So I've asked for this a couple times here but never got it. I asked for it over at PCMRs giveaway and the said I should try one more time over here. So here I am.
I had a lot of time (NO SCHOOL! WOOT WOOT!), so I wrote a story. It doesn't really have anything to do with my request, other than that the inspiration comes from the trailer of TWoM.
So, without further ado, I present to you:
Uh. Oops I haven't thought of title yet.
I present to you, MY STORY!
Enjoy!
Samuel stood, eyes closed, his back pressed against the cold wall. He had been here before. It was-
No, he mustn’t think of that. They needed this food. Johnson was dying. The rebels had shot him a week ago while he was walking down the street. Perhaps they had mistaken his cane for a gun, thought Samuel with a humorless smile.
“Samuel!” whispered Anna from down the hall, “Hurry up! We’ve got to get out of here.” Samuel opened his eyes. The room looked the same. Three overstuffed armchairs were arrayed in a semi-circle around a fireplace with a few embers still glowing weakly. A large grandfather clock stared accusingly at him from across the room. It was a sad room, harboring the broken hopes of broken people. Samuel shivered and hurried down the hall towards Anna. He found her rummaging through a dresser drawer in a small bedroom down the hall. She looked up when he came in.
“Where were you? I was starting to think you’d bailed.”
“I… I don’t like it here, Anna.”
She smiled grimly. “Who does? We need to find some food, and maybe a bathroom medicine cabinet. Hopefully no one’s looted it let.”
He gazed at her for a moment, then said, “Follow me.”
They crept down the dark hallway, hearts pounding. This was always the worst part of raiding. They never knew what they what they would find around the next corner. Of course, it could just be more hallway. Or it could be the barrel of a gun.
After what seemed like ages, Samuel motioned for her to stop. He gestured down a hall to his right. “Bathroom’s that way,” he whispered. “Second door on the left.” She nodded. “I’ll go get the food,” he continued. “Meet me outside in fifteen minutes. If I’m not there, well take care of little George.” She nodded again. “Stay safe.”
Before he had rounded the next corner, he heard the gunshots. They tore through the silence like nails, leaving his head ringing. “Too close,” he thought, “we’ve got to get out while we still can.” He was just about to turn back to get Anna when he thought of little George, lying hungry in his bed. He had been hungry for the past three days. Samuel couldn’t bring himself to subject him to that any longer. Slowly he turned back and resolutely began to walk down the hall towards the kitchen. Upon reaching it he was delighted to find it had not been ransacked as he had feared. The familiar canned soup and beans were still in their proper places on the shelves, and the refrigerator was humming quietly. He hurriedly stuffed his pack with cans, and heaven be praised! Fresh fruit! He picked it up, then paused and set it down again. They could live without it. Its owners hadn’t done anything wrong; they deserved a chance at survival.
When he met up with Anna again she was looking at him strangely. “You knew that house well,” she said, “Your directions were perfect.”
He looked away, then nodded. “They were my grandparents,” he said quietly.
I recently watched TotalBuiscuit's WTF of This War of Mine, and I started thinking about how far people will go to survive. One thing led to another until before I knew it I had the above story written out.
I first saw this game when I was browsing Reddit and saw a post about it (I believe it may have been the one about the devs giving free copies to pirates). I am a huge sucker for good titles, so I immediately looked it up on Steam. After finding the page, I was shocked. This was exactly the type of game I'm always looking for. I love really dark, intense, story driven games where everything you do matters. There are very few of these kind of games out there, and the ones that exist all feel sort of fake. I'm not one to get really attached to video game characters because I find it hard to find a game whose story I find truly compelling. I love dark literature, especially some of Ray Bradbury's short stories, and I want a game that does the same thing those stories do: really explore the scope of human interaction and emotions, and tell stories that are interesting and believable. Not many games do that, I think because it is hard to tell a specific story when so much of it is dependent on the actions of a player-controlled character who is not limited to things that make sense in the story. I often find that when I am playing a game it feels like the gameplay and story are two entirely separate things; the story is merely dragging me along for the ride since the gameplay makes so little difference to it. It seems like NPCs simply say some variation of, "oh no, I'm in trouble," ad then I have to go save them. But the actual saving doesn't mean anything since the end cutscene will be the same regardless. It feels like the the story is simply there to fill the spaces between missions, and vice versa. But This War of Mine seems different. Every choice you make matters. There are no cutscenes trying to reconcile your murderous rampages with an overarching story because the only story the game tells is the one you create. All your interaction with other characters matter and will affect how they treat you latter; your choices can mean the difference between life and death.
This is a dark, gritty game that is superbly executed and looks amazing. If anyone is willing to gift it to me I would be eternally grateful. If not, I would love some critique on the story as well!
Thank you for reading this, and happy holidays!
Steam ID: http://ift.tt/1vV06FU
Submitted December 24, 2014 at 09:58PM by wyratt14 http://ift.tt/1A523p1 GiftofGames
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