A sense of where I'm coming from

There's a game which helped me in this discussion of games as narrative, or just generally for why I enjoy games and that's Alpha Centauri (1999). Easily written off as simply a Civilisation clone, it incorporates some of the best dialogue and back-story that I've encountered from a turn based strategy.

Observe the Razorbeak as it tends so carefully to the fungal blooms; just the right bit from the yellow, then a swatch from the pink. Follow the Glow Mites as they gather and organize the fallen spores. What higher order guides their work? Mark my words: someone or something is managing the ecology of this planet. 

Lady Deirdre Skye, "Planet Dreams"

The story starts off on a fairly well trodden trope, the end of the world, a desperate last ditch effort of humanity to reach the stars, factional infighting, sabotage, and finally planet fall (this is where the player starts the game). It all seems relatively simple, yet for the power of the voice acting, the mini-series back-story which led up to the release of the game (still on the internet), and the utter alienness of the world you're drawn in, you care about your survival, your people, even your ideology.

Resources exist to be consumed. And consumed they will be, if not by this generation then by some future. By what right does this forgotten future seek to deny us our birthright? None I say! Let us take what is ours, chew and eat our fill. 

CEO Nwabudike Morgan "The Ethics of Greed"

Players choose between 8 different factions - separated not by geography, but by ideology - and the benefits of each seem that of any other strategy game. A military bonus here, an economic one here, etc. But the factions, with their ideologies encompass entire philosophies throughout the game. Miriam, the fundamentalist, wary of technology and greed is downright militant when approached in the game, demanding technologies, for her survival and dominance in this new world. Her background of reasoned sensibilities makes sense though in the light of her former comrades abandonment of temperament in embracing new technologies.

Already we have turned all of our critical industries, all of our material resources, over to these...things...these lumps of silver and paste we call nanorobots. And now we propose to teach them intelligence? What, pray tell, will we do when these little homunculi awaken one day announce that they have no further need for us? 

Sister Miriam Godwinson, "We must Dissent"

And it makes sense throughout, in diplomatic dealings, in the search for new technologies it all flows correctly towards this world that is Alpha Centauri. The AI in game accurately represents the characters that they depict, they make decisions that fall into line with the ideology - in terms of ludo-narrative divide, this game combines the two in a way that ties up the loose ends. Of course it can be argued that this game is intrinsically linear and what narrative does for the game is merely aesthetic - but underneath all of that critic there seems to be a failure to recognise that the aesthetic of story (if it can even be called that) contributes to the game in such a way that it makes it seem alive.

From the technology, the buildings, and even the random encounters with the planet's indigenous wildlife, snippets of narrative, both as text and voice acted, come through.

Some civilian workers got in among the research patients today and became so hysterical I felt compelled to have them nerve stapled. The consequence, of course, will be another public relations nightmare, but I was severely shaken by the extent of their revulsion towards a project so vital to our survival. 

CEO Nwabudike Morgan, The Personal Diaries

The above quote comes from building a research hospital, nothing else, a small snippet into the life of Nwabudike Morgan, and the colonists that he supervises - what are these research projects so vital to survival? What does nerve stapling pertain? And am I the one facilitating this? Mostly unanswerable questions, yet the brutality of the colonial life pervades through the game. You can sedate riots in your city with the aforementioned nerve stapling - an unknown procedure that appears to be similar to a lobotomy. No overdone questions of morality here, just the ruthless efficiency of survival on a hostile environment.

I could go on about the prevalence of philosophy and literature throughout the game with quotes from Machiavelli, Hume, Coleridge and Melville. Or rail on about the positive effects of voice acting on a game - provided that you have a strong enough team. Or, the fact that the technology and research provided in game was based on current scientific theories. I could go on and on about all these qualities individually, yet that's distracting from the main point that I'm trying to make about Alpha Centauri.

It's good, and you should play it.

Though before I go, I will say one more thing. A game like Alpha Centauri with its emphasis on literature, philosophy, science - all real world things - can and does promote an outward look at the world, instead of keepin the player focused solely on the game. If anything it tries to educate (in an entertaining way) people about issues and ideologies without cramming it down their throats.