Rhode Island College Digital Commons @ RIC Honors Projects Overview Honors Projects 6-2010 "Play Along" with the Authors: Half-Life 2, BioShock, and Video Game Narrative Samy Masadi Rhode Island College,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/honors_projects Part of the American Popular Culture Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, Rhetoric and Composition Commons, Technology and Innovation Commons, and the Visual Studies Commons Recommended Citation Masadi, Samy, ""Play Along" with the Authors: Half-Life 2, BioShock, and Video Game Narrative" (2010). Honors Projects Overview. 40. https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/honors_projects/40 This Honors is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors Projects at Digital Commons @ RIC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Projects Overview by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ RIC. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. “PLAY ALONG” WITH THE AUTHORS: HALF-LIFE 2 , BIOSHOCK , AND VIDEO GAME NARRATIVE By Samy Masadi An Honors Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for Honors in The Department of English Faculty of Arts and Sciences Rhode Island College 2010 Table of Contents Introduction 1 Narratology 3 Ludology: Another Option 8 Game Narrative Theory 11 Half-Life 2 : The Enacted Narrative 23 o Arbitrary Imposition 26 o Welcome to City 17 29 o Man of Few Words 35 o Feel Free to Look Around 38 BioShock : The Enacted/Embedded Narrative 41 o Would You Kindly? 44 o Welcome to Rapture 47 o A Man Chooses. A Slave Obeys. 52 o Born to Do Great Things 57 Conclusion 60 Endnotes 64 Works Cited 65 Masadi 1 Introduction Imagine entering a world that offers a vast, incredibly detailed reality beyond what you could ever possibly visit in your real life; but wait, before you can even do anything there, something whisks you away to a grand adventure, leads you on a long odyssey, and tasks you with a hero’s quest.