Quantic Dream’s David Cage: Uncharted’s structure is like a porn movie’s
Sometimes people say things we don’t get why they do. But that doesn’t make it any less interesting now, does it? Say for example a statement that goes: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune has got a structure similar to a porn movie’s. A very curious statement, huh. There’s more of that after the jump.
Inasmuch as David Cage thought Naughty Dog‘s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was interesting, so did we find his statements pertaining to this game. See, he described the game’s style as something akin to… well… porn movies.
The Heavy Rain developer and Quantic Dream Founder was quoted in an interview with Gamasutra, saying that:
I thought Uncharted was very interesting… There was some very, very interesting aspects to it. The big difference between Uncharted and what we’re doing here [Heavy Rain] is that Uncharted was still structured like a video game. It gives you a bit of story, then action, then a bit of story, then action – like porn movies, when you think about it.
What led him to that equation? Well, he was asked if he’s seen Uncharted and if the tactic wherein real actors were used to deliver the lines would be the same direction they’ll be taking in Heavy Rain.
He further expounds, lest some people get the wrong idea: “Porn movies are structured in exactly the same way, except that the action is not the same (laughter), but it’s the same structure. Most video games are done like that.”
If you do think about it, this structure he referred to is indeed the same, not only with porn movies, but with all movies in general. Take example the Dark Knight. Batman fights crooks in Gotham, story unfolds; Joker terrorizes Gotham, story unfolds; Joker terrorizes Batman, story unfolds; Batman gets back at Joker, story unfolds. You know what I mean.
I could list a hundred other movies here – action, drama, sci-fi – that works within this structure of “a bit of story, then action, then a bit of story, then action” type. So it really is beyond me why he’d choose to compare Drake’s Fortune to porn, of all genres.
Beats me. But I don’t think I really want to know.
Anyway, what he really wants to show, I guess, is that there could be a different way of narrating the story without having to be fully separate from all the action. “Interactive performance” as he would like to call it.
“It’s one thing to do a great cutscene, even if it’s real time. It’s another thing to try to tell the story as you play, so the story’s not through cutscenes — it’s told through gameplay.”
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