14: WGE MAG
“I thought Red or Dead Redemption was absolutely extraordinary, I just wanted to climb inside that game and live in it. Even forgetting the single-player pre-scripted storyline you could just go out into the wild and have adventures and encounters with people.”
Bionic Commando was released in 2009. Having acquired a taste for video game development, Diggle is itching to see some of his own story concepts brought to life as games rather than comic-books. “I would like to write more video games, it’s something I’m very much into. I have all these story ideas, and several of them would lend themselves very well to video games. I can see the game-play dynamic of it, certain abilities a character might have, environments and goals and objectives. I have wondered whether I should just take some of them to developers and publishers. Games are something I actively enjoy, and you’ve got to do what you love or what’s the point?”
Video game technology in the new millennium certainly lends itself to Diggle’s expansive ideas on scenarios, characters and environment. But then hours and hours exploring the endless catacombs with Lara Croft would certainly ensure that you’d be wanting more from a game these days.
“For me, a game’s ‘story’ can be as simple as knowing what you have to achieve, where you’re supposed to go,” Diggle explains. “I remember years back playing one of the Tomb Raider games, the environment was so huge, I had absolutely no idea where I was or what I was supposed to be looking for. You just find yourself endlessly doubling back on yourself, and that becomes quite tedious.
“So the ‘big sandbox’ stuff can be risky if it’s not done right, but I prefer that to ‘on-rails’ gameplay. I’m a big Modern Warfare fan, but the single-player stuff is very linear with its pre-scripted set pieces. Somewhere in the middle is good for me.
“I thought Red Dead Redemption was absolutely extraordinary; I just wanted to climb inside that game and live in it. The single-player storyline was solid, plus you could just ride out into the wild and have these interesting adventures and encounters. It was amazing, the perfect blend of free roaming with story. I found myself really identifying with the character, John Marston. The game’s ‘honour system’ is so perfectly weaved into the fabric of the world that you don’t really notice it, but I found myself wanting to be a good man, to redeem this guy. I found myself very invested in Red Dead Redemption.”
With Diggle’s love for Red Dead Redemption and his own Spaghetti Western themed comic-book Six Guns, you could be forgiven for thinking that any potential Diggle video game production would be very much of the same ilk. But don’t be too quick to put Diggle’s gaming tastes into a pigeon hole.
“I’ve got pretty mainstream tastes when it comes to gaming,” he says, almost by way of apology.
“I tend to find one game I really like and then just hammer it endlessly. I’m a big fan of the Modern Warfare games, plus stealth games like Metal Gear Solid, Splinter Cell and even Tenchu back in the day. I have kids now so I don’t have as much time for my own video games, but they’re obsessed with Portal 2. I love that game, but I’m actually kind of sick of it now because my kids ask me to play it every morning! They’ve bought into the whole mythology of that game, the universe and the characters, they love it. I think it’s genius.”
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