In our ongoing feature on character development, we speak with Irrational Games’ creative lead Ken Levine. Speaking about the immersion aspect that games provide, Levine likened gaming to an experience that many of us remember from childhood.
For the first person style of play, many gamers simply see it as a means to play shooters (and the occasional RPG.). For Levine, it’s something much more experiential, however. “I think it’s obviously, for me, the most direct way to engage,” he said. “It’s one less barrier to the experience.”
While he says that first person is not tantamount to immersion, it offers a feeling that is unlike any other. “It’s a strange thing to be in someone else’s shoes. It’s something we do very naturally as children, but it’s something that is much more difficult for adults. I think that games gives us enough of a nudge in the right direction to have that childhood experience of play.”
In that context, it is something much more enriching and meaningful to the gamer. The game comes alive in a way that is incredibly challenging for many studios.
“Not just play from a fun standpoint, but transposing your identity onto somebody else’s, and that is something so powerful when you are a kid. You just lose that as an adult because you get so self-conscience,” added Levine.
“Games sort of allow us to break through that layer to let us go back to that space of play, which I think is really powerful.”
We’ll have the full interview with Ken Levine tomorrow. [Update: You can now read the full interview here]
