, if used correctly, they can
drastically change the game.
Mystery cards can prove very valuable if
put into the right hands. These cards will also only be drawn on a certain die
role and for example the drawn card is a spell card it may only be used by a Wizard
if it is drawn by a Wizard. The Wizard must also have a certain level of power
(gained through stat cards and winning battles) in order to use certain cards. The
Mystery cards may help heal a player to a certain level of health or give them
certain abilities. Mystery cards can also allow players to switch cards; let’s
say a magic card that is drawn by another player can be switched to the
magician
A D-8 and a D-4 is required to play this
game. The D-4 is rolled every turn to determine how many spaces that character
will move. The D-8 is rolled every turn as well to determine if a card should be
drawn or not. If this die lands on a 1, 4 or 8 the player will draw a Stat
card. If the die lands on a 2, 5 or 7 the player can draw a Mystery card. Last
if the die lands on a 6 the player can draw a Team card. Along with the dice,
the game will include a game board. This game board will consist of two paths
from which the players can choose to explore. This will work with a role of the
die to determine which team/player gets to choose the path they want to explore.
Instructions are also included. One of the most important things in this game
is points because that’s how you win. When you defeat an opponent you will get
a certain number of points specified on the opponent’s card and every turn you
use to fight this opponent the points available from defeating it will be
reduced by some percentage specified on the card.
Procedures
Buy back player with points that will be
stated on individual cards. that player loses there gained stats
The game “Conquest of the Conquerors” is
a pretty complex game so I must go over procedures in setting up and carrying
out the game. First players must remove game board and pieces from box and then
remove pieces from bags. Lay the board down and each player should choose the
character they want to play as. Then the players should take out each deck of
cards and draw randomly a card from the deck that corresponds to the place for
it on the board until all spots for cards along the two paths are full and all cards
are used up. If there is more than one spot for one type of card on the board
rotate spots to place the randomly drawn cards until all the cards in each
corresponding deck are gone, do not look at the face of the cards. Each player
should also get out a sheet of paper to record their life stats. Each team
should roll the dice and whichever side gets the higher number gets to choose
one of the two paths to follow. Once the decision is made the teams go to their
respective starting places and the team/player that did not get to choose the
path gets to roll first in the game. If it is team play any player on the team
may go first. The player that goes first must roll the D-4 to determine how far
he/she will move once that is done the player will roll the D-8 to determine
what kind of card he/she will draw. If the payer lands on an action space the
player will also draw an action card. If this player had landed on an action
space they can decide what to do with their cards. Say for instance the player
rolled a 1 on the D-8; this signifies that the player must draw a Stat card.
The player would then make the necessary adjustments on the piece of paper that
records there life stats and then return the card into the bottom of the deck. The
player would then view their action card drawn and do what it says on it; say
for instance the player drew a card that said stay and fight, the player would
then have to stay and fight whatever beast was in their way. This means that
the opponent deals out whatever damage it deals first to the players armor but
if the armor does not take up all the damage then the players health will soak
up the rest of the hit points, thus taking away all of his armor and some of
his health. Next the player will deliver his damage to the opponent and the
opponent’s armor and health will be depleted in the same fashion as before.
This will signify one turn, now if the opponent is not dead then another will
be needed to defeat them or as many turns as needed. Some opponents will have
lesser hit values the second time around and some will not same with the
players character, sometime their hit points the second time around on the same
opponent will not be as strong or maybe they will be stronger. Now another
factor that plays in to fighting will be the card drawn, we already discussed
the Stat card issue. Now if the player rolled a 2 they would pick up a mystery
card and would use it before the fight, this card may move the player around
the board or some other interesting things. If the player gets a Team card by
rolling a 6, they might be able to recruit another player to help them thus
sharing the damage but strengthening hit points in just one turn. In addition
to at least one of these cards being drawn every turn some of them might last
more than one turn; for instance if I draw a temporary damage boost card I
might be able to save it for another turn or maybe for another player.
Moving on, once you overcome an obstacle
(action square), that drawn card is put into the bottom of the deck and so
another may be drawn if someone else lands on it. Now that action spot will
have its own time of return, so within a certain number of turns that space is
just a space and no obstacles will be encountered there. Back to our player say he wins his fight on
the first turn and now he is down some health or whatever, whose turn is it? It
is that same teams turn again unless they drew a card regarding them to lose a
turn, they choose to skip their turn or the players are playing one on one. So
you get two turns a team and one turn if it is PvP. Now those two turns can be
use by the same player but this is one of the many places where team work rears
its head.
Say a game has played out now almost to
the end and the teams are reaching the final boss, this is where things will
change a little from normal game play. Let’s say that one team is slightly
ahead of the other team so they reach the final boss first, this mean that they
will start attacking it first and also start receiving damage from it first.
Once a team is in the final battle area marked on the board there is no use for
moves, so that D-4 die turns into a hit miss die. If it is rolled odd it is a
miss and if it is rolled even than it is a hit, but before you roll the player whose
turn it is must draw an Action card from the final boss’s pile. This determines
the action that may or may not require a roll and if it does than you role to
see if it is hit or miss. At this point in the game only one team is fighting
the dragon, if one of the characters die than a teammate can use a card drawn
earlier that may bring back a dead teammate (this card is not limited to this
stage, it can be used at any time) or they might draw one of these elusive
cards in their draw and then may use it. The player that is brought back starts
over at stock stats and loses all cards that he/she was holding onto before the
death; also they may not get a turn until they are brought back to life.
Scoring against this final boss comes with how many hit points you administer
to it. Points, in this stage, are directly related to how many individual hit
points are administered to the final boss one for one. Once the other
team/player reaches the final battle ground they too will start to attack the
boss and gain points based on the same principle. Whoever or whichever
player/team has the most points once the boss is defeated will be the winner.
Now that the final boss is defeated there are some other factors coming into
play, how many characters died during the game, which team/player reached the
final boss first and how many characters on your team made it through the boss
alive even if they died and got brought back; these are the two main components
that will deduct points.
Game play Narrative
In this section I will describe how a
typical game will unfold from my point of view. This game will have two players
on both team’s labeled team 1 and team 2; I will be on team 1. My teammate will
be player A and I will be player B, the other team will have player C and
player D. I have chosen the Archer; my teammate has chosen the Swordsman.
Player C has chosen the Templar and player D has chosen the Wizard. After game
set up, my team rolled highest so we get to choose what path we want, have
chosen the left path. So now the team 2 rolls first and starts the game. Player
C has chosen to roll first; they roll a 3 on the D-4, now she will roll the D-8
to determine what card they will draw. They land on a 6 which means they will
draw a Team card which says the team can help attack all obstacles within 4
spaces of the drawer for 3 turns of that team but all players that help will
share damage and stats gained from winning the battle. The space player C
landed on does not have an obstacle but the card says it will last 3 turns of
that player. It is not the teams turn again and player D has chosen to roll.
They roll a 2 on the D-4 and a 4 on the D-8 this means that player D will move
2 spaces and draw a Stat card. The Stat card reads +2 attack, so the player
gets to add 2 to their attack stats before they draw the Action card for the
space they have landed on. The Action card reads you come into contact with a
Guardian of the Forest and then lists the Guardian’s stats. The player on team
2 are within 4 space so they help attack the Guardian and kill the Guardian,
but the Guardian deals 6 damage so the teammates share the damage each
absorbing 3 damage to their armor. For defeating the Guardian both player’s
special abilities goes up +1. Now it is my teams turn to roll the dice. I go
first and roll a 3 and a 2 this means I move 3 spaces up and then draw a
Mystery card. The card reads that I must run from a Fire Storm so I get to jump
ahead to the next space that contains to action, but in doing to so I get
burned a little from some burning trees so -2 armor. Now it is my partners
turn. Player B rolls a 2 and a 1, so player B has to draw a Stat card which
raises his Armor by +2. Player B’s space they landed on is not an action spot
so it is now Team 2’s turn. This is how one round might play out in “Conquest
of the Conquerors”.
Rhetoric in "Halo3"
Rhetoric
in “Halo 3”
Dr.
Gerald Voorhees
Ryan
Harvey
May,
05 2010
First I will briefly
explain Halo 3. Then I will look into what argument (or rhetorical act) Halo 3
makes by referencing leading arguments for rhetorical acts in video games. Next
I am going to look at how the game makes the argument. Last I will be
discussing the public controversy or dialectic this game enters into. A sense
of mimicry is brought out when viewing Halo 3 in this way. A sense of mimicry
that revolves around real life experiences. Looking at Halo 3 through a
rhetorical perspective lens reveals a discourse about the Iraq War.
The Covenant race has
been torn apart by a civil war. The Elites, led by the Arbiter, on one side and
the Brutes, led by the Higher Prophet of Truth, on the other. The Elites are siding with the humans in the
war against the flood, the Brutes and against the activation of a Ring.
Destroying the ring will kill the Flood and its leader, the Gravemind without
destroying the entire universe. Meanwhile the Brutes along with Truth are
trying to fulfill a religious prophecy by firing the rings. The humans, led in
field by Master Chief, want to help the Elites destroy the ring and stop the
Brutes.
Halo
3 has two factions (Elites and Humans) that were once at war and now must come
together to defeat two common evils. This all started when the Arbiter heard
how the Higher Prophet of Truth is betraying the Elites, because of their
failure to protect one of the other prophets, which starts the covenant civil
war. Master Chief and the Arbiter both end up in the hands of the Gravemind in
Halo 2. The Gravemind reveals how the firing of the rings would destroy the
universe and sends them to different locations in an attempt to stop the Brutes
from activating the rings. Even this helpful notion and moment of connection
between the three factions fails to unite the Flood to the cause; the Flood
will continue to follow their own agenda. So now both the Master Chief and the
Arbiter must fight their way through Flood and the betraying covenant forces to
stop the firing of the ring.
Halo
3 argues that the only way to defeat a common evil is for nations to come
together and put aside their differences. Like the Humans and Elites, there are
countries that need to bond over the evil that infects them both. Mcgee
describes this step as, “the relationship between the apparently finished
discourse and its sources. (1990, 278-282)
Starting
at the end of Halo 2, the Elites and the Human must put aside their differences
to accomplish something great. They must defeat two evils; one that wants the
annihilation of everything except for themselves and one that wants the
annihilation of everyone including themselves so they can prosper in the
afterlife. Both basically want the same thing although they do hate each other.
Both parties want the death of everyone else even though the Brutes, in turn,
want to die so they will live in the afterlife and the Flood will feed on non
Flood infected beings until there is nothing left. They are both running
towards accomplishing the feat of destroying themselves. It is not until the
end of Halo 3 that the Flood realizes they too must help the cause by putting
aside their differences and stop the Higher Prophet and the Brutes from
destroying the universe. But, as way of the Flood, they continue to try
infecting and converting every soul soon after the Prophet is dead and the
Universe is relatively safe. These things are textual fragments that make up
the discourse in this analysis. Warring factions that must come together to
fight a common evil. The fact that there is an evil who wants to get in your
way and benefit from the annihilations of the saviors. These Fragments in turn
make up the context. As McGee states, “discourses are made up of scraps and
pieces of evidence.”(1990, 278-282) This evidence is gathered from the game,
its story and interactivity. “Computer games are comprised of rhetorical events
that work to make meanings in players” according to McAllister. (2003, 31-32)
He is talking about these events in the game that make the game what it is and
how they are interpreted by the player to mean something. In this case they
speak to the War in Iraq. Now I am going to go into how the game makes its
argument.
McGee
describes this next part as, “relationships between a apparently finished
discourse and culture”. (1990, 278-282) I’ll bring in events from the Iraqi war
to better inform readers about the background of the social context that the
game falls into questioning. What this game is trying to convince its audience
to perceive in their world. After 9/11 in 2001, the U.S. was franticly trying
to find and eliminate all of the culprits that were responsible or contributed
to the terrorist attacks. Over the next two years, weapons of mass destruction
came into sight as a major terrorist threat. Saddam Hussein, who violated agreements with
the U.S., put his country in the spot light of inspection. After Hussein’s
oppressive ways against the Iraqi people and the various other attacks on
Middle Eastern Countries, suspicion of WMD’s was the last straw. The U.S.
called for the Coalition of the Willing which would use force to disarm
terrorist factions and force a change in regime for the country of Iraq. The Coalition of the Willing describes the
group of people that would join the United States to stop Saddam Hussein if he
did not disarm himself. It was stated, at the NATO meeting in Europe, that 49
countries would help the U.S. in this invasion but only four countries opted to
help out the U.S. in its war on terror. The U.K., Australia, Poland and Denmark
would help strategize their militaries in an effort to support the U.S. After
the Invasion on March 20, 2003, the Iraqi government was easily overthrown and the
plan for rebuilding the Iraqi military and post-Saddam Government were met with
opposition by insurgencies. The Ba’ath regime, composed of Iraqi nationalists
and pan-Arabists started fighting back to secure the religious Islamic
Caliphate, which is the uniting of all Muslims. So the Iraqi’s that want the
U.S. to help them overthrow Hussein are targets for these Islamic Nationalists
and Al-Qaeda just as much as the U.S. is. Al-Qaeda are also militant Islamists
who wish to restore their beliefs by obliterating all the others. (Murray 2003,
43-88)(Bello 2008, 120-124)
With
a game that closely imitates the Iraq War, it is easy to make the connection
and see the reasons of rhetoric Halo 3 holds in this situation. The fragments
that hold a sort of mimicry to real world events make the mortar of discourse,
while the games messages about these events provide the bricks. Now it’s time
to enter how this discourse is convincing in a real world sense and what the
discourse is trying to persuade the players to believe.
The
fact that the countries within the Coalition of the Willing and NATO had their
differences in the past is inevitable. Just like the Elites and Humans coming
together to stop the destruction of the universe, these countries must come
together to stop the destruction of the humanity. These differences must be
overlooked if countries are to come together to fight a worldwide evil. The
fact that the U.S. and the Iraqi people have had their differences and continue
to struggle with which side is really helping who, is ongoing. The Brutes and
Grunts, who carry out orders from the Prophet of Truth are just like Hussein’s
Regimes that carry out orders for the continuation of his rule. The High
Prophet of Truth was defeated just like how Saddam was defeated just as the
Brutes and Grunts continue in the ways of their fallen leader, the Ba’ath
regime follows in the ideologies of Saddam Hussein. They hate western
involvement in their government and that wish to unify the Muslim people under
their religious beliefs just as Al-Qaeda want to kill anyone who doesn’t share
their beliefs. The Iraqi people need to see that we are helping them and not
trying to rip apart their religious belief systems but they also need to
recognize the evil within organizations like Al-Qaeda, and help the U.S. to
defeat this evil. U.K., Australia, Poland and Denmark have already come
together to help liberate the Iraqi people and help them help themselves. In recent
years there have been many improvements on this front and the strength that
Iraq has to help abolish terrorism has been on the rise. Iraq’s government is
strengthening as the new president inspires the people of Iraq. (Murray 2003,
43-88)(Clausson 2006, 12-16)
“Eight
years after the events of September 11, 2001, the contemporary American social
scene is still defined, in many ways, by discourses contesting multitudes of
differences. And in fact, with the increased prevalence of racial profiling as
a tool in the "war on terror," which is often talked about as clash
of cultures, religions and civilizations, and the resurgence of controversy on
the subjects of immigration and gay rights, American audiences may be even more
preoccupied by national, ethnic and cultural tensions than ever before.”(Voorhees
2009, par 51)
Halo
3 wants us to know that even if two countries have had their differences in the
past they can come together when it counts and it doesn’t come easy. There are
races that look different, live different and they are different, there is no
getting around that. Nations may have fought before, but when a common evil
comes and threatens us all we need to put other conflict aside. I believe we
are on the right track, more and more countries offered their help over the
years and the world in Iraq is getting better but we are not out of the woods
yet. We need to keep moving forward in a positive direction. Taking things away
from this analysis like Rhetorical Fragments from the game or the context that
holds them together, will help to create a visual for people to relate to. The
discourse that Halo 3 exudes is a powerful message and the dialectic that
readers and players should take away from this discourse is meant to point out
and motivate.
Works
cited
Bello,
Walden. World Tribunal on Iraq: Making the Case against War. Ed. Müge Gürsoy.
Sökmen.
Northampton, Mass.: Olive Branch, 2008. Print.
Clausson,
M. I. NATO: Status, Relations, and Decision-making. New York: Nova Science,
2006.
Print.
McAllister,
Ken S. Game Work: Language, Power, and Computer Game Culture. Tuscaloosa,
Ala.:
Univ Of Alabama, 2004. Print.
McGee,
Michael C. "Text, Context, and the Fragmentation of Contemporary
Culture." Wester
Journal
of Commuication 54.3 (1990): 278-82. Print.
Murray,
Williamson, and Robert H. Scales. The Iraq War: a Military History. Cambridge,
Mass.:
Belknap
of Harvard UP, 2003. Print.
Voorhees,
Gerald. "The Character of Difference: Procedurality, Rhetoric, and
Roleplaying
Games."
Game Studies 9.2 (2009). The International Journal of Computer Game
Research. Web.
<http://gamestudies.org/0902/articles/voorhees>.
Psychoanalytical Paper Psycho-Eziolitical: Ezio as a Vessel
Psychoanalytical
Paper
Psycho-Eziolitical:
Ezio as a Vessel
Ryan
Harvey
Dr.
Gerald Voorhees
Com
342
3/24/10
In Assassins Creed 2 there are over 35 different weapons that the
player can use to kill their enemies. Assassins
Creed 2 is a game of opportunities that players can explore to their heart’s
content. When looking at Assassins Creed
2, through a psychoanalytical lens, broad desires of control and
empowerment can be identified from within a Ezio that provides freedom of
movement as well as the many weapons it lets the players acquire. The game lets players enter a vessel of
exploration and fulfillment as they move through this open world as the main character,
Ezio. Helen Kennedy psychoanalyzes Lara
Croft: Tomb Raider, and the same can be done for Assassins Creed 2. She identifies the desires, identifies what in
the game satisfies those desires and then looks at the constitutive effects,
and this is what will be done to Assassins
Creed 2.(Lara Croft)
Assassins
Creed 2 is an adventure game that takes place both in the
past and the future. In the time of Leonardo da Vinci, you’re an assassin whose
father and brothers have been killed and you are out for revenge. Players play
as Ezio who lives in fifteenth-century Italy, but moves around the Venice,
Florence and Tuscan countryside. Desmond Miles is who players will play as in
the future (2012). He has been hooked up to the Animus 2.0 which lets other Non
Player Character’s look at your genetic memory. The player will use it to
search Ezio’s genetic memory and this is how players experience life as Ezio.
Players can do many things during the game such as find many hidden items.
Players can bring codex pages to Leonardo da Vinci so he can make new weapons
for you. They can also upgrade Ezio’s family villa, change the color of his
outfit, complete tons of side missions or just explore the incredibly detailed
world that Assassins Creed 2 provides
them with. When Ezio gets hurt, he can be healed by street doctors with
medicine. The free running capabilities are a staple to the games uniqueness. The
variety of fighting maneuvers and their implementation only adds to the
complexity of this game. The player ultimately wins the game by going through
the motions to defeat the people who betrayed his family. (Assassin's Creed II)
An urge that a person
might feel is the desire to control the space that they live in. The desire to
move, almost limitlessly, throughout an environment and perform stunts that
come with almost no consequence. A desire to see the world from all kinds of
perspectives and not be tied to the traditional means of transportation
provides a new outlook. This kind of movement would change how everyday
activities are performed. This desire to take control over the space around a person
is most likely from restrictions that are placed on them in real life. When
people are confined all day, they go home and want to get out and explore. Assassins Creed 2 provides an
opportunity to fully explore a virtual representation of 15th
century Italy. Someone who is limited
by a physical handicap that impairs movement probably shares this desire. If
they could move around their environment flawlessly scaling walls and jumping
from high towers, their handicap wouldn’t exist and they would be free.
Therefore, player’s desire to control their environment to benefit them, is
fulfilled.
Another person may want
to control their environment in a different way, someone who wants to release
anger and frustration and longs for a variety of ways to do so. The craving to
take out frustrations about annoying people or situations on evil people or
maybe anyone that gets in your way is common since frustrations are everywhere,
even though most just hold them in. The way people release their frustrations
can be unhealthy and dangerous. The desire to control the people around themselves
in this way shows the control issues that exist in real life. Ultimately, I
believe these longings are the desire for confidence and empowerment. These
issues most likely revolve around people that don’t get shown enough respect, or
maybe they are just constantly annoyed, belittled and asked to do other work.
But the desire to do something about it cannot always be filled in real life so
taking it out into the virtual world is a good way to express these
frustrations.
More desires that a
person might be trying to fill, are
power and control in and of their life. These desires arise when people don’t
feel powerful enough or in control of their own lives. Maybe they don’t get the
credit they deserve or the position they’re in doesn’t let them express
themselves as much as they would like to. The player might be very wary of the
outside world, all the hazards and stresses it contains can be very
overwhelming. At any rate they are not feeling powerful or in control enough of
their own lives and need something to ground them that will help strengthen
their shortcomings. The means in which these desires are fulfilled is identity tourism.
Lisa Nakamura, describes, in her article Reading
Digital Culture, the term as, “the process of appropriating another
identity on the web, and more specifically, an identity involving another
gender and/or race than one's own”.(238-237) This notion of identity tourism
within Assassins Creed 2 lets players
experience a lifestyle that, to most people would only exist in their dreams. The longing to take on another persona and
live in another person’s skin is very common and Assassins Creed 2 is not the first game that lets players immerse
themselves into an alternate routine. But the hero of Assassins Creed 2 provides a unique look into a protagonist
lifestyle. Assassins Creed 2 provides
a view from an assassin in fifteenth-century Italy. To tour this identity is to
feel the power that Ezio contains at his fingertips.
All of these desires
come down to one person, Ezio. He is the vessel that players will use to
conquer their desires and fill the gaps that exist in real life. These desires
may be unconscious or conscious, but either way people are drawn to this game
for one reason or another and that’s because of how much this game has to
offer. It offers the control and empowerment that comes with being Ezio.
Miroslaw Filiciak describes a hyperidentity, in his article Hyperidentities, as, “a complex
structure that we update incessantly by choosing from the multitude of
solutions”.(Miroslaw) The players will use Assassin
Creed 2 take on another self and connect with themselves in a way they
hadn’t before. Miroslaw talks mostly about MMORPG’s, but even though you cannot
creat your own character he still does what you say. This lets players become
Ezio in a way. Ezio has the power to scale tall buildings, kill anyone that
gets in his way or be a hero. He has the power to stick to the main mission or
complete every side mission and objective. But it is the player that controls
him; Ezio offers the player his power but the player must provide the control.
Ezio provides the player with power which the player must control to make
themselves feel empowered. They use his abilities to fill the gaps that exist
in their real world lives by controlling Ezio’s actions, by existing for a
short period of time through someone that they are not. It helps players to realize
their own potential, relieve unhealthy tension and fulfill desires from which
real life lessons can be learned.
Players of Assassins Creed 2 can use the freedom of
movement the game provides to fill their desires of control in real life. Ezio
has free running abilities beyond comprehension and this allows him to move
around his environment very easily. When someone in real life cannot move as
normal people do they need this escape to overcome their frustrations. They can
escape into Ezio as a vessel of movement and explore a world that they couldn’t
in real life. Using him to complete impossible feats of acrobatics that even
normal people without handicaps will have a hard time completing. This desire
to control the environment and make it yours to use in any way you see fit is
easily fulfilled by controlling Ezio. Imagine moving like Ezio around Venice,
Florence and Tuscan country sides that a lot of people will never get a chance
explore. Ezio is a vessel of escape from the mundane scenery that most people
have to experience every day. When people come home from work or school, the
strong willed capable character in Assassins
Creed 2 that has the ability to explore cities using nontraditional means
proves very appealing.
Players want to
experience violence in ways that they couldn’t have in previous games. A look
at some of the most popular digital games played today reveals that violence
sells. Aside from tons of people enjoying these kinds of games they aren’t as
bad as some may want you to believe, they can be used for good. Dr. Helen Smith
who has evaluated thousands of violent minors for tons of organizations states.
“Not one young person in my experience has ever been made violent by media
influence. Young people who are already inclined to be violent do feel that
violent media speaks to them. A few do get dangerous ideas from it. But more of
them find it to be a way to deal with their rage.”(The Sacred Heart) Video
games can be used as a healthy means to release stress and tension caused by
people or situations at work or school is to play video games. With Assassins Creed 2, players can use many
weapons to unleash their frustrations. When people get picked on or belittled
even though they have not earned it, it upsets people. If you aren’t a big
strong, person that doesn’t mean that you can’t get what you want and deserve.
It is all about taking control and feeling empowered enough to express the
confidence needed in any situation. In the game, you instantly know how to
disarm your opponent and attack him with his own weapon, that is taking control
and showing them who is boss. Playing this game will allow people to explore
their faults, like not having confidence in their abilities, by giving them the
means to take on any challenge. Players can also release this anger by hurting non-existing
evil people and complete tasks that give them the confidence that they
require.
When you control Ezio
you become him. Playing Assassins Creed 2
as a form of Identity tourism captures all the desires that Assassins Creed 2 can fulfill. When
people cannot physically express themselves they can take on the identity of
Ezio and perform acrobatics. This empowers the person that is playing and that
is what identity tourism for this game is all about. People who desire the
feeling of empowerment play as Ezio because he is a great protagonist. He has
to avenge his family by becoming an assassin, now who doesn’t want to do that?
It would be hard to find many gamers that wouldn’t. Playing as this character
that can do so many things that the average population cannot do is very
empowering. Players take advantage of this character’s abilities to fit their
desire. Although he is a male Italian character, women players share a lot of
common desires with the men playing this game. An escape to a world where you
aren’t handicapped and can scale buildings fulfill a desire of control and
ability. The person who plays this game and has this desire takes out of their
game play a feeling of accomplishment. They can say they did all these things
because they inhabited the body of Ezio. Even if you aren’t handicapped the
ability to control the environment around you in this way provides an escape
from an otherwise unpredictable world. When you scale a building and perform a
leap of faith into a bale of hay you are certain that you won’t die, when you
play Assassins Creed 2. This sort of
control can bring a calmness and fulfillment to players that have trouble
living in a world that provides environmental challenges. They take out of the
game, what problems they can overcome and bring to/in the game that betters
themselves. Playing as someone who has no problem moving can provide the push
needed for someone to start heading towards a goal where they can move without
their body holding them back as it does currently.
When people aren’t
getting the respect they deserve it may not always be other peoples fault. If
their work shows they deserve a raise but they don’t go after it because they
are scared of responsibility or pressure they need confidence. Completing the
tasks in the game helps to build confidence in a person. The bonus of Assassins Creed 2 being a big world
where a lot sand box aspects come into play can help them relieve real life pressure
by letting players have freedom from a linear game. Playing as Ezio and taking
on his identity can empower players while they complete the tasks in the game
to take on challenges in real life. Beating challenges in the game only helps
players to realize their capability outside of the game. The game has a great
AI system built in that can be taken advantage of. If a player just wants to
blow steam, they can by killing every AI they see, and this is a safe and
successful way to come back to reality recharged and empty of frustration.
Assassins
Creed 2 offers Ezio as a vessel of exploration through a
world much different than our own. Playing as Ezio allows players to take on
their desires in a fantasy world where players can be something different for a
change, allowing them to explore what it is like to fulfill those desires. A
psychoanalytical approach to Assassins
Creed 2 reveals its effectiveness at satisfying desires because the main
character has many traits and abilities that feed the desires of empowerment,
control and confidence through identity tourism.
Works
Cited
Assassin's Creed II: the Complete Official Guide.
London]: Piggyback Interactive, 2009. Print.
Filiciak, Miroslaw. The Video Game Theory Reader.
Ed. Mark J. P. Wolf and Bernard Perron.
New York: Routledge,
2003. Print.
Kennedy, Helen W. "Lara Croft: Feminist Icon or
Cyberbimbo? On the Limits of Textual
Analysis." Game
Studies - Issue 0902, 2009. Dec. 2002. Web. 04 Apr. 2010.
<http://www.gamestudies.org/0202/kennedy/>.
Nakamura, Lisa. Reading Digital Culture. Ed. David
Trend. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2001.
Print.
Smith, Helen. The Scarred Heart: Understanding and
Identifying Kids Who Kill. Knoxville,
Tenn.: Callisto, 2000.
Print.
Game Review Essay: Halo 3
Game Review Essay:
Halo 3
Ryan Harvey
Gerald Voorhees
Com 342
February 9, 2010
The year is 2001
and you are sitting behind your Xbox playing “DOOM 3” and “Grand Theft Auto:
San Andreas” anxiously awaiting for your copy of the highly anticipated “Halo:
Combat Evolved”. It is 2004 and you are playing through “Halo: Combat
Evolved”. You and your friends need to
see Sgt. Johnson hug the Elite and then after the explosion hear Master Chief
and Cortana say, “Did anyone else make it? Just echoes and dust, but we did the
right thing didn't we?” It is always good to recap the previous game before
placing it to rest. Then it is time for
some red bull infused Slayer on Blood Gulch until the next morning when your
copy of "Halo 2 “comes in the mail. After endless days of pwn’n some noobs
on the new multiplayer function it is time to preorder your copy of Halo 3
Legendary Edition, ahh, Halo 3 in all its grandeur feeling recognizable yet
fresh and thrilling. Each level begs you to unleash Master Chief’s wrath on the
Flood and tempting you with an engaging plot.
Bungies Halo 3 brings more to the table than just an interesting story
line and a helmet; there is also Forge, extremely fun and addicting multiplayer
content and the ability to share videos of you killing your friends in
interesting ways like never before. It is the final game in the Halo trilogy we
all know and love, a total package, this is Halo 3.
We all know that
Halo 2 is a fast paced shooter and Halo 3 definitely doesn’t disappoint. The newest Halo does not try to take players
away from that comfort zone but some new aspects of the game make it feel
evolved from previous games. Players can now watch their enemies die in slow
motion with the new ability to watch old game play as well as share it online.
One aspect is the new vehicles in the game. The Chopper is a vehicle that
brutes drive often throughout the game and one that players will use to smash
through their enemies. The Elephant is actually bigger than an elephant, much
slower, and has a lot more turrets on it. Gauss Warthog has a gauss rifle on it,
which provides a new twist on an old favorite. The Hornet is a new human flying
vehicle; much like a helicopter it can move up, down, backwards and forwards.
Mongoose is a new vehicle that moves fast and is very unique compared to other vehicles. The Prowler is another vehicle that players
can look forward to; it is basically a Covenant Warthog. Some new and
interesting guns definitely add some spark to the player’s arsenal. Not only
did Bungie bring back the indispensable Assault Rifle from Halo: Combat Evolved
but added some guns like the Flame Thrower, Missile Pod and Laser. Those aren’t the only big guns added into the
new Halo. The Human and Covenant turrets can be dismounted and wielded as a
hand held meat grinder. But with great power comes… a limited HUD and slower
player movement. An interesting twist on the Energy Sword is the dueling
attribute. When two players fly at each other with Energy Swords drawn the
players will clash (lowering shields) and then begin a race to strike the
opponent first. Some interesting objects that appear in Halo 3 are things like
the Bubble Shield, Power Drain and Regenerator which do exactly what their
names say they’ll do. Guns in Halo 3 have positives and negatives and depend on
how the player utilizes them within the game. It doesn’t seem to have any one
gun rain supreme and become too powerful, for instance, in Halo 2 the lock on
Rocket Launcher was ridiculously hard to avoid once in a vehicle. Players of
Halo 3 will not encounter that problem; the guns are very well rounded.
Halo 3’s multiplayer
function is definitely why most players bought the game. Multiplayer functions
in games have been a staple since they really emerged in 2001 and Halo 3 is no
exception. “…multi-player games, combine the aesthetic and the social in a way
the old mass media, such as theatre, movies, TV shows and novels never could”
says Espen Aarseth, and he is right. (Aarseth, “Computer Game Studies Year
One”, par.3) Halo 3 will have players coming back for the multiplayer
experience for years. Almost all of its maps include long and short range areas
and weapons so no players will be without their favorite weapons and fighting
styles. One thing that does disappoint is the amount of preadolescent squeaky
voices that talk nonstop about belittling other players. This particular
quality can make communication difficult.
So “partying up” is recommended to keep out the annoying voices in your
head. Objects such as the Regenerator and Bubble Shield come in handy much more
often than in Campaign and can really change how battles are played out.
Another thing that both limits and changes game play is rushing to get main
weapons. The rush to get main weapons, such as Sniper Rifles and Rocket
Launchers, is a summary of the first minute of each game. Whichever side gets
to these guns first really has the advantage early on in play. Forge is something that is going to have Halo
fans jumping out of their seats because now Halo players can edit all
multiplayer maps and add tons of objects both common and exotic. This makes
editable game play virtually limitless and adds for tons of new and exciting
game modes.
There is more to
Halo 3 being bigger and better than previous games in the series than added
objects. Many changes came from players previous complaints of Halo 2. Players
will notice very little down time in Halo 3; in previous games players had to
track some large areas and maybe even back track. Halo 3 does keep its maps the
big or small at exactly the right times. If it is a big map, there will be some
sort of vehicle to make it fun and exciting. Ai is in Halo 3 like the others
but better graphics doesn’t always mean more perfect game play. Let’s start
with Ai enemies; they use the land and arsenal to their advantage more than
before. The new enemies will be seen hiding behind objects much more, running
and dodging more, but most importantly using bubble shields and power drains to
their advantage especially in the more harsh difficulties. Sometimes players
will find themselves fighting off waves of enemies, this is because they call
in for reinforcements which adds an aspect of game play not seen before in the
Halo series. This brings me to the difficulty levels. Players that have played
through the past games and have become more skilled throughout the saga may
want to play on Hard or Legendary settings. The reason for this is because when
building Halo 3 Bungie needed to provide a level of difficulty for the average person. The average person (which will account for a
large portion of sales) playing on normal will experience the new Ai
configurations but not to the extent for people playing it on harder levels. How
does Halo 3 end you ask? Of course it ends in an infamous warthog escape as it
does in a classic Halo fashion. The “Escape the fiery meltdown before its too
late!” does provide a classic finishing point to Halo 3. There are many points
of air born Master Chief that may seem cinematic but add a level of precision,
especially when playing with four other players. The constant falling off the
map and leaps of faith may take a couple of tries until teammates stop running
into each other and following one another into the drop off/lava.
Halo 3 is a good
game, but it isn’t perfect. Halo 2 really focused on the parallel between both
sides, but in Halo 3 that effect is completely dropped from the game in a way. This puts the concentration on Master Chief.
Yes there are some negatives to the new Ai. Not only is the Arbiter basically a
Human fighting right at your side (lack of story on the covenant side), but his
Ai is atrocious, a step back even from Halo 2’s friendly’s. All you players
will notice him continuously running right up the line of fire and constantly
dying. He will however hide behind objects and use his weapons more efficiently
than past friendly. Although this off-putting
characteristic is annoying in a lot of ways it does influence the games
concentration on Master Chief being the only hope for humanity. Halo 3 follows
the classic definition of a game; the player “interacts” with the game but the
“rules” imply they can’t shoot their teammate but using him to solve a
“conflict”, say using him as a meat shield, will help the “uncertain outcome” point
in the favor of them reaching their “separate”, “voluntary”, “inefficient”
“goal” then they can tell their “social group” about it. (Juul, “Video Games
and the Classic Game Model”, 32-33)
Like I said before,
Halo 3 is not perfect but does advance the series in a positive direction. The
majority of the new additions to this game are very interesting, exciting and
fulfill expectations of what Halo 3 should feel like. The replay value is still
high and the multiplayer will be played for years to come. Master Chief is a
celebrity and Halo 3 is his movie; it’s grown into such a mass culture that if
you don’t play this and let it influence your life, you will be the nerd.
Aspects of this game will influence many forms of media and cultures because of
its grandeur. Games in years to come will be compared to this game because of
its influence. (McAllister, “Studying the Computer Game Complex”) In one
sentence Halo 3 is the whole package.
Procedural Rhetoric in Assassins Creed II
Procedural
Rhetoric in Assassins Creed II
Dr.
Gerald Voorhees
Com
342
Looking
at Assassins Creed II through a
Procedural Rhetoric lens, offers a perspective
which
broadens insight to the games unit processes allowing them to be brought into a
clearer
view.
In Assassins Creed II it is easy to
scale buildings, pick pocket pedestrians, get away with
murder
and even help shape a town’s economy. You play a guy named Ezio, who proves
violence
is almost always the answer. He is an assassin and will use his skills for
good, even
though
there are quite extreme.
Free running in
the Assassins Creed games is unique to the series. The game really wants you
use this ability by utilizing it to be as effective as possible. Free running
can help you gain height on an enemy for various reasons, it can help you
assassinate an enemy, help you get away with that murder, help you find hidden
items and entrances and keep you unseen by the general public. It is the most
powerful tool you, as an assassin, can wield in Assassins Creed II. If movements like this were this easy and performed
to this extreme, the world would be very different. This ability is how players
will gain and keep stealth and secrecy, which is vital to completing many goals.
Civilians will not get in the way while you are keeping stealth on rooftops, moving
between objectives and with this free running ability it is easy to move
between buildings quickly. This game makes it seem as though flight were
possible by the way you scale buildings in this game. You can climb on almost
anything with ease and speed, even tall, thin towers where some have vantage
points called “Eagle Vision”. Then, once you have reached the very top of this
outrageously tall and dangerous tower, you can jump off using the “Leap of
Faith”, which is where you jump off of the building into a bale of hay or water
if river is nearby. People in the real world can free run to an extent and
bildering is a sport but no one can do these things to the extent the game
wants you to think is humanly possible. Everyone knows that there are assassins
in real life, but we do not see them running around through crowded cities and
then turning and scaling a wall. This would create a large amount of unwanted
attention and would break the whole never seen, never heard aspect of being an
assassin. Real assassins would not even think about jumping off of anything
close to the height of these Leaps of Faith portrayed in the game. Not because
this is a very anti-stealth way to get off a building, but because a dead guy
lying in the middle of the street would be the only result. Real assassin rely
on stealth, as far as movement, as does Ezio but they both do so in very
different ways. But they both kill in stealth or non stealth ways depending on
the message being sent. They both get contracts from higher ups and their
technology is usually innovative and tailored to their specific needs. Although
this game does not portray assassins, thieves and murderers in real world
context, it makes for a powerful message about doing what is right no matter
the means or consequences.
Ezio, in Assassins Creed II, can pick pocket
informants, thugs and Heralds; this is a method
of obtaining information, gaining Florins and restocking throwing. When you
pick pocket someone, first you have to lock on, as long as you do it without
the person noticing, nothing negative will come of it. If you do alert them,
however, the subject can alert local authorities or, if they are armed, try and
attack you. When this happens and the person you just pick pocketed is an
informant you have to make a decision, whether to kill this person or run for
your life. If you run away fast enough and hide you will not be followed and no
one will really be alerted that this just took place. If you kill the informants,
civilians will make a spectacle of you and guards of some kind will see the
body eventually and come after you unless you can hide fast enough. If the
person is armed because they are a thug you run the risk of being caught and
attacked when the thug notices. You again must make a decision run or kill this
person. Pick pocketing in real life is not as simple as in this game and as a
real life “pick pocketer” I doubt you would set out on a path bent on obtaining
information or pick pocketing other low lives for weapons and money. Other than
being much harder to do in real life you run the risk of real life consequences.
If you get caught or noticed by the person and they are a thug you will most
likely receive a punch in the face quickly following. Or you might be injured
with the very same weapon you were after in the first place, possibly mortally.
If you get noticed pick pocketing in the game after a quick fist fight or
puncture of the assassination blade you will have defeated the threat and now
must run and hide for a short period of time which is made extremely easy by
utilizing the free running abilities. Using stealth in this part of the game is
essential for a successful pick. There is always free running though to save
you if you mess up or would rather do it the old fashioned way; stab and grab.
Free running will let you scale the nearest building and get out of harm’s way
before guards come or allow you to hide from them if you have been spotted. In
real life, when you are noticed and cannot run away and hide from all
repercussions, assuming you are not already dead, you can get arrested. If you
try to attack the people reprimanding you there will be real big consequences
like immediate death or life in prison rather than a small sentence for pick
pocketing. Killing them and hiding usually does not make you home free. Then
you have your family and friends who will disown you as family or friend
because you just pick pocketed someone and either got beat up, killed, arrested,
or killed. Even if you do get away you have the constant anxiety of getting
caught for your actions and must live with what you have done. These real life
situations are not presented in the game accurately. They do have consequences,
both positive and negative, depending on how you completed them but they are not
represented in a real life manner. Apart from being fictional it is imperative
that you complete this act to save people’s lives in the game. Stealing and
possibly killing your victim is easy for an assassin that must put feelings
aside and take matters into his own hands. You as the player must be the
assassin so playing as Ezio makes you become him. Ezio in the game, as far as
the events that unfold and non player determined actions, proves that he does
not have any real conscience when it comes to enemies or people in his way. So
when playing this game it is imperative that you take on the true role of Ezio
and do things the way he would if not being controlled by you. Running around
killing at random is not the way he would do it but not hesitating to kill
anyone that poses a threat is a part of his psyche.
Heralds are
basically walking newspapers and announce everything, even warnings about a
strange man that travels by roof tops and has a nag for being around important
people when they die. If you use free running in a non stealth or public manor
you are going to stick out, especially since the only other people in the game
that can free run, like you, are thieves. You can stop them from talking by
paying them off to keep quiet. Pick pocketing the Florins away from Heralds who
you just paid to lower your notoriety it will raise a little but not as much as
it was before. This brings up all the consequences for being caught which can
still be possible. The third option, involves killing the Herald in a way that
alerts no one and does not raise you notoriety and then grabbing your Florins
off his dead body. Once again, stealth comes into play and the best way once
hidden to get away from a dead body is to go up, disappear onto the roof tops
to avoid guard suspicion and civilian righteousness. This is equivalent to
paying the mail man not to deliver a part of the newspaper to his clients and
then killing the mail man later when he is done with his route. Sounds
ridiculous but this is perfectly normal in a game where assassinating and
thievery is a perfectly legit way to exact revenge on for your family.
When you have Florins you can spend
them in various ways which can complete many side objectives as well as make
main objectives much easier. Florins can be obtained through pick pocketing,
which we discussed already, completing story missions and completing
Assassination Contracts (are orders given to you by Lorenzo de' Medici to Ezio
to kill evil and powerful people). Upgrading your villa, Monteriggioni,
will up your revenue that you receive every 20 minutes and increases the town’s
wealth. Purchasing paintings, armor, weapon sets and other things from local
stores helps boost the economy as well and in return you will receive discounts
when shopping at these stores. Buying things for your villa, like paintings,
allows you to reach 100% completion on the villa. That buying thing from local
stores increases the town’s wealth and appearance; buying everything from
stores that goes into your villa lets you reach 100% on your villa. When you upgrade
your armor and weapons you can improve resistance to attacks and increase damage
dealing. You can use your acquired Florins to hire people throughout Italy to
distract enemies. This will make stealing, or entering buildings much easier as
well. Another good way to distract people which will even help you to
assassinate people more stealthily is the poison blade, which Ezio can use to
poison a clueless guard. The guard will then attack people and make a spectacle
of himself until he dies. This is a perfect time to complete assassinations and
then escape, using free running, before people realize it was you. You can
obtain this valuable item by bringing codex pages to Leonardo Da Vinci. To
locate the codex pages you must synchronize on the Eagle Vision perches which
you get too by free running up certain buildings dedicated on the map. Once at
the codex location you must create distractions or kill guards to gain entry.
There are multiple other gadgets that Leonardo can help you make that will help
you play the game.
To use your
valuable Poison Blade you must put poison in it, the only way to get that is to
visit a street doctor that sells medicine which in high doses can kill. Like we
talked about before poison can be used to make a distraction but can also be
used to assassinate stealthily since it does kill. Florins can also buy
Medicine that acts as a healing item which can be carried with you in your
pouch. This is a must because Ezio cannot heal automatically. The number of
Medicine Vials you can carry at one time increases when you upgrade your
Medicine Pouch at a Tailor. The Tailors in your town of Florence that you have
helped get back on their feet, economically wise will provide you with services
like these at reduced prices. Tailors will also upgrade your throwing knife
pouch and poison pouch so that way you can carry more materials that will make
the game easier and help you play more effectively.
All
of these things help the players experience as much of the game as possible.
These items concentrate on stealth and indirect conflict with anyone that does
not need to be involved. This is the way of an assassin. Everything here
branches off of free running, which is what also makes this game a unique one.
No other game has utilized this freedom this way and done such a nice job of
connecting all the tools used in the game to perform at the highest level. The
message of a “Robin Hood” type character that goes to extremes to do what is
needed is represented in this game. You steal from the rich, to help needy, you
kill the evil to save the good and you do what is needed not what is right.
Bibliography
The Rhetoric of Video Games, Ian Bogost
from The Expressive power of Videogames. MIT
Press, 2007. ( I
have not used this source yet but I will and I know this because we briefly
discussed it in our meeting, it is not in final bibliography format)
Bogost “Procedural Rhetoric” (Cannot get
open yet but will have info from here, I know this
because of my notes that briefly
explain this article)
Unit
Operations: An Approach to Videogame Criticism by Ian Bogost (I am going to
purchase a downloadable copy and look at the sections ‘From systems to Units’
and ‘Procedural Criticism’)
game out and I want to do that, but we
just talked about so I have not had a chance to start yet.
Analysis: Story And The Trouble With
‘Emergent’ Narratives by Tom Cross( I am going to use
this article to
help define emergent narratives in the game. Then I will look at how they
affect the Procedural Rhetoric)
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