Project: Video Game

Narrative

 

             I begin to play story mode. I am taken into a barren land full of rocks. A vulture appears and is eating the flesh of a dead warrior. Bodies are scattered all over the area and it looks like a brutal battle has taken place. The character Shao Khan appears and he is still fighting a final warrior. Shao Khan is the ultimate ruler of the “Outerworld” where the game begins. Shao Khan thrusts the final warrior into the air and some sort of a medal flies off the weak opponent and shatters on the ground. A giant hammer with green flames surrounding it appears in Shao Khan’s hand as he looks to “finish” the poor warrior. The beaten up warrior picks up the remnants of the medal as he prepares to be killed by Shao Khan. The pieces of the medal along with the warrior’s eyes illuminate a distinct blue glow. Right before Shao Khan crushes his opponent, the defeated warrior says his last words “we must win”. After he is killed, the player is taken through a sort of warp where the character and fighter Raiden, along with other Kombat characters are portrayed in battle. After the warp filled with battle and torture, the player sees that it was just a vision by the character Raiden. Raiden looks down and the medal is fully restored and intact in his hand. The setting seems to be in a temple within the mountains. There appears to be a meeting amongst a handful of warriors and spectating monks. Shang Tsu, who appears to be the leader of the tournament, introduces himself and begins to talk about the tournament style fighting that each combatant will undergo the next couple of days. Johnny Cage, a famous movie star, and also a fighter, is immeadatly put under the spotlight and portrayed as a cocky, ego-filled warrior who also tends to flirt with the women characters such as Sonya Blade, a militant combat who is participating to free her partner. Because of Johnny’s snotty comments regarding Shang Tsu, he is selected for the first fight. Shang Tsu picks his opponent to be Reptile. I am now fighting as Johnny Cage against reptile as I begin to learn more moves and special attacks as this player. Once I defeated the warrior reptile and gained some coins, I as Johnny Cage, continue to trash talk the competition and I am immediately presented with another combatant named Baraka who has blades that can protrude from his arms. This opponent, along with reptile, are clearly not of the human race and exhibit immortal qualities. After I defeat Baraka, Shang Tsu prompts Johnny to “finish him”. Johnny Cage disagrees and Shang Tsu ends the tournament for the night. After everybody is dismissed, Liu Kang and Raiden compliment Johnny on his fight. Arrogant Johnny shows disrespect and questions who Raiden is. Liu Kang, who’s a predecessor of Raiden tells Johnny to “show some respect”. Liu Kang also shares with us that Raiden is the God of Thunder and protector of the Earthrealm. Liu Kang further explains how this tournament isn’t only for personal glory (like what Johnny is interested in), but also for the very survival of Earthrealm. Raiden informs Johnny how Baraka’s blades aren’t fake and how he was born with them and how he represents the Outerworld. Raiden further explains that if Johnny lost to Baraka, Shao Khan, Baraka’s ruler would come one step closer to physically absorbing the Earthrealm and that The elder Gods created this tournament to give the Earthrealm a chance to defend itself. If Earthrealm loses this time, Shao Khan will “conquer all.” After hearing all this, Johnny is still filled with arrogance and shows he doesn’t care about the threat of Shao Khan and how he just wants to get a date with Sonya Blade. From this point on, my character switched to the blonde haired military woman Sonya Blade who Johnny is trying to pick up. Two other women warriors approach me. They are the characters Jade and Kitana and they are looking for a battle. I have to take on both of them, two against one. But after multiple attempts, I could'nt defeat them and so I stopped there. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Throughout this narrative, there is no specific time setting but it contains a collision of both ancient characters who use traditional techniques and futuristic fighters with more modern attacks using explosives. The narrative takes place in an ancient monk village in the barren mountains located somewhere inside the fantasy world "Earthrealm". Throughout the story, warriors of both the Earthrealm and the rival world "Outerworld" fight to see who holds the most power. The story includes a struggle of good against evil as the Earthrealm, the protagonists have to fight to defend their realm from be taken over by the Outerworld ruled by Shao Khan. A tournament is constructed to see who will ultimately win and get one step closer to fighting Shao Khan, the boss.

 

        Through this game, the fighter matures from fight to fight despite whichever character they are fighting as. A player of the game unlocks new and special moves and fatalities for the combatant to smother the opponent. As the story unfolds, the character gains knowledge about the constant struggle between the Outerworld and the Earthrealm. Many fighters on the Outerworld exhibit villain like archetypes such as the fighter reptile. Serpents have been viewed as displaying deceitfulness and trickery and the parable of Adam and Eve from the Holy Bible agrees with this archetype. Within the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, The serpent was "more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made." (Gen. 3.1). In the parable, when God asked Eve if she had eaten from the forbidden fruit tree, she said "The serpent deceived me, and I ate it." (Gen. 3.13). Opposed to the antagonist fighters from the Outerworld, the fighters from the Earthrealm, whose intentions are good, display some archetypes of true heroes. These characters display both human and non-human characteristics which give them both a fantasy and mythological like appearance. Philip Matyszak, an author of a guide to both Ancient Greek and Roman myths states, "the myths describe the ancients' view of the world, and the archetypes of heroes." (7). The plot in this game is a continous battle between the good and evil and the player can distinguish the protagonists from the antagonists by examining the fighters' unique archetypes.

 

     In my narrative journey, I ran into an opponent that defeated me and after trying a number of times, My fighter at the time (Sonya Blade) still could'nt defeat the tag team of women warriors Jade and Kitana. Although my journey ended early, I enjoyed and liked gaining the knowledge of the Earthrealm and it's struggle against the Outerworld. As I was losing my final fight against the two women, a pattern of themes did occur. The pair used the dynamic of teamwork to help eachother defeat my warrior multiple times. After reviewing my gameplay screen recordings, I realized the sounds and attitude my player emitted when she was weak and about to die occurred each round. Sonya would have a more distressed battle cry and overall attitude as she neared defeat each round.

 

     Throughout the narrative, different occurring images relate to my own life. Just like Sonya's attitude, I can get down and become sad from some of the everyday struggles of life. Maybe my struggles aren't as severe as facing two blood thirsty women warriors, but I express my sorrow occasionally just as Sonya does on the battlefield. In our current society, There is a mix of people with good intentions and those with bad intentions who which wish to cause harm on others. This tournament is similar to life itself due to the fact that society is filled with both protagonists and antagonists, heroes and villains. The evil Outerworld inhabitants are threatening to comadeer the good Earthrealm and the people of the Earthrealm are fighting for their very own existence. Again, this example is a bit of an overstatement compared to everyday life, but the struggle between good and evil from day to day exists.   

 

     Within the narrative, some of the archetypal qualities in the Women warriors exhibit what Carl Jung calls "Animus". Carl Jung defines this when he says "Animus is the archetype of reason and spirit in women. This is the male aspect of the female psyche."(qtd "jung"). All of the female fighters exhibit this trait because they have a wide variety of attacks and they conduct just as much violence as the male fighters do. Jung goes on to state "When identified with the animus (animus-inflated), women develop an excessive rational drive which may end up in excessive criticism and stubbornness."(qtd "jung"). Naturally, cultures place women as less agressive and more affectionate than males. Our own society teaches women to be more on the submissive side while this video game views women as having strong, manly archetypes that allows them to compete in the violent tournament with fierce male warriors.    

 

     Like I said before, the game presents images and symbols that can be related to everyday life such as attitudes towards situations and the constant battle between good and evil. Along with this material, the fact that I ran into a roadblock during my gameplay and could'nt beat the tag team of Jade and Kitana can be related to my personal life as well. When I was struggling during the fight, It reminded me of taking a challenging calculus test. I gave my fullest and best effort but still did'nt get the result I strived to get when I set out to studying/ beginning The Mortal Kombat story mode. This also goes to show the player that sometimes you may not have control within certain times of your life. The feeling of no control can be related directly to dreams. In level 2 and 3 of dreaming, a person may not have control of the events. This feeling of no control happens when after many attempts, I can't defeat Jade and Kitana.

 

      Raiden's vision occurring at the beginning of the game could either be from the past, or a foreshadowing of the future which includes Shao Khan destroying every opponent and commandeering the Earthrealm from Raiden. More gameplay is necessary to truly discover what Raiden's vision was truly supposed to mean or be interpreted as.

 

      The narrative relates to the conflicts and struggles that we face in our everyday life. There are some people out there, like Shao Khan who only exist to wreak havoc and wield evil power. Shao Khan is in the position to completely take over the Earthrealm depending on the outcome of a series of fights between good and evil. The battles between good and evil are applicable to everyday life.

 

 

SOURCES

1. Cowman, L.B. Holy Bible. Ed. Jim Reimann. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. Print.

 

2.Matyszak, Philip. The Greek and Roman Myths: A Guide to the Classical Stories. London: Thames & Hudson, 2010. Print.

 

3.http://www.carl-jung.net/animus.html