Gaming Narrative

As suggested by the class, I have decided to give a hard look at what may be the only game I've had a chance to play in the last few years: Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption. In my limited opinion, it's a triumph of gaming, and in my opinion, it's also an engaging piece of literature, if you will.

A quick summary of this game will tell you that through a first person narrative, John Marston (above) is being shadowed and used by a corrupt government holding his family hostage. He is tasked with finding and killing his former gang members who left him for dead before the game itself actually takes place. It's a simple anarchist sort of set-up, making an enemy out of the controlling forerunners of society; in this case, the FBI. On the opposing hand, the outlaws you're chasing down are also in the wrong, choosing to kill anyone who gets in their way with no expense. After some while, when travelling through Mexico, Marston gets caught up in both sides of an ongoing war. Throughout the game, you have the ability to sway Marston to commit good deeds and bad ones, earning him a reputation dependent on such. Both will have their consequences, and both their rewards. In this sense, both concerning the main plot and your own choices, Rockstar pressures the player to ultimately take a neutral standpoint, which seems to be what their other games preach (which would be the Grand Theft Auto series). There is no right, there is no wrong, but there is always senseless killing.

As an experience, you are more or less forced to look through Marston's lens. His dialogue suggests fairly contemporary thinking, though it's a game based in 1911. He views women as his complete equals, he seems to be realistic about his situation and about the world in which he inhabits, and he cares very much for his family's well-being, rather than himself, and he defends people of other ethnicities and religion. In this sense, he's written as a fairly 21st century man in an early 20th century setting. This anachronism allows us to relate to a character who agrees with a more standardized modern politic.

The game borrows heavily from biblical themes and titles, and makes as many references as it can without getting lost on the player. As a piece of literature, the language is heavily researched and applied to the time the game is placed in. Questions of ethics and morality are common themes, and on a less philosophical level, we watch the world go from the old west to brick buildings and early automobiles, and we can see changes in culture, dialect, and clothing with the transition. Details like the whooping cough and people getting off their wagons or horses to take a leak near a rock are not lost on the developers.

Through the lens of media theory, it IS a truly immersive game, retaining much of its popularity though it was released over a year ago. With multiplayer titles on the rise, this game is no exception, and invites people from around the globe to explore the west together, an aspect that sucks many people in for months at a time. One guy even wrote a song about how he wishes he were Marston in the real world. Very strange, but the artist's emotional experience is less than unique.

One can only wonder what is next in the world of gaming and immersion, but this is a very interesting piece as it is.