Never known as a person to bite his tongue, renowned game developer David Jaffe (God of War, Calling All Cars) recently gave his two cents on the subject of comic book video games and how they’re handled. Specifically mentioning Marvel Entertainment’s use of their licenses in games, Jaffe thinks the games out now lack a big part of what makes the properties so special in the first place: story.
“The thing that made Stan and co’s comics so unique back in the 60’s is he was the first guy to say, “Hey, let’s treat these stories with some respect, let’s treat these characters with respect and in doing so, we’ll grow the audience well beyond 8 year old boys- who ONLY care about the powers”….and with that thinking, the entire medium of American comics was reinvented.
As a huge comic and game fan- and as a game designer as well- I really hope Marvel stops ONLY using the HOW TO MAKE A MARVEL GAME template that seems to demand: Open City, Hero Powers, Recycled Missions ad nauseam, and a few Unique things tossed in. And I hope they stop because this template- in most cases- goes against the very thing that makes the comics so special: story.
The games- as well made as some of them are- get boring fast and betray the source material upon which they are based.” - David Jaffe
Having read his post (which can also be found at the link below) and being a huge comic book fan myself, I agree completely with his thoughts. That said, having read them as long as I have, I also realize that’s it’s a business predicated on reboots, refreshing, and keeping a brand viable for all generations to get into. Hell, being a Spider-Man fan (the hero he mentions), I just went through this with the One More Day storyline.
More of my thoughts can be found below.
I’d guess that a large portion of the audience that buys these games (it’s not just Marvel, either) doesn’t really care about the story and just wants to see exactly what they’re currently getting: a mindless sandbox game to play in. They largely don’t care about Peter Parker’s struggle as a modern-day everyman and hero, they wanna see Spidey swinging around the city fighting bad guys. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing though, since some of them are actually pretty good.
I’m pretty sure that video game publishers feel the same way as well, which is exactly why you’ll rarely, if ever see a comic book game with any kind of story with the depth that Jaffe refers to. That’s not to say it’s a lost concept. Activision’s own X-Men Legends and Ultimate Alliance games are RPGs and have a semblance of story. 2K’s take on The Darkness last year wasn’t that bad , either. And if rumors are true, Ultimate Alliance 2 will be based, in part at least, on the 2006 Civil War storyline so we’ll just have to see.
Dear: The People Who Make Marvel Comics Video Games - [DavidJaffe.Biz]
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