Meet Glen McKracken. He’s a five-times over Modern Warfare 2 Prestige player, but he’s now put on his conscientious objector stuff. Obvious issues of closet masochism aside, Glen’s set himself the ostensibly absurd goal of reaching his next Prestige level without killing anyone. CAN’T BE DONE? Not so much, actually –all nerdraging adolescent campers with catastrophic trouser inadequacies to the contrary, there’s much more to the game than shooting people in the face.
“In an average Demolition game I get about 1,000 XP and 15 deaths,” he tells Game Informer. “I have decided not to use special grenades; they’re too risky. I’ve also decided to play Headquarters and Capture the Flag when I unlock them.”
He’s managed to reach rank 5 already, and reckons his sixth Prestige level should take around two months to obtain. Glen’s totally going to have the planet’s worst k/d ratio (just ahead of my own), but assuming he doesn’t have some instantly regrettable riot shield panic incident at the wrong end of General III, he’ll also be the first Modern Warfare 2 player to manage such a mad feat.
He’s not the first person to attempt playing a game in some way the developer didn’t originally – or obviously – intend, however, or at least leave to the most intrepid gamers to figure out. In Fallout 2, for example, it’s possible to play – to conclusion, mind you – a character with a zero intelligence score. While this might not mean very much in most RPGs (unfortunately enough), this score has a substantial impact on many aspects of Fallout 2. For one thing, your character is entirely incapable of speech. All interactions with NPCs are reduced to meaningless grunting and gesturing, and just about everything in the game is consequently simply too complicated for you to even know it’s there. Working out how to actually do anything important or constructive is the real game here.
Arcanum presents similar – if not quite so exaggerated, perhaps – opportunities for exceedingly stupid characters. One significant NPC will even resort to paying you to go away, while others will insult you outright. As with Fallout 2, most of the game’s missions are not even available to you, as you blunder your way through an inscrutable narrative that mostly involves you failing to make complete sentences and grossing out everybody else.
Elsewhere, despite being a traditionally combat-oriented Advanced Dungeons & Dragons title, Planescape: Torment has only three unavoidable bits of swords ‘n’ spells. By playing diplomacy or exploiting occasions to more sneaky (cowardly) methods of resolution, players can talk or hide their way out of just about everything.
Moving out of RPGs, meanwhile, Treasure’s famously impossible vertical scroller Ikaruga can be completed without firing a single shot. If you’ve ever played this game, you’ll realise how brains-all-over-the-carpets insane that is. Personally, I gave up after completing the first stage without firing any shots, and the Xbox Achievement not unlocking. I mean, what’s the ****ing point?
So, anyone else tried playing outside the box? Tell us!
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