IAnim – Team Ico
Feb 22nd, 2009 by Ninja Dodo
For the next couple weeks I’ll be doing a series of posts on the use of interactive animation in a number of notable games…
Two this time…
Ico and Shadow of the Colossus: Not the most recent, but still remarkable both, for their daring use of animation in making you feel connected to the world and the beings in it.
Touch is a common theme throughout the games of Fumito Ueda and his team. From holding hands with princess Yorda to climbing the towering bodies of the Colossi. It’s, unsurprisingly, also the focus of Team Ico’s upcoming PS3 title.
Games do not traditionally deal very well with touch as it’s a difficult problem to tackle even in pre-rendered 3D, let alone real-time…
Still, given the importance of touch in our human lives it should be worth the trouble.
Ico, then.
If there is one image that sums up this game, it is he and Yorda holding hands.
The tactile marriage of animation and interaction in this visually arresting mechanic creates a very real bond between our two protagonists, and you, the player.
Similarly, a well-judged combination of hand-animation and procedural movement (physics and IK) creates a real sense of contact to the climactic battles between Wander and his prey in Shadow of the Colossus.
It’s no coincidence Ueda’s background is in animation.
If the creatures in this game are the levels, then animation too is level design. The movement of these lumbering giants defines your interaction with them, running and climbing up limbs, holding on for dear life as they try to shake you off, gravity and momentum both friend and enemy.
It seems a missed opportunity that so few games have attempted such depth and complexity… Boss-battles in other games feel pedestrian by comparison.
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It’s worth noting such elaborate interactions need not be violent. Imagine character interaction this intricate in a social (RPG?) context…
Certainly, if we are ever to tackle more complex themes than killing everything that moves, physical contact will be a major part of the puzzle.
Next up: Valve