A lesson in Showing Rather Than Telling

There are numerous aspects of the Halo franchise I could talk about, but I would instead like to talk about another of my favorite video game campaigns; Titanfall 2. Though the story of Titanfall 2 is nothing to write home about, its excellence lies in how the story is told. Titanfall 2 focuses on showing, rather than telling, in its level design, and the prime example of this is Titanfall 2’s signature level, Effect and Cause.

Throughout the game, the player has access to a cloaking unit, which renders them invisible to enemies. This promotes a cautious approach, and the player continues to have access to this cloaking device during the first half of Effect and Cause. However, at the start of the second half, the player retrieves a wrist-mounted device. At this point, the player is given only a single hint: “Press [Button] to Time Travel.” This enables the player to jump between to timelines: the present and the past. At first, the game only throws enemies at the player in one of the timelines, leaving the other as a safe area. This allows the player to get comfortable with the time jumps, and figure out exactly what they can do. Slowly, the caution gained from the previous levels turns to more aggressive strategies, as the player figures out that the instantaneous nature of the time jumps acts as a sort of “get out of jail free” card, allowing the player to easily escape dangerous situations at the drop of a hat. Furthermore, for a short time after the player switches timelines, faint blue trails will appear where an enemy is in the other timeline. Once the player figures this out, they can use this information to surprise enemies. It also prepares the player for the more complicated rooms up ahead.

Eventually, enemies will appear in both timelines. However, the enemies in each timeline differ. The present timeline features the melee-based prowlers, while the past is comprised of standard foot soldiers that will shoot the player at a distance. This allows the player to figure out how the would like to approach the room. They can opt to clear the present first to gain some breathing room, or clear the past first so that they don’t have to worry about being shot at.

The only information given to the player was a single button prompt. From this information, they were able to decipher the subtle hints throughout the level in order to figure out exactly what they could do with their newfound abilities, and even develop unique strategies to progress through the level. The brilliant part is that this discovery-based approach perfectly reflects the story. In the story at this point, the player is tasked with finding out what the antagonists , the IMC, are doing at this research center. This is unknown territory for everyone involved, and this is conveyed to the player through a show, don’t tell approach to level design.

Another Halo Combat Evolved Level that I would like to talk about is 343 Guilty Spark. Those that have played Halo will recognize this level as the first level in which the player fights the Flood. In Halo, the Flood are zombie-like parasites that transform their host into relentless monster. When introducing the Flood to the player, 343 Guilty Spark has several unique features that are designed to create an atmosphere similar to a horror film.

Alone in the Dark

The first thing you’ll notice when starting 343 Guilty Spark is that you don’t have Cortana with you. Throughout the entire game up to this point, this A.I. has been your travel companion, guiding you missions and reminding you of your objectives. The second thing you’ll notice is that you’re in a swamp at night. These two developments immediately set the tone for the level: you won’t have a friendly voice alongside you, and you’ll be heading into a spooky level. However, you aren’t given any reason to suspect that you will fight any enemies besides the Covenant.

Business as Usual

As you head towards the main structure in which the majority of the level is located, you’ll continue to fight packs of Covenant enemies, as you would expect. This is where the level lures you into a false sense of security. Sure, you don’t have Cortana with you, but this is the stuff you’ve been doing all throughout the game so far. Just like how a horror movie sets the audience up for a jump scare, this level is setting you up for the big reveal at the bottom of the structure. Eventually, you’ll find the first clue that something is very, very wrong with this place.

Friendly Fire

When you walk through a certain door, you’ll find yourself face to face with a terrified marine slumped up against a wall, who immediately panics and starts shooting wildly at you. Specifically, he mentions something about “turning into one of those things.” You’ve seen the Covenant do many things, but this is not one of them.

Found Footage

Finally, you’ll approach a door, and trigger a cut-scene. The door opens, dumping a corpse into your arms. You take the helmet cam from the body and replay the footage. This is where you realize the true horror of this level. The clip shows the ill-fated marines journeying into the mysterious structure, pondering a case of what appears to be friendly fire amongst the Covenant, and finally ending up in the very room you are about to enter. As they are discussing their next moves, hundreds of tiny Flood infection forms pour into the room. The marines go down screaming, and the footage ends, along with the cutscene, dumping you into the room that you now know is not safe at all. This found footage style of storytelling is present in many horror movies, and builds up a sense of dread as you discover the true horror lurking beneath Halo’s surface.

Backtracking

Fleeing from the Flood, you backtrack through the level. However, the corridors previously containing small patrols of Covenant are now packed with Flood forms. As you fight your way to the surface, the game doesn’t give you a break, as Flood enemies are extremely aggressive, and permeate the entire level. This forces a non-stop run-and-gun approach to the rest of the level, as you desperately flee this new threat.

The Aftermath

Once you finally reach the surface and finish the level, you”ll likely breathe a sigh of relief. However, the threat of the Flood has just begun. Overall, 343 Guilty Spark is meant to teach the player about the Flood, and impress upon them the danger the Flood poses. It does this through the use of horror tropes to isolate the player and create a sense of dread. 343 Guilty Spark has a reputation of being the scariest level in Halo, and is certainly intended to be such.

In middle school, on the recommendation of a friend, I downloaded the trial edition of Halo Combat Evolved for Windows Vista. I didn’t have much experience with first person shooters at this point, but I quickly fell in love with the game, which eventually evolved (pun intended) into a passion for the series. The free trial version came with only one level, but it happened to be one of the most popular levels, and arguably the best designed level, in the franchise’s history. With this post, I would like to explore Halo Combat Evolved’s signature level, The Silent Cartographer.

The Silent Cartographer is the fourth level in Halo Combat Evolved, and begins with the invasion of a remote island that serves as the setting for the rest of the level. At this point in the game, the player is tasked with locating the silent cartographer before the Covenant find it first, requiring them to explore. This is the main theme of the level: exploration. The most noticeable design choice that demonstrates this is the lack of navigation waypoints. The first three levels of the game use these waypoints to keep the player from getting lost, a necessity in order to avert player frustration. So if these waypoints are that vital, why are they absent from The Silent Cartographer? The answer is that the level is designed for the player to lose their way. After all, getting lost is a common occurrence when exploring an unfamiliar area. However, what makes The Silent Cartographer unique is that getting lost can still be helpful, and can even make the level easier. To explain, I’ll discuss my experience playing through the level for the first time.

When I first played through The Silent Cartographer, I took the more obvious path at first. In the level there are two initial important locations, the entrance to the structure containing the cartographer, and the security building. The path that I took can be found straight ahead after clearing the beach. Once I eliminated the enemies on the beach, the game provided me with a Warthog to make traversing the level less tedious. The way that the Warthog was dropped in indicated that I should proceed counterclockwise around the island. This route took me straight to the cartographer structure. Once I fought my way inside the building, I was cut off by a cutscene of the door in front of me locking down. From here, I had to find my way to the security building in order to override the lockdown. However, at this point I got stuck. I could not find the way to the security building. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for. So, I returned to the start of the level, and took the clockwise path instead. To my surprise, this made finding the security building a trivial matter. Since I only had access to this one level at the time, I ended up replaying The Silent Cartographer countless times. In replaying the level, I began to wonder what would happen if I went to the security room first. Once again, to my surprise, I discovered that not only does this path work, the game even has specialized dialogue for it. By getting lost, I had inadvertently discovered an easier route through the level.

So how does this factor into the narrative of the game? As I mentioned, the theme of this level is exploration. Narratively, this is shown by the instructions the player receives. The player is to explore the island to find the cartographer, something neither the player nor the characters know the location of, or even how it works. The whole island is accessible to the player, emphasizing that nothing is off-limits to explore, and the game even offers incentive for travelling off the beaten path, with a shortcut in an unintuitive direction.

There is so much more to talk about in this level. To learn more, I highly recommend checking out Max Bernard’s (maxbarnyard on YouTube) video on the level, which I have embedded below.