Elements of game design, part three: character

As well as having a good story, a game must have compelling characters in order to keep the player interested. This is very important, as if a player finds the characters bland, or even annoying, they are less like to want to continue playing the game. In this age of ever realistic graphics, it is easy for game developers to ignore character development while making their game look flashy. But graphics will not hook a player as well as a good story and characters, and would not have as great a re play value. Although there is a lot of games where the whole aim is to just shoot stuff with little to no character development,  there seems to be a demand in gaming communities for compelling characters. As the industry has grown larger and more complex so has the need for them to make more complex characters.

A comparison can be made to movies; sure action movies filled with explosions can be entertaining, but its movies with good characters and story are a lot more in depth and interesting to watch.

Firstly, the characters need to be relatable. Even if the player does not agree with the characters opinions and goals, they need to seem like a real person. As Tim Schafer put it:

To create a truly immersive game experience with a compelling fantasy world, you have to populate that world with real characters. Not just characters that behave realistically on the screen, but characters that ARE real to you 

The way the character looks can also influence how the audience feels about them. People make automatic  assumptions about the character based on if they are old, or young, and other physical features. These can be used for subtle ways to tell things about the character, and make them more interesting an believable.

Voice acting is also very important. Bad voice acting can completely throw off the player and ruin their suspension of disbelief. Sometime it's just a miss cast voice, and sometimes it's just bad acting. However, if a character is well acted, then it can make them more believable and interesting.

This can also be seen in how the character is animated and directed. As in movies, the way a cut scene is shot can influence the way the audience feels about a character. This can really make a difference, for example a low angle shot can make a character look more threatening or powerful.

Another way games can portray character is to let the player control them during cut scenes. This can mostly be used in rpgs, as it further allows the player to play the role of the characters, and define how they act. This is also done to an extent in half life 2, as the character the player plays as, Gordon Freeman, is not shown and does not say anything, leaving the player to imagine who they are, and leading to another layer of emersion.