Death is an inevitable part of video games. Unless you’re some kind of master prodigy gamer, at some point you’ve seen the blasted ‘Game Over’ pop up on your screen. The gaming industry has been evolving over the years, and we’ve seen a paradigm shift in the way we die.
The Good Ol’ Days
What happened to hard consequences from losing in video games? Early generations offered a finite amount of lives to beat their levels, after that it was over. Finito. Dust yourself off and head back to square one. As harsh as it sounds by today’s standards, it made us ponder every decision and it demanded a more strategic approach towards tackling the objectives. I still find myself going back to play NES titles like Contra, Double Dragon, Punch-Out (Come at me, Glass Joe!) and Master Blaster because they are infuriatingly hard and I live for the punishment. I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside after beating a game within the constraints of my continues.
Fast forward to today and there’s virtually no backlash from failing in video games. The next-gen titles of today gravitate towards a hand holding approach, guiding us all the way to the finish line. Press A here, tap B repeatedly, climb that ledge, follow that giant green objective arrow, die and revert back to your last save. I get that the developers want to make their games more accessible but let us figure it out sometimes. Give us a challenge!
Death With Consequence
Permadeath as defined by Wiki; The permanent death of a defeated character, after which the player of the game cannot continue with the same character. Simple terms, you build up your hero and collect sweet gear but if you die, there’s no re-spawns, no second chances, you start from scratch.
Arma II‘s apocalyptic mod Day Z explored this concept and it made for an entirely different experience. Day Z drops you in a large open world with zombies and other players. There’s absolutely nothing preventing another person from gunning you down over a can of beans. Running into someone is always tense and you’re forced to re-evaluate how you begin your interactions. People get befriended just to get a shotgun in the back without hesitation. I’ve seen someone get held hostage for a ransom and the victim complied to the assailant’s demands because he didn’t want to lose all his hard earned loot. This element of realism throws in basic human morality to the experience. You’ll learn that there are good samaritans who want to work with you and survive, but most want nothing more than to see the world burn. You have to be diligent in figuring out what side of the coin people fall on when you inevitably cross paths.
Perma-Permadeath – One Chance, Make it Count
Robot Loves Kitty’s upcoming arena shooter Upsilon Circuit will feature true permadeath. Meaning once you die, there’s no second chances to play again. Here’s how it works: there’s a large map filled with monsters and treasure. There’s only one server and eight people can log in at once. Everyone else can jump in and spectate live. When a player is killed they are not only barred from creating a new character but they are unable to play again. Instead, the recently deceased picks a member from the audience to take up arms in the arena. Any XP earned is given to the spectators to decide what skills to level up. The not-so-friendly viewers can choose to spawn monsters and traps instead.
Upsilon Circuit‘s an ambitious project, but it’s a refreshingly new direction in gaming. It bridges the gap between watching and playing. Similar to Twitch but instead giving spectators the power to alter the outcome of the match. Like dungeon masters in old school D&D games. This idea encompasses the feeling of an ancient Roman Colosseum, turning players into virtual gladiators fighting for survival at the mercy of the crowd. People will think twice before pulling off any heroic stunts and calculate every move with extreme caution.
Raise The Stakes
The fact is I enjoy a real challenge in gaming and there’s so little at stake when you can just reload like nothing happened. Permadeath might be too extreme for most but I wish more games would at least give us a little kick when were down.
Dark Souls II, which is known for its unrelenting difficulty, had a death penalty that chipped away at your total health down to a 50% cap. Fans of the Dark Souls series can attest to the frustration you feel after getting creamed by a boss repeatedly but you keep coming back for more. Give us more of that. Let us feel the weight of our decisions, force us to take a different approach than just a run and gun through each level. This could be a new frontier in video games and it will fundamentally change the way we play. Let’s embrace death together!
