Jim Rossignol, of RPS and PC Gamer UK, has done it again. He’s made me want to fake an illness so I can go home and spend the rest of the day playing games.
He’s got a great article up today about exploration in games, focusing mainly on Oblivion, which he recently went back and played. Obviously, I agree with him: it’s a great game to spend time in, to forget about the pressing quests and important missions, and just poke around in. (And I’ll have another LIO entry up by the end of the week.)
Most games don’t really reward you for exploring. I bought a game called Just Cause a while ago because it promised a huge game world. It delivered: even the island you could play through in the demo was larger than the entirety of the landmass in Oblivion, and the island was just one tiny postage stamp of space in the game. Unfortunately, with all the room afforded to you, there still wasn’t much reward for just wandering around: all you’d find were more bad guys to fight. The same is true of Crysis (though that’s a much, much better game than Just Cause). It’s a big, beautiful gaming space but not much to find inside it except more combat.
On one of my many trips through Half-Life 2, I decided to slow down and really look at the game. Instead of racing through like a bat out of hell, I got out of my airboat and buggy and walked through the levels. I was rewarded for doing so, mainly with grisly little scenes. At one point, hiking through the reeds on the airboat level, I startled a few crows, who flapped noisily away from where they’d been sitting. I walked over to the spot they flew up from and found a decaying body (plus some ammo). Not something I’d have found if I was speeding by at 60 miles per hour.
On the buggy level, behind a power station, accessible only by hole in some chain link fencing, I found another body, this one with a bit of a story. The body was leaning against the wall on a dingy mattress, a revolver in his lap, a big bloody smear on the wall behind his head. Guess the poor guy found his own way out of the game.
Little details like that are one of the real enjoyments of gaming. Little details that help paint a picture of the world you’re playing in, little stories that you don’t see unless you stop shooting and really look around.
25 responses so far ↓
1 Sideath // Jun 3, 2008 at 8:02 am
Indeed indeed - it’s reports like this one that make me decide whether or not to replay a game, maybe just a little bit more carefully.
2 Nanosheep // Jun 3, 2008 at 8:11 am
More often than not, sometimes I spend time in TF2 just looking at the scenery (with fatal results).
3 Newt Pulsifer // Jun 3, 2008 at 8:50 am
Nice article, indeed.
TF2 related role playing.
(excuse me in advance, in case i get the url code wrong).
http://www.ubercharged.net/2008/06/02/tf2-team-incident-the-official-dhs-report/
4 Newt Pulsifer // Jun 3, 2008 at 8:51 am
It figures…
5 Pentadact // Jun 3, 2008 at 9:01 am
Just Cause is the BEST GAME EVER.
True enough that it’s not really built for pure exploring, but it’s still the only open-world game you can just fling yourself into. It almost made me sad going back to Oblivion - oh sure, rolling hills. But I can’t jump from a speedboat onto a helicopter, hijack it to the cirrus level then skydive from fifty thousand feet into the Imperial City shouting “EXTREEEEEME!”
6 PsyWarrior // Jun 3, 2008 at 9:59 am
I think it’s something to do with there not being helicopters in Oblivion. However, you can no-clip yourself, fly upwards and skydive into the Imperial City that way! Bear in mind that they never had a reason to invent the parachute in the Elder Scrolls universe, so it’s a one-time-only stunt…
7 Christopher // Jun 3, 2008 at 10:10 am
Considering there’s a mod to put Christina Applegate’s face into Oblivion, I gotta believe a speedboat/helicopter/EXTREEEEME mod can’t be far behind.
8 friccish // Jun 3, 2008 at 10:22 am
Your experience in HL2 reminded me of some exploring I did on the airboat level one of the many times I’ve played through.
Towards the end of the level, right before you jump the boat off the dam. I had killed everyone off, and opened up the gate to jump through. I jumped back into the airboat, and decided to cruise around for a bit, and have fun because I knew it was the last I’d see the boat. I drove to the far side of the pond area, behind the main building, and there is a drain outlet pouring out into the pond. It looked like I could fit into it, and I decided to see if I could get into it. The only way however, is to park the boat just so, and then jump on top of it, and then you can just barely jump up into it.
Suprise, it actually goes somewhere. If you follow it, it’s full of radioative sludge that you just barely make it through before coming into a small cave with a vort standing by a fire. There’s just enough health and suit juice to get you back out. But what’s funny is that the vort just keeps on saying all these different things when you try to talk to him. It’s very random, and from what I could tell, stuff I hadn’t ever heard a vort say before.
It was way cool and quite a fun reward for taking your time to explore the world.
9 Ledundead // Jun 3, 2008 at 10:26 am
The vort in the cave is now an achievement. Just a little bonus for noticing the details they added.
10 Danielle // Jun 3, 2008 at 10:49 am
Oo, this makes me want to reinstall HL2. I didn’t know they added achievements in there!
11 Pentadact // Jun 3, 2008 at 10:54 am
Yeah, the Story Vort. He’s awesome, and you’re right, he tells you loads of plot stuff that no-one else does. At least, that’s the intention. I think accidentally, they left one other Vort with all these speech options just out in plain sight. I think it’s the one near where they fit the gun to the airboat, but I might be misremembering. It’s been a while since I researched this.
I did a feature on HL2’s secrets once, and most of my plot info came from the Story Vort and the cork board at Black Mesa East.
Any Raising The Bar readers notice the Cremator head on Eli’s desk?
Ledundead - did they add those to the PC version yet? I remember they said they would eventually, but never heard anything more.
12 Pete // Jun 3, 2008 at 11:32 am
Yeah if you like little things like this then you should try Bioshock if you havent already. There are tons and tons of little side notes that you are rewarded to if you explore all the nooks and crannies.
13 Ayrton // Jun 3, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I’m getting bioshock soon so I’ll look in to it.
14 Lack_26 // Jun 3, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I’m ashamed to say I got bored of Bioshock, apparently just before it got good, just before you reach Sander Cohen.
15 Jonah // Jun 3, 2008 at 2:14 pm
I’m going to start replaying HL2 now to look for some of those things now.
16 ZomBuster // Jun 3, 2008 at 2:31 pm
There is also a really cute skeleton pair in Ep2.
Even in death..
17 Demopack // Jun 3, 2008 at 2:53 pm
The skeleton pair is apparently the people that you see in HL2, in City 17. One chick is sobbing on a couch and one guy is consoling her. You see them later, as rebels.
18 PhatMan // Jun 3, 2008 at 5:24 pm
If they added achievements to HL2 i’ll definitely go back and replay the whole game. I just did that recently with ep2 and FINALLY got the stupid gnome achievement. noclip became my best friend for getting that stupid guy out of places i stupidly shot him (mostly in the antlion caves).
all those little secrets in games add to the ambience. its great to have them. lets not forget the easter eggs, even if they do detract from the ambience they are much more rewarding to me and get a chuckle.
you dont see many games with easter eggs anymore… :\
i was also fairly disappointed at the end of ep2 when i did send the gnome off, i was actually expecting an easter egg. all it would have taken was 3 seconds more of voice acting from one of the characters referencing the gnome and i’d have been satisfied.
“Freeman, if that damn garden ornament of yours offsets the trajectory of my beautiful rocket, you’ll have another incident to add to your list of blunders you should apologize to me for!”
that magnusson, im glad i nuked that caserolle. :)
19 The Linker // Jun 3, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Hey, I remember you mentioning that first detail — the one about the corpse in the bushes on the airboat level. In the notes for one of your comics, when you went on a similar tangent about exploration in games. Heh. Go me and my useless knowledge!
I just noticed something… why is the copyright date at the bottom 2006-2007, when there weren’t even any posts in either of those years? Perhaps this site was being planned even at that early date…
20 Mr.DEEZ // Jun 3, 2008 at 8:45 pm
i completely agree. Chris you really and truly are the voice of my thoughts via the internet and the website i cant have but wish i could.
21 Encephalon // Jun 3, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I agree with what you say. One memorable hl2 scene for me is in the buggy level.. it’s when you find a small camp, so to speak.
It looks like something hoboes have put together the whole thing consisting of old planks, boxes and loose metal plates… thing is there aren’t any humans. Not anymore.
The headcrabs got to them and the entire population of.. what? 2-3? were wiped out. Like a small epidemic.
22 Aftershock // Jun 4, 2008 at 12:31 am
There is actually an easter egg thingy if you put the gnome into the rocket in ep2.
“There appears to be a (something)-pound payload anomaly…. Oh well, no matter” is what kleiner says during the final checks before launch. I’m not sure if he says this anyway, but i only took note of it after launching it with the gnome inside.
And no, they havent added achievements to the PC version of HL2 yet..
23 jordan // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:00 am
the extra weight in the rocket is Lamarr cos hes in the rocket too. i have tf2 hl2 hl2:1 and hl2:2, so its very hard to look around easily with no noclippin’.
24 jordan // Jun 4, 2008 at 3:00 am
i meant to say, i have those games on 360.
25 "Firelake" // Jun 14, 2008 at 1:32 pm
It’s really fun to explore Valve’s maps..
…and to find easter eggs in them. I mean, there are several in several maps. Such as… errm… anyone got Counter-Strike: Source?
On cs_assault, almost beneath the CT spawn, there’s like a hidden room. Noclip only way in.
Inside this room, there’s nothing else then a boot. O.o
Oh, and on Ep1, when you’re in a building bla bla, there’s a small rebel base there. And man, those rebels…
“Are you Dr. Kleiners daughter”? to Alyx.
“I don’t miss Dr Breen, but.. i do miss his show. You remember the jingles?” an unknown rebel. And such.
Oh, headcrabs taste like chicken. (Same rebels.)
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