Summary
The standard Hero’s Journey, as described by Joseph Campbell, usually follows a protagonist from a mundane background whose life is disrupted by unusual circumstances. The journey typically involves developing skills and facing trials that allow them to eventually triumph against an overarching antagonist. This nearly-universal format has been seen in literature, mythology, theater, television, film, and video games. The interactive nature of a video game goes well with the hero’s journey, since it provides a good starting point for the player and gives them the satisfaction of building themselves from the ground up. With a well-written protagonist, the player will want to keep moving forward and see them continue to overcome further challenges, and when the hero has been through a lot of pain and suffering, it is immensely satisfying to see them finally come out on top.
Sometimes, writers like to shake things up a bit. Sometimes, the hero can’t win, at least not in the most obvious sense. Maybe their enemies really are too powerful. Maybe the cost of victory is just too high. Maybe sacrifice is the only way forward. Or maybe someone rigged the game against them. Whatever the reason may be,the hero was always doomed to their tragic fate.This can be a powerful tool for storytelling. Finding out the herowilldie, or at least be in a worse state than they started, can shape a character arc. It can add a sense of urgency to their goals, or open the door to self-reflection as they try to figure out how to use the time they have left.
Bioshock Infinite
BioShock Infinite (dupe)
Indebted to the wrong people, with his life on the line, veteran of the U.S. Cavalry and now hired gun, Booker DeWitt has only one opportunity to wipe his slate clean. He must rescue Elizabeth, a mysterious girl imprisoned since childhood and locked up in the flying city of Columbia. Forced to trust one another, Booker and Elizabeth form a powerful bond during their daring escape. Together, they learn to harness an expanding arsenal of weapons and abilities, as they fight on zeppelins in the clouds, along high-speed Sky-Lines, and down in the streets of Columbia, all while surviving the threats of the air-city and uncovering its dark secret.The City in the Sky – Leave the depths of Rapture to soar among the clouds of Columbia. A technological marvel, the flying city is a beautiful and vibrant world that holds a very dark secret.Unlikely Mission – Set in 1912, hired gun Booker DeWitt must rescue a mysterious girl from the sky-city of Columbia or never leave it alive.Whip, Zip, and Kill – Turn the city’s Sky-Lines into weaponized roller coasters as you zip through the flying city and dish out fatal hands-on punishment.Tear Through Time – Open Tears in time and space to shape the battlefield and turn the tide in combat by pulling weapons, turrets, and other resources out of thin air.
BioShockhas always been interested in asking questions about the existence of free will, having explored its relationship to video games in the original game. The strange follow-upBioshock: Infinitetakes this to another level. Ex-pinkerton Booker DeWitte gets dragged into the sky city of Columbia, where he has to help a girl named Elizabeth and fight a cult built out of the worst parts of American history. His journey through Columbia involves encounters with robot presidents, jumping between realities, a giant biomechanical bird, and a pair of “twins” who are actually the same person. Amidst all the chaos, a major theme becomes apparent: Booker has no agency. With a few exceptions, his path has been set before him, and he is unable to deviate from it. In fact, the Booker controlled by the player is one of thousands of Bookers from different realities who have gone through this exact same sequence of events.
It eventually turns out that antagonist, Zachary Hale Comstock,is an alternate version of Booker, whose entire existence is contingent on one choice that happens in every timeline. The only way to get rid of all versions of Comstock is to kill all versions of Booker DeWitte, something that has been set up to always happen. TheBurial at SeaDLC goes further with the idea, with another version of Booker also being set up to fail, and die at the hands of a Big Daddy.
Heavenly Sword
Heavenly Sword takes PLAYSTATION 3 to dramatic heights.Emotionally charged, stunningly beautiful and delivering unprecedented character performances, Heavenly Sword truly showcases the awesome power of PLAYSTATION 3.A dramatic tale of revenge sees Nariko, a fiery red-haired heroine embark on a quest for vengeance against an invading King and his army. The story builds around the ancient Heavenly Sword which once belonged to a powerful deity. It can never be wielded by a mortal without it draining their life-force, killing them within hours. When the invading King (played by Andy Serkis of Lord of the Rings and King Kong) destroys the warrior clan that guards the Heavenly Sword, the clan leader’s daughter, Nariko, takes up the sword in a desperate fight for survival. Nariko must now pay the ultimate price as she embarks on one last mission of vengeance against the King and his army before her life is finally drawn to a close…Heavenly Sword combines the visceral action and visuals of the best action movies with a ground-breaking, free-style combat system. you’re able to freely switch between multiple sword types and a wide range of weapons on-the-fly. The latest physics technology has been integrated into the combat, resulting in destruction on an epic scale as you destroy opponents and the environment alike. Battle through lush environments with operatic grace and style taking your fight to the clouds, over water, through tree-tops and more. Enemies employ complex squad-based fight choreography and can attack one-on-one, in groups of several dozen, or even in battalions of thousands, pushing real-time AI to levels unseen before.• Three distinct fighting stances – Switch on the fly allowing you to create your own fighting styles• Physics-based Combat – Use debris against opponents; kick tables to halt an oncoming surge of fighters; smash the enemy into the scenery or throw bodies into other enemies using aftertouch controls• Featuring the acting talents of Andy Serkis, Steven Berkoff and more• Wide range of objects and weaponry including multi-skewering spears and devastatingly explosive bazookas.
Before they became known forHellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Team Ninja made theGod of War-inspired hack-and-slashHeavenly Sword.This PS3 exclusive was a fantasy adventure centered on Nariko, a warrior who must wield the titular sword against the forces of the tyrant King Bohan. The sword is immensely powerful and versatile, working with several different fighting stances and even having a ranged function. The thing is, its power is a lot more than any mortal can handle. While this has attracted many over the years who wanted to claim its power for their own, it works by draining the life force of its wielder. To carry the sword is a task meant for a hero who will sacrifice themselves for good.
This puts Nariko in a tough situation when she becomes the new wielder of the sword. The in-media-res opening establishes that her death is a foregone conclusion, even using it as a framing device for the rest of the story. Although she does manage to bargain for a little extra time to ensure Bohan’s defeat and save Kai, Nariko still has to let the sword claim her life.
Call of Dutyis no stranger to throwing its characters into seemingly hopeless situations. Sometimes there really is no winning, or the biggest “victory” anyone can hope for is just getting out in one piece. Yet the campaign forModern Warfare 2was never going to end well for its playable characters, two of whom are actually set up to fail. This is thanks to the actions of General Shepherd’s true goal of starting a war with Russia. First, he sets up Private Joseph Allen with an undercover assignment in Makarov’s terrorist organization, ostensibly to gather intel and save lives. Instead,Allen has to participate in an airport shootingonly to find out that Makarov knew his true identity all along, presumably having been told by Shepherd.
Later in the game, Gary “Roach” Sanderson ends up being executed as a “loose end” when a supposed intel-gathering mission turns out to actually be a cover-up. While Price and Soap do manage to kill Shepherd, they are unable to stop his plans going forward, and end up becoming international fugitives.
Death Is The Ultimate Fate Of An Outlaw
Red Dead Redemption
America, 1911. The Wild West is dying. When federal agents threaten his family, former outlaw John Marston is forced to pick up his guns again and hunt down the gang of criminals he once called friends. Experience an epic fight for survival across the sprawling expanses of the American West and Mexico, as John Marston struggles to bury his blood-stained past, one man at a time.Red Dead Redemption is a Western epic, set at the turn of the 20th century when the lawless and chaotic badlands began to give way to the expanding reach of government and the spread of the Industrial Age.
TheRed Dead Redemptiongames love stories about characters dealing with unwinnable situations, and this comes up in both titles. In the first game,John Marston is captured by government agentsand coerced into hunting down former members of his old gang. He knows the Pinkertons will hurt his family if he doesn’t comply, so he has no choice but to go along and hope that he is eventually let go. Of course, these guys give the player every reason not to trust them. That distrust pays off when Agent Ross finally has John killed. The prequel game,Red Dead: Redemption 2also indicates that Ross had a far more personal motivation for everything (possibly wanting to avenge his partner Andrew Milton) and was never going to just let John go. He was set up from the beginning in a game that was always rigged against him.
Red Dead Redemption 2follows suit with Arthur Morgan, an outlaw who gets to witness the gang he sees as family fall apart around him. The situation only gets worse as Dutch’s poor choices keep digging them deeper, putting them in an increasingly precarious situation. Furthermore, it’s revealed that Micah was feeding information to the Pinkertons, ending any chance of escape. As if most of the gang being doomed wasn’t enough, Arthur Morgan’s fate is finally sealedwhen he learns he is dying of tuberculosis, having contracted it from a sick farmer back in Chapter 2. The reveal makes an already cynical story even bleaker, as it becomes clear there is no good ending for Arthur. He is at least able to use the time he has left to make things a little better for some of his friends, but even that is only a partial victory when one remembers the events the first game.
You Tried To Be What You Are Not
Spec Ops: The Line
Spec Ops: The Line is a new original title from 2K Games that features provocative and gripping Third-Person modern military Shooter gameplay designed to challenge players' morality by putting them in the middle of unspeakable situations where unimaginable choices affecting human life must be made. Features include, a gripping, storyline reminiscent of Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness but set in a ruined Dubai, tactical squad-based Delta Force gameplay throughout a horizontally and vertically oriented world, devastating sandstorms which can be used in combat, a variety of multiplayer modes and maps, and deep support featuring two factions.It’s been 6 months since Dubai was wiped off the map by a cataclysmic sandstorm. Thousands of lives were lost, including those of American soldiers sent to evacuate the city. Today, the city lies buried under sand, the world’s most opulent ruin. Now, a mysterious radio signal is picked-up from Dubai, and a Delta Recon Team is sent to infiltrate the city. Their mission is simple: Locate survivors and radio for Evac. What they find is a city in the grip of war. To save Dubai, they’ll have to find the man at the heart of its madness—Col. John Konrad.
Yager’s cult classic is an unusual example. Most entries on this list see the protagonist doomed by factors outside their control, but a big part ofSpec Ops: The Line’sbrutal critique of military shootersis the way protagonist Martin Walker actually doomshimselfby charging in without understanding the full picture. He keeps trying to do the right thing,but every attempt to be a hero just keeps making things worse.
Walker’s recklessness and his tendency to quickly jump to conclusions in the name of “helping” leads him to shoot white phosphorous at civilians and help the CIA kill thousands more by letting them die of thirst. Even his supposed goal of stopping Colonel Konrad turns out to be a futile one, after it turns out that mission was all in his mind. Ironically, Walker’s attempts to be the hero only doomed him to becoming the villain, with no way to make up for his crimes.
