So we go into games. Keys:
1. Rules
2. Goals
3. Boundaries and logic
4. Culture
5. Emergence (we’ll get to this)
What happens when you are afforded the opportunity to make chess? What can you fall back on? If you’re stuck on a desert island you can play chess. All you need are the rules. But is chess chess without the checkmate?
Here’s a test. Can we talk about games without the crowd going giddy?
Hey, Dan, doesn’t Hiro try to Break the rules?
And then we have “culture”:
Obviously co-op has been a major component of the game throughout the series, and with good reason. Epic-scale battles with massive vehicles lends themselves well to the teamwork opportunities of a cooperative session, leading to a profound sense of satisfaction and camaraderie. Halo 3 achieves this to the greatest effect yet, thanks to the team-up of the Master Chief and the Arbiter. The game is then able to replace the somewhat nonsensical two MCs of past games with a logical and enjoyable juxtaposition of kindred spirits who can both play a part in the story.