I just beat Turok for the PS3. Also, I have almost finished watching the first season of Deadwood. Who cares, right?
In the game credits, I immediately noticed a familiar name. Timothy Olyphant is credited as the voice actor for the character Cowboy. In Deadwood, he plays Seth Bullock. I also noticed Powers Boothe as the voice of Kane, who also plays Cy Tolliver on Deadwood. (Powers Boothe (spoiler alert) kills a girl who went to high school with my girlfriend, and he hails from Snyder, TX). So I thought that was cool. I also noticed Ron Perlman (Hellboy), and Donnie Wahlberg (Band of Brothers, NKOTB).
The game itself was a decent FPS. I especially liked being able to kill humans and dinosaurs at the same time. The weapons were vast and varied, and the storyline was, you know, Turok-y. The fact that so many famous motherfuckers were in the game as voice actors, a fact of which I was unaware until after I made the game my bitch, I think is noteworthy. Here's why: VIDEO GAMES ARE THE NEWEST LITERARY VEHICLE.
First, there were bookworms. Then came film snobs and comic nerds. Now, gamers are the ones to whom the writers, actors, and, now, developers must pander.
Not convinced? Then you haven't played Assassin's Creed (another game I totally beasted, by the way). The game is a detailed blend of historical fiction and sci-fi. It touches upon topics like cultural and moral relativism, perception, umm, the Crusades. It tells a story that could have easily been adapted from a classic novel. It is, however, a collaborative work of art that requires an assload of work by a shit-ton of people.
What makes a game like Turok different than a movie, then? You can be good at Turok. And you get to kill a T-Rex with a knife.
7 comments:
I feel like video games have a great chance to become the literary vessels that you are talking about. But, I think that they are a long way off. Many of them come off as simple, dumbed down, I don't think that the people who write video games focus enough on that attention that you (we, us) give games for their story.
Many people probably bought Turok because, well, they are the demographic of people that would buy it. You are an exception in your appreciation for a storyline , and good voice acting. The fact that you even watched the credits proves you are at a different level of gaming.
I hope that soon great writers will start writing great video games just like they write great movies and great books.
meanwhile, there are exceptions like the aforementioned Assassins Creed, Mass Effect, Half-Life 2 (which I sincerely think you need to get if you bought and liked Turok, HL2 deserves your attention.) Bioshock is the best examples, this game is revolutionary in it's story telling and does the best job of blurring the cinema/literary/gaming line. You should just come stay with us for 2 weeks so you can play it, it would be well worth it.
I hope that developers take these things to heart and begin to rub at that line until it is gone.
Also, I highly recommended THE WIRE. The prime example of a visual novel in my eyes. An outstanding story that is done is the best way.
do it.
Been working on renting The Wire. Still out on Netflix and Blockbuster. That shit's next, though, after Deadwood.
Cat asks, "When's Paddy coming back?"
paddy replies, "Valentine's day weekend."
you guys wanna get together and go out to dinner? that was fun that one time we went to the Swollen Prickly Pear.
Save that shit for the Valentine's Day blog. I have to chime in and agree wholeheartedly with you two, though. Paddy mentioned Bioshock, a game that tore my skull in half, also a game that truly showed depth and intelligence in its story. More and more people are moving from TV and movies to games, and although for every one (1) game that has literary merit there are one thousand (1,000) that are shit, I see it more today than ever. It's an exciting time, I only wish I was twelve (12) again.
i guess i would give turok a "whisker" out of "biscuit."
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