Convergence and Deus Ex

When discussing creativity in video games today, it is also important to look at the concept of "convergence", something that has been said to be one of the industry's most creative new forces. Convergence involves the amalgamation of various forms of media, namely cinema, literature, and video games, and has been widely acclaimed as one of the most exciting new prospects in video games in recent times. It has been argued though, that in reality, convergence in games is a vastly over-rated notion. While the presence of life like graphics, voice acting and movie like cut scenes may enhance the enjoyment and immersion one receives from a game, their mere presence alone is not the revolutionary step in interactive gaming that some industry people and academics may have you believe. They are simply vehicles in getting the game's plot across to the player, and usually have little impact on gameplay itself. "In most games, it's entirely possible to view the plot and gameplay as discrete entities unaffected by the machinations of the other. The next cut scene plot revelation is the carrot to the control pad's stick." (Wildgoose, 2002)

That's not to say that it is all together impossible for new, innovative gameplay concepts to be created through convergence. It is in fact quite achievable and has been recently done though real "interactive storytelling", where the plot of a game is fashioned during gameplay itself, not outside of it in a non-interactive cut scene. The best example of true interactive storytelling is found in Deus Ex: The Conspiracy, originally a PC game, recently ported to Playstation 2 and planned for release on the Nintendo Gamecube and Microsoft X-Box. Unlike Rez, Deus Ex's genre is nothing new; it is easily definable as a first person shooter game with RPG elements, set in a government conspiracy ridden Blade Runner like future. Where Deus Ex breaks the mould though, of not only its own genre, but plot driven games of any genre is that it is one of the first video games to successfully incorporate a true interactive, non-lineir story into its gameplay, where the player actually creates the plot as they play through the game.

An in-game scene from Deus Ex. (© Deusex.com)

"Events happen in your presence and you're constantly called upon to take decisive actions to which the game world then responds with meaningful consequences...the main plot is as scripted as any game, yet the illusion of choice is so delicately maintained it feels like you've penned the tale yourself. Indeed, the gameplay depth is so great, no two players will experience it the same way." (Wildgoose, 2002, p49) While not as obviously revolutionary as Rez, Deus Ex and its interactive storytelling method does represent a fairly significant recent gameplay innovation, one yet to be successfully replicated by many other games.