Game Mechanic: Factions (403 Words)

In a previous review on a Rockstar Games and Rockstar North game title Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a key game mechanic was identified within the game. This game mechanic know as factions is the grouping of people into categories or ratings.. This is used in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as a way of dividing the some of the city’s residents into gangs and political parties.

Rockstar North (formally DMA Design) and Rockstar Games produced Grand Theft Auto on the Sony Playstation and PC in 1997. GTA 2 and the expansion packs were later released until 2001 when the GTA franchise entered the third person view, with the title Grand Theft Auto 3. In 2002 GTA: Vice City was released as a prequel story set in a 1986 Miami. With inspiration coming form the movie Scarface and Miami Vice the game proved to be a huge success. Then in 2004 GTA: San Andreas set in 1992 told a story in the eyes of Carl Johnson an ex gang member who returns for his mother’s funeral only to be framed by corrupt police officers. From this in 2005 GTA: Liberty City Stories was produced as a prequel to the stories introduced in GTA 3.

Looking back though history of computer generated games we can see the development of this game mechanic. From the early games where it was a simple rating scheme – to an interaction of non-playable characters (NPC). Although this type of game mechanic is normally associated with military style games it has been introduced into other game platforms as well.

The first game that my research and in class discussions that used this game mechanic factions is Elite. Published by Acornsoft and written by David Braben and Ian Bell for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. Elite is a space trading game where you most improve your space combat rating though a variety of tasks.

Other games that have introduced factions into their gameplay are some of which include The Getaway and Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Theses games used ratings as a way to build a player profile to progress thought the game.

In future games especially Grand Theft Auto games I think that the use of factions within gameplay will improve dramatically. From the improvements though the different games in the series, I think that there will be many improvements to the way factions are used in the gameplay.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (413 words)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from the infamous Grand Theft Auto game series which is developed by a branch of Rockstar Games - Rockstar North (formally DMA Design). The game is aimed at the hardcore game market as well as those of us who just quite simply like killing and smashing stuff in games. The basic aim of the game is to complete missions set by other characters in the game. When completing these missions the player will use a wide range of game mechanics without realising it.

Out of all the game mechanics that are incorporated in the game, I would have to suggest that one of the main mechanics is respect. This is the main principle of the game as you progress thought the missions in order for you and your gang to survive. This respect comes in different styles from other gangsters, police, sub mission characters and main mission characters. As well as rising there are at times when the respect form these characters can fall.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has very similar game mechanic to that of Another World created by Delphine Software for the SEGA Megadrive. Although not the exact same mechanic it does share similarities to it, such as where the main character Leser Knight Chaykin must fight for survival on an alien planet.

These two games both share a mechanic where survival depends on other characters. This mechanic could be argued that survival is just not dying. But in these games there is a little more detail to what survival actually means. In the newer games where survival is a way of living as each day progresses the like for instance GTA: San Andreas. There is a lot more to compete against then just aliens. For example there are other gangs, corrupt police and a government that would love you and your gang to disappear or die so they can continue with their destruction.

If respect as a game mechanic was to be generalised as a power stature there are many games that could be new and old that be considered. An example of this could be Age of Empires where power and dominance is the objective of the game. The idea of power and greed being produced in games allows the player to play out fantasies of being in control. This is where respect comes into question as respect is a form acceptance and stature that can sometimes lead on to greed for power.