Studying Videogames: Nonlinear? No worries! (Part 3)
The majority of game play takes place within an open world. There are two distinct regions one can travel to, Udun and The Sea of Nurnen. The player has free choice to traverse between these worlds as they please, gradually unlocking and discovering new parts of the map. The main missions are located at various points within the map, and accepting these missions will engage the player in cinematic cut scenes and more narrow and guided tasks.
While situated within the world and not attempting a mission, the player initially seems to engage with an example Galloway’s (2006) “ambient state”, where “things continue to change…but nothing changes that is of any importance” (p.10). However, Shadow of Mordor and the Nemesis System challenge this idea, as within this ambient state emergent narrative acts can still occur. Within the system of the game, the passing of time plays a significant role. Orcs within Sauron’s army have power struggles, rivalries that can often end in combat. As time passes in the game, these power struggles can be resolved by either death or surrender, regardless if Talion is present or not. So in what might be considered an ambient state, the structure of Talion’s enemies can alter, which can also result in the death of one of the player’s branded Orcs. Narrative within the game is therefore constantly changing, and in this way no ambient state ever exists.
The visual and spatial design of Shadow of Mordor also shapes and changes how the player will perceive the narrative. Visually, Shadow of Mordor is an extremely dark, de-saturated and gruesome game. Mirroring the embedded narrative themes of death, revenge, despair and loss, the colours used within the game world are mostly blacks, greys, dark blues, greens and browns. The design of the world is a deliberate attempt to impact the emotional state of the player. In a 2015 study by Erik Geslin, Laurent Jégou and Danny Beaudoin, they argue, “emotions are a key element in the success of video games” (p.1). The study found that game developers use colour and colour schemes to “create emotional environments” in order to “keep players in an optimal state of flow” (p.2) within the game play. The study suggests that in game environments with less colour saturation, the player’s feelings of fear are greater. Additionally, a low brightness, which is regularly found within Shadow of Mordor, is more likely to induce a sense of fright in the gamer. The design of the game world within Shadow of Mordor is deliberately dark to induce and enhance the feelings of the protagonist, Talion. Throughout his journey Talion is scared, unsure and angry. The murder of his wife and son weigh heavily on the embedded narrative of the game, and with the help of colour, also influence the emergent narrative of the player.
The non-linearity of videogames such as Shadow of Mordor does not mean that traditional textual analysis cannot be done, but does complicate its effectiveness. While embedded narrative elements within the game might suggest a linear narrative, the emergent narrative events that surface through game play complicate these potential readings. Within Shadow of Mordor, the design and system of the game both have significant effects on how the narrative is fulfilled, and so must be taken into account when discussing the game. As argued by Linderoth (2015), understanding games as a “composite form” of storytelling, one that must combine and utilise “numerous different frameworks that can replace each other, coexist or blend” (p.282) is essential in our undertaking of videogame analysis.
