Lucas
Versantvoort / February 7, 2015
Something
that’s been on my mind recently is how many games, basically any game that is an adaptation of a previous work containing famous
characters, grant you the opportunity to
play as well-known fictional characters, like Batman, the Joker, etc. There’s definitely a certain thrill in getting to control these
characters. For instance, rather than passively reading or watching Batman kick
some criminal ass, it’s way more gratifying to do it yourself.
There’s a problem, however, though
it doesn’t apply to all characters. It has to do with the type of character you
get to control and his/her psychological makeup. For example, playing as Batman
doesn’t present any problems as he’s a first-rate crime fighter. Of course,
he’s highly traumatized, but he’s managed to turn it into an unstoppable drive
to rid Gotham of crime. So when you control Batman, there’s no tension between
who batman actually is and the fact
you’re basically telling him what to do. Since games like Arkham Asylum and
Arkham City have you do nothing but fight crime, there’s no disconnect between
your controlling Batman and Batman’s nature. Playing as Batman always feels badass and ‘just
right.’
But what if you get to control the
Joker, everyone’s favourite psychopathic criminal mastermind? When I played Arkham Asylum, I noticed you could play as the Joker in the game’s
challenge mode. I didn’t closely follow the news surrounding the game prior to
its release, but I can imagine that if they announced the Joker would be
playable, pretty much everyone would freak out. It’s not a stretch to name him
the greatest and most popular villain in the Batman universe, so getting to
play as him sounds perfect…or does it? Let’s look at what the Joker really is.
Unlike Batman, he has no code of honor and doesn’t seek to rid Gotham of crime,
but to drown it in crime. The Joker can definitely be described as a psychopath
as he has (little to) no empathy (depending on which comic you’re reading),
though sociopath also seems to be a good term. What’s important here is to
remember that the Joker is unpredictable,
at least to the viewer. That’s where all the tension from watching a villain
comes from, especially one as devious as the Joker. You’re constantly wondering
what diabolical plan he’s hatching now. That’s why trying to foil his plans in
the Arkham games is so fun, because he comes across as an intelligent villain
who hides, waiting to unleash his next plan. We can’t understand him as he’s unpredictable and therefore awesome as a
villain.
 |
| Hmm, nope, just feels wrong. |
This all changes when you control
the Joker. Playing as a character means exercising the ultimate control over
that character. The character does everything (providing the controls aren’t
crippled) you ask the moment you ask it. If you’re controlling a well-known
fictional character, this can be a lot of fun. But in the case of the Joker,
things get difficult. At first glance, playing as the Joker seems fun as Arkham
Asylum gives you a few morbidly fun moves with which to dispose of your enemies.
What’s not to like? The promise to get to embody the Joker? But that’s
precisely the problem, as embodying
the Joker is impossible. The Joker is unpredictable,
but controlling a character makes him predictable,
turns him into your puppet! And thus the fun inherent to the Joker’s
unpredictability is gone, particularly when you realize playing as the Joker in
Asylum isn’t as ‘Jokeresque’ as you’d like it to be. As the Joker, you’d of
course want to exercise the greatest, craziest amount of freedom, but in the
challenge mode you’re restricted to basically the same gameplay as in the story
mode, so once you’ve exhausted all the Joker’s moves, the fun’s basically over.
The problem is that gameplay in general is too limited for a character like the
Joker. Before you start playing, you start speculating like crazy, fantasizing
about what it’d be like to control the Joker, while I personally believe that
it will never be satisfying to control him. Think about it. First of all, the
Joker never fails…or dies. His plans may get foiled, but it’ll only be a matter
of time before he breaks out of the asylum again. So, the familiar concept of
dying in games and being greeted by a game over or ‘you’re dead’ screen is
literally unbelievable when you die as the Joker. You immediately think, ‘oh
what!? The Joker doesn’t die!?” The same goes for gameplay in general in Arkham
Asylum. The game utilizes stealth and you, as the Joker, have to hide if you
want to stand a chance against all the enemies. To play as the Joker and being
forced to hide is also an automatic deal breaker. If you were passively
watching him, all his plans would succeed immediately. You start thinking, “why
can’t I do this or do that? I’m the Joker for crying out loud. Or why can’t I
call for a bunch of cronies to help me? Doesn’t the Joker always have help?” In
a sense, the mystery is gone. Every limit of gameplay ruins the illusion of
‘being’ the Joker, the primary problem being he’s someone we can’t understand, someone who’s literally
beyond anyone’s control. Why do you think it’s more ‘believable’ and more fun to
fight the Joker as Batman rather than control the Joker? The Joker is better to
watch from a distance than actively control.
The same rings true for other
characters. Consider Telltale’s adaptation of Game of Thrones. Without
discussing the Choice & Consequence system and its strengths and flaws, why
do you think the story has been positively received? I would say it is
precisely because you don’t get to control
one or more of the famous characters from the series, but new people belonging
to another House. Playing as Tyrion or Joffrey, etc. just wouldn’t work. What
would the gameplay be like if you got to control characters like them? Do you
get to walk around in King’s Landing? Will there be combat? If so, would the
animations ‘feel’ right in regard to the character you’re controlling? Do you
get to hatch schemes against others whilst foiling theirs? No, all of this
would feel wrong. The illusion wouldn’t work and the characters wouldn’t
possess their air of mystery anymore. Their effectiveness as characters derives
from their personalities, but by controlling them you automatically
enforce your own personality on them. Telltale has made the wise decision,
however, to let you control a bunch of outsiders, just like you are in a sense
an outsider when you watch the TV series. This means that all the famous
characters retain their own personalities, so once you, for instance, control
Mira and first see Cersei and Tyrion from a distance in the Great Hall, the
thrill is infinitely greater than if you were controlling them yourself.
So there you have it. As you can
see, getting to play as a famous fictional character is a tricky proposition as
it’s all about maintaining the awesome illusion of truly embodying that
particular character. Developers should carefully consider the character’s psychological
makeup and if their gameplay would feel natural in relation to the characters. Playing
as Batman poses no problems as his crime-fighting nature doesn’t clash with
crime-fighting gameplay. However, with other (more morally complex) characters
or psychopaths/sociopaths like the Joker it becomes more difficult to assess
whether or not it would feel ‘right’ to play as them and if it would do justice
to them.
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