Coherent worlds – What I consider a Coherent World

 Like other projects on this cause I’m going to refer to Red Dead Redemption, as it is a recent game and a triumph in both narrative and gameplay.

John Marston - as rough as the ground he walks on.

The Wild West is brutal place, full of outlaws and dangers from town to town. If a character is to survive in a place like this then he must also be brutal and rugged.

John Marston is an outlaw, his very persona embodies the west and it was characters such as him that made the west the legend that it was.

These two aspects of Red Dead Redemption were almost tailor made for each other, if you played a character reminiscent of Kenneth Williams in Red Dead Redemption the experience would alter drastically, whilst it may humorous it would also lose much of its intensity and immersion. Like wise if the player were to take control of the fierce John Marston but have him wandering around a candy land full of happy ewok-esque creatures the experience would falter and the immersive nature would break.

Oooohhh! - I cannot see this man surviving long.

Red Dead Redemptions landscape was to be considered a living character in itself; Characters travelling each morning to other towns, trains running on time, law Enforcement and fights that involve people other then yourself. It all added up to a believable world.

What also helped make the world coherent was the level of detail the world had to history. I don’t mean aspects such as the ‘Duals’ since a form of fighting which featured any form of ‘honour’ was highly and historically unlikely at the time. What I mean by the details is that there is nothing out of place within the game world such as; aliens, elves or Italian plumbers that jump on turtles. This attention to detail helped push the immersion further, although the time came when Rockstar wanted to have an all out blast with the world of Red Dead and Added Zombies, sasquatches and unicorns in the ‘Undead Nightmare’ campaign.

The reason I believe that this worked as well as being immersive was the characters reaction to world around them, a zombie is just as otherworldly and petrifying to the citizens of New Austin as it would be to you or me therefore the player was immersed into the chaotic situation. 

Kenneth Williams image: http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsW/18441-2988.gif

RDR screen: http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/screenshots/RedDeadRedemptionUndeadNightmare/RedDeadRedemptionUndeadNightmareMedia/RDR%20Undead%20Nightmare%20167.jpg

Undead Nightmare Screen: http://download.xbox.com/content/images/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025454082b/1033/screenlg2.jpg