WEEK 3 Game Analysis

The adventure-action game Prince of Persia The Sand of Time in a way did engage me through the linear storytelling. It was rather interesting as I, the player, started playing in a battle field which was rather exciting. With this I felt like I couldn't slowly move around and have a look at the area - otherwise I'd get blown up, so I decided to move on to the next node. Although this would be the general idea of what the creators would want me to think - to quickly go through node to node and see how the events unfold. We as players have the control over time in the world of the game, even when parts of the palace were being blown up, nothing can really happen until I get to the next node.

When the Prince drinks water to recover his health and sheathes his sword at the end of a battle, the camera shot as well as the music gets really dramatic. It's unnecessary and over the top like the creators are leaning too much towards making it a cinematic. It could almost be considered as cut scenes, but it happens nearly every time the Prince drinks the water, so it's too repetitive. It can fit in with the character, being a Prince, seeing as he majestically drinks water and sheathes his sword as if he'd won a war. Although I argue that it's too much and simply not needed.

In Luban & Meziane's 'Turning a Linear Story into a Game' (2001) they talk about the choice of shots and what shots are important to utilize in gameplay. "Some shots are not always suitable for gameplay. The challenge lies in reconciling the player's comfort with movie­style cameras". The camera shot used for the Prince drinking the water, being a close up of his face, isn't the best choice as it would've been fine if they actually left the camera as is. We can't control the Prince as he's drinking the water, so the camera changes to a shot that isn't suitable for gameplay, but with it happening for a mere 3 seconds in the middle of gameplay I feel like it is definitely too much.