Comments on: Characters with Guns with Character

By: What worries us about Bioshock Infinite’s cover art, and why we shouldn’t be worried « The Lost Levels

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 23:50:16 +0000

[...] about him as a character separate from us, the player. After all, in most first-person shooters, the character we’re controlling is really more of a disembodied gun. Can a series go from having the protagonist be a non-entity to having them be an integral part of [...]

By: Review: Borderlands 2 ‘Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage’ | YourGameTube.com

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 23:03:49 +0000

[...] As Brendan Keogh points out, the guns in Borderlands have as much — if not more — character and variation as the humanoids do. Each one has a certain feel, independent of the complex calculus that spawned it. If you’re a Torgue loyalist, the easy access to explosive legendaries makes the Campaign of Carnage an easy choice. The same can be said for anyone specced to maximize explosive damage like, say, a Gunpowder-tree Axton player. [...]

By: Become The Number One Badass In The New Borderlands 2 DLC | Kotaku Australia

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 20:51:24 +0000

[...] the brands with the intention of creating brand loyalty to your guns. Some would argue that you basically ARE your gun. Many of the characters you’ve met in the past — in the first game, in the DLC, or in [...]

By: I Survived Mr. Torgue’s Arena In The New Borderlands 2 DLC That Drops November 20th | Internet Blog About Technical Stuff

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:00:50 +0000

[...] amongst the figuring of creating running head patience of Job to your guns. Some would attest that you basically ARE your gun. Many of the characters you’ve met in the past—in the chief game, in the DLC, or in [...]

By: I Survived Mr. Torgue’s Arena In The New Borderlands 2 DLC That Drops November 20th | Tux Doc

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:28:17 +0000

[...] the manufacturers with the intention of creating brand loyalty to your guns. Some would argue that you basically ARE your gun. Many of the characters you’ve met in the past—in the first game, in the DLC, or in [...]

By: Character Confusion: You are the Gun « Steven Sukkau

Character Confusion: You are the Gun « Steven Sukkau — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:37:20 +0000

[...] really resonated with this Borderlands 2 article by Brendan Keogh. Mainly because I’ve been harping on this idea of character and emotional [...]

By: stevensukkau

stevensukkau — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:15:45 +0000

YES.
I really resonated with this. This idea of character and emotional investment in a weapon is something I have been wrestling with for a long time, so thank you Brendan for putting it into words so perfectly. And this is where ludonarrativewahtever comes into play, the story strains to grab your attention with stiff-lifeless characters, and fails. Scooter is not very "real" to the player. He is a funny voice, but I would barely recognize his face. In comparison, I could describe in detail how my ornate rare-drop pistol sparkles when the light catches it. Or the satisfying feeling I get when I reload and snap the chamber back into place. Why can we recreate the look and feel of a six shooter but people remain lifeless husks, jittering hideously through the environment?
As well, I think others have spoken about it, but guns are also the primary tool through which we experience and interact with the world. It becomes the main language we use to voice our will onto the game. Another game I felt nailed this was BLACK. I think they're marketing slogan was literally "Guns are the Stars". Which I think really puts a finger on the heartbeat of the FPS genre. To ignore this design philosophy can only hurt your game. To embrace it is to capitalize on the strength of the medium.

By: Superlicious | Superlevel

Superlicious | Superlevel — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 10:59:24 +0000

[...] Characters with Guns with Character shooter design games [...]

By: B1A4

B1A4 — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 09:40:32 +0000

Nice Article.

I am just playing through Stalker (Clear Sky, I've finished SoC) with a weapon mod (so guns are more deadly) and it really is kind of love letter to guns. It's a quest for holy grail, an ideal weapon. A silent full-auto russian carabine in my case

Not sure if you've played it, but it is in the very soul of this article.

By: BlueNight

BlueNight — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 08:06:19 +0000

This reminds me of how I used to spend my time in Morrowind. I wanted that awesome chitin armor and a cool saber, but my character was good at clubbing and using an axe. I learned to love that axe…