This article was taken from the January 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Storyteller offers a fresh take on the video-game narrative: the player has to solve protagonist Adam's dilemma through a set of complex scenarios. But how does this type of storytelling measure up against a grown-up novel? Gregory Lee, author of The Nero Decree -- who, as Greg Williams, also happens to be Wired's executive editor -- puts the title through its paces.
Problem-solving: "Storyteller is similar to writing fiction in its emphasis on problem-solving: a novelist will fix plot point A, then realise that point B doesn't work because the fix to point A means that the reader will have figured out that the main character is a transsexual hacker. Or something."
Characters: "The game is strong on character -- the descriptions of motivation mirror the world as we know it and offer human-like behaviour, which makes the player care about the character."
Conclusion: "There are huge upsides to Storyteller: no rewrites or research -- and no need to listen to development executives or critics."
Storyteller is released in mid-2014; The Nero Decree
is out now, published by Thomas & Mercer.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
