The Spy Hunter Experience

Title Screen To The NES Version Of Spy Hunter

I've lamented before about how videogames need to have an element of imagination to remain fun, and to instill longevity.  Spy Hunter is a perfect example of a game that is incomplete with out that element of imagination.

Consider the premise of the game: you drive a car in one direction and take on four enemies: a car with spikes, an armored car, a limo, and a helicopter.  There are three civilian cars that serve as obstacles and a weapons van that gives you weapons including oil, smoke, and missles to take on the bad guys along with your standard issue maching guns.  When the road forks, going left or right will decide which weapon is next, and eventually going left will take you to a "boat" level where it's the same premise before, except with a boat instead of a car.  And finally, the most iconing thing about Spy Hunter was the Peter Gunn theme, which was a song by Henry Mancini (the guy who made the theme to the Pink Panther) which was used in the TV show Peter Gunn which was about a Private Eye and not... a... spy.

Enemy With Spikes And The Weapons Van

So why is Spy Hunter called Spy Hunter?  Outside of having a vague resemblence of a chase scene from a 1960's or 1970's spy movie and a weapons van similiar to Knight Rider, there really isn't anything about the game that has to do with "spying".  This is where the imagination is important.  Any kid familiar with the game back in the 80's could give you a totally different yet compelling story line to the game.  Perhaps you're a spy who stole some top secret documents or maybe you've kidnapped back an important scientist working on a biologic weapon for a terrorist nation.  Who knows?  It doesn't matter because someone playing the game could convolute any story around the gameplay.  The lack of plot is what gives the game it's depth.

Let's look at the very opposite of a game that leaves nothing to the imagination: Metal Gear Solid.  But before I do so let me set the record straight:

I've played all four of the MGS games.  I've completed 1, 2, and 3, and am currently working on number 4.  It is of my opinion that the MGS games have alot of potential in certain aspects of gameplay and game design, and although I often pick on MGS on this site, it's purely to point out the shift in gaming over the past three decades and not necessarily to bash the game simply to bash the game.  There are plenty of other games that have similiar elements and as much as involved plot lines as MGS, it's just that I'm most familiar with MGS and is most easiest for me to draw a (lack of) inspiration from this particular title.

And yes, I realize that Metal Gear Solid and Spy Hunter are two totally different games, but I want to compare the "imagination factor" of both games.  In Metal Gear Solid the game begins with an introductory sequence giving you a brief explaination as to why you are where you are and what you're about to do.  Once you're fully deployed (by water in part 1, by bridge in part 2, by plane in part 3, and by truck in part 4) you start working your way through a pre determined story.  The story is driven little by the gameplay but more to the conversations you have over your codec (the radio you use through out the game) the people you rescue and the bosses you kill.  It seems every character in the game has some story or commentary to shove down your throat.

Codec From Metal Gear Solid On PlayStation 2

Some of the codec conversations involve explaining how to use a particular weapon or item in the game, or to tell you what to do next.  This wasn't necessary with Spy Hunter.  If I wanted the car to move I stepped on the gas, and if I needed to haul ass I'd shift to high gear and if there was one of those blue cars or a civilian infront of me God help them if they didn't have insurance.

Codec From Metal Gear Solid: Guns Of The Patriots On PlayStation 3

And just like the codec, there is also the cut scenes that are apparently a necessary part of the Metal Gear Solid games.  It doesn't matter who plays MGS, everyone is going to have the same experience.  Where as with Spy Hunter no two stories are going to be the same.

This also leads me to another topic of game design: adrenaline triggers.  When you played a game like Spy Hunter the action was non-stop.  You'd get a brief rest driving into the weapons van, and a brief rest driving down the road to the boat dock and that was it.  Drive further and further into the game and adrenaline starts to kick in.  Metal Gear Solid has a similiar experience.  The boss battles create an excitement as does do the battle scene, particularly in the 4th one when you're sneaking through the South American stage with the rebels fighting the security force and you're in between both of them.  The problem is after you clear each area there is a cut scene or a codec conversation which totally kills the adrenaline and you start over.  The only thing that should truly kill the adrenaline rush is a GAME OVER screen with a pocket empty of quarters.  The high you would get from Spy Hunter experience is like battery acid in the blood.

So whether you're playing Spy Hunter or even Metal Gear Solid, consider whether you want your imagination to determine a plot or if you prefer to drop $60 and have it spoon fed to you.