BioWare - Conveying Story without Dialogue #2

The BioBlog piece on Conveying Story Without Dialogue has been wrapped up by Pieter Parker, who writes Gears of War, Assassins Creed and Half Life offer good examples:

In Gears of War there are moments where Marcus Phoenix and his crew are communicating with helpers outside of the combat area via a headset. This helps to tie into the overall flow of the story as the player guides Marcus Phoenix towards the next combat area, being warned all the while about the enemies he is about to face. Doing this in such a way helps retain flow and immersion, and does not pull the player out of the game. Another good example of this is in Assassin’s Creed, where in almost every cutscene the player is able to have limited control of Altair as cutscenes are being played. The beginning of Half-Life 2 also does this extremely well, as what could have been conveyed as a cutscene is instead experienced directly by the player. I’m sure we all looked into that open slot in the doorway and saw the prisoner being tortured by the Combine the first time we played the game.