Science Fiction Video Games

by Neal Roger Tringham

Understand Video Games as Works of Science Fiction and Interactive Stories Science Fiction Video Games focuses on games that are part of the science fiction genre, rather than set in magical milieux or exaggerated versions of our own world. Unlike many existing books and websites that cover some of the same material, this book emphasizes critical analysis, especially the analysis of narrative. The author analyzes narrative via an original categorization of story forms in games. He also discusses video games as works of science fiction, including their characteristic themes and the links between them and other forms of science fiction. Delve into a Collection of Science Fiction Games The beginning chapters explore game design and the history of science-fictional video games. The majority of the text deals with individual science-fictional games and the histories and natures of their various forms, such as the puzzle-based adventure and the more exploratory and immediate computer role-playing game (RPG).

Genres: Nonfiction

536 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2014

Reviews

[Kalin · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciate the scope of this survey and the amount of research that went into it, I wish the tone was less dry. (Which holds for most academic writing, not just this book.)

Notes:

~ Tringham's classification of videogame narratives, presented in Chapter 2 (also available in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction), is particularly interesting; I haven't seen anything nearly as detailed elsewhere.

~ To check:

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West ("notable for its appealing characters and for the moments of genuine emotion")
-> Yeah: it's also colorful and imaginative and funny. And that sad, sad epilogue ....

The Gene Machine ("a joyfully silly parody of steampunk")
-> Nope: not amusing enough.

Shadow of Memories / Shadow of Destiny ("The game's structure is highly multilinear, with a variety of endings and a labyrinthine web of behaviours which allow for many complex interactions in time")
-> Nope: the translation seems too bland.

Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth / The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble ("The resulting game is something of a pacifist polemic, wrapped in a series of bizarre situations and baffling enigmas. Comic moments are frequent, and many of the characters are memorably vivid grotesques; prominent among them is a ludicrously persistent tax collector who stalks the protagonist relentlessly. The visual design is excellent, with many charmingly exaggerated depictions.")
-> Nope: the voice acting jars.

Xenogears ("has a powerfully symbolic story to tell, and guides the player through it with skill") + Xenosaga: Episodes I-III ("Xenosaga's world view synthesizes concepts from Nietzschean philosophy, Christian theology and Carl Jung's theories of the human psyche into an interesting, if rather pretentious, whole")
-> Nope: too slow.

Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising ("notable for the quality of its dialogue and the skill with which the linear plot is integrated with the gameplay")
-> Nope: I appreciate the vision of a positive future, but the writing seems too dry, and the story, cold.

Evil Genius ("[The] characters and situations are ingenious and densely referential. Amongst its many amusing small parodies are a mission whose goal is to rid the world of Country and Western music and an apparently emotionless Russian superspy who can only be defeated by destroying her long-forgotten childhood toys, plunging her into existential despair.")
-> Nope: too much ordering around, too little story. (But the soundtrack amazes.)

Fate of the World ("simulates the effects – physical, economic and political – of climate change"; "Available scenarios include ones which make simplifying assumptions – such as specifying that unlimited reserves of fossil fuels exist, or that the global population is universally sympathetic to the player's aims – as well as full simulations"; and--ehehehe--"Among the policies which can be implemented by players are a number of interesting covert options, including the destabilization of overly polluting regimes, the clandestine sterilization of uncooperative populations and – in extremis – the deployment of tailored viruses designed to reduce the planet's population by means of carefully calculated genocide")
-> Nope: too dry.

[Jlawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

An expansion of Tringham's video game-related entries in the excellent The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, this is a solid, analytic overview of science-fiction themed video games, with an a strong emphasis on the use of narrative in games. It begins with a historical overview, and hands-down the best breakdown of different kinds of approaches to narrative in games I've ever read (it's worth the price of admission for that alone - the categories he lays down would be extremely useful both to other critics and to game developers -- none of the content of those categories is groundbreaking, but their comprehensiveness and clarity, along with his notes of the strengths and weaknesses of each, is excellent), and then features reviews/analysis of selected "significant" games in different genres.

The individual game reviews balance historical context and info with critique of gameplay well. Subjectively, I found myself agreeing with most of his judgements on the success or failure of games he reviewed that I'd played before, and this encouraged me add ones he recommended that I haven't tried to my (way too long) to-play list. He does, however, seem to be the only person in the world who thinks the steampunky CRPG Space:1889 is a strong success - the general response to that game is well reflected in the CRPG Addict's Review of it - but that was the only head-scratcher for me.

Now, if you're one who expects a lot of coverage of the business/coding/development side of things in your video game-related non-fiction, you may be disappointed in this book, as Tringham does touch on those things, but he spends more time on the interaction of gameplay and narrative content (and how well it works) in specific games, and tracing game settings and plot's inspirations back to specific sf author's works and such. I have a strong interest in the often awkward and sometimes sublime collision of narrative and gameplay, so most of the book was intriguing to me, but anyone interested in a well-written critical overview of sf video games should find value here.