Binary Swan

This blog has recently failed to live up to my original intention, to forge my own niche in the blogosphere of games criticism. This has occurred as a result of my own activity, in terms of writing and my failure to forge ahead with some ideas for alternate play styles in the games I play. In order to give myself greater “inspiration” I have decided to open up Binary Swan to more general areas of inquiry into video games. I still have a view to returning to the “games played different” idea when possible but for now I (hopefully) will be able to make more regular posts. On that note I present some thoughts of mine on Grand Theft Auto IV.

The Grand Theft Auto series has left an undoubtable mark on how we think about game design. It exists as the benchmark of the “open world” genre both in technological and culture terms. I have recently returned to GTAIV as a refresh in preparation for the release of The Ballad of Gay Tony episode on Xbox Live. This playthrough has  been interesting because it has come with my awareness of the path of Niko as well as the parallel story of Johnny from Lost and Damned. I find that I am able to pick up some more subtle plot elements during this playthrough and have a keen sense of when the two stories intersect and drift apart.

This prompted me to think of the level of forethought and planning that went into the crafting of GTAIV’s narrative. With the release of The Ballad of Gay Tony Rockstar will have provided the medium with a unique artifact, a video game narrative that can be experienced from the perspective of a single or multiple characters, in any combination or in isolation. Roman’s kidnapping for the Russians is a routine job for Johnny but has profound repercussions for Niko. Johnny has no emotional investment in the character of Roman, but my experience was drastically different and this is because of my previously established affinity for him when I was Niko. The combination of  perspectives on the narrative morphed my experience of the events of the “mission”. My affinity for Roman grew as a result of this event because I gained further insight into the masks he puts on to cope with different situations.

I also questioned the level of complicity that I as the player have with the characters I play. I was conflicted about my actions in the narrative because I was a callous kidnapping biker but I am also Niko, Roman’s cousin who would defend him until the last. Is it even relevant to consider myself as being both these people in the game world when such strong identification would lead to conflict? In Grand Theft Auto IV I previously had limited control of the order that I experienced the narrative moments, through choices in missions. With the emergence of these new episodes I now have control over how the alternate lperspective interact. I am crafting my own experience of the games three pronged narrative in much more open way. The exciting moments I am having with the game on this playthrough are now centred around this new navigation of the narrative. I am excited to see how certain moments in the GTAIV saga will be further modified once The Ballad of Gay Tony layer is available. I hope to answer this quest in the future: How would the story of Liberty City be changed for me in the event of a synchronous playthrough of the three characters stories?

Regardless of the outcome we should revel in the way that GTAIV as a game lets these elements be layered on top of eachother with the different stories, experiences and perspectives of the three characters all interacting to create a unique and meaningful experience.