What Could've Been

This is really just a post about what this post could've been and probably would've been had I broken my own rule and also not been lazy.

I've been playing Modern Warfare 2. I'm about five minutes from the end of the campaign and have been feverishly churning through the multiplayer with a semi-consistent crew of folks. These are gamers who, like me, have that weird competitive gene that makes me say "one more" when I'm playing an MP shooter or something like Geometry Wars. I'm not proud of this gene. It is a shameful albatross, a flag post for my hubris, my ego and my desire to be the best. I talk a lot about story-driven narrative experiences, but I love those games with a different part of my brain.

The rule I was going to break is where I promised I would never poo poo another game in the industry. I had one hell of a self-righteous rant queued up concerning this scene, its failure at storytelling and what a catastrophic missed opportunity it was for the game and for storytelling in the industry, in general. But then Kieron Gillen at Rock Paper Shotgun had to go all Zeus thunder-stealer on it and drop his opinion in a much more lucid and succinct fashion than I ever could.

So if you're wondering what I think about that level, imagine I'm the guy at a company brainstorm who, when it's his turn to add to the laundry list of ideas on the whiteboard shamefully utters "uh, yeah, what he said."

I was really impressed by Kieron's thoughts. As I usually am with people who agree with me, I guess. Had he championed the scene in such a well-thought-out fashion, I suppose I'd call him a shameless dolt and spend the next two thousand words tearing him down like a grade-a douche. Outside of the merits of the scene, I only find myself angry on one front: you have an audience of (seriously) fifteen million goddamn people. Craft this shit. Bring me through a story with delicate, delicious bread crumbs and then, just as we approach the climax, give me a choice.

Whatthefuck? Didn't I just berate choice one post ago? Yes. I berated "be good/be evil" Fable/KOTOR style choice. But if I decide to shoot innocents, recognize this. If I decide to not pull the trigger, take note. If I shoot over their heads, fucking SAY something about it. This scene could've been a crafted to be something impressive. Now I'm getting into Kieron Gillen territory so I'll spare you the rehash. But goddamn, we were so close. The budget was there. The carte blanche, evident. The time. And, the most coveted of all things: the eyes. A built in audience of millions who were going to digest this story hook line and sinker.

GAHHH...

I apologize for adding (about a week late, mind you) to the discourse about MW2:NR, giving youa shoddily worded, haphazard, hamfisted bit of writing. Hmm. That reminds me of something.