The Game World

Like all stories, video games take place in a world.  That world can be fictional or a real-place and sometimes it can be based on a real place.  The game world can be a crazy place because it can be one gigantic city like in the Grand Theft Auto series or be set in many different locations like in Halo.  Whether the place is a hostile alien planet somewhere in the depths of space, a snowy wasteland, or some ancient ruins the fact is: each of these places tells a story and are an essential piece to the overall story of the game.

A great example of a video game that uses a well-constructed environment is Resident Evil 5.  It's predecessors have other places too, but I'm going to talk about this one because it's the most recent and I've been playing it for a while.  No, I don't suck it at because I've been playing for such a long time.......it's just zombie killing is addictive and something I enjoy in my leisure time.  
In the first chapter of the game you start off in an old and run down African town that reminds me a lot of Somalia's capitol, Mogadishu, as it was depicted in the film Black Hawk Down.  As you run through the levels within this first chapter the most obvious thing to notice is that there is no pavement, all the roads and paths are dirt.  The sun is blazing hot and a great indicator of how hot it is in this place is when your character stands still and you can see in the distance the waves of heat flowing.  Just a nice detail the creators added to make the environment feel arid, dry, and more authentic.

Now, as you walk through the city there are run down buildings all around, lots of shacks, and fences.  The vbuildings have imperfections of all kinds: cracks, holes, all kinds of marks ranging from scratches and rust to impalements and decay.  The shacks are made of wood planks, boards, posts, and various types of roofing.  Some of the small shacks look like they could be destroyed with a strong kick.  There is very little vegetation and some poverty-stricken local people around that don't look too happy.  At times the place feels like it's a ghost town because everything feels so lifeless and abandoned.
Inside buildings and outside others, there are boxes, crates, and barrels.  Some of them you can break, some you can't.  There are dull, beaten up, broken down cars in street corners.  Old tables, antenna TVs, furniture, and lots of junk inside pretty much every building.  Even though this place feels like a ghost town, it also feels like the ultimate junkyard.  However, all of these items, debris, materials, weather, junk, etc, all tell us about the environment we are in.  And since that this game is Resident Evil, you know that yes, this place is strikingly eerie because of how it looks and no, you are not alone......even if it seems like it.

Another example of a game whose environment can tell its own story is Grand Theft Auto.  Since all the games are based on real cities they all have rich areas, middle-class neighborhoods, and low-income neighborhoods.  The differences in each of these three areas are just as apparent as they are in real life.  In the rich neighborhoods the houses are beautiful, fancy fences, nice clean yards, and smokin' rides parked by them.  The middle-class neighborhoods are nice enough and don't look like old homes.  There really isn't anything too special about them though.  Once you get to poor areas, they look like ghettos.  Messed up yards, the houses look old, the streets and allies look old and run down and need to be cleaned up.  There's graffiti on buildings and fences.  Any cars around this area are old, ugly, models...sometimes beat up old cars that sputter and let out black exhaust.  The people that inhabit their respective areas also fit the stereotypes of real people that live in these areas.

There are plenty more examples of games that have great environments.  I just chose these two because I was most impressed by these two out of games that I have played.  Anyways, be back later.  I got some zombies to blast. >: )