Gamertell

Fringe, J.J. Abrams’ sci-fi show that’s just begun its run on Fox, is an interesting creation to say the least. Blending together elements from series like The Twilight Zone, The X-Files and even Kolchak: The Night Stalker, it has managed to build a solid fanbase and keep people watching week after week.

There’s something about the characters, how they’re both mysterious and realistic at the same time, and the way in which the show is presented that keeps you watching. While it is definitely a sci-fi series, it has thrilling, mysterious, humorous and dramatic elements which help it reach a wider audience, and prevents it from falling into cliched pitfalls.

The premise and nature of the show would allow it to easily transition into a video game. Not as a Tomb Raider- or Silent Hill-style outing (though the prospect of Agent Dunham, Peter Bishop, Walter Bishop and Astrid exploring a town like Silent Hill would be quite interesting) but as an adventure game.

If you look over the elements of adventure games, then look at Fringe, it’s easy to see how the source material could be adapted to an adventure game. Even better, with the success of Sam & Max and Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Awesome People, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see Fringe inspire an episodic game.

1. An adventure game must have a strong story.

In a way, an adventure game can almost be likened to those old Choose Your Own Adventure books. The basic storyline is in place. It’s up to the player to make the right decisions and reach a favorable outcome. Story is the most important motivation behind the game, the reason people are going through the game at all. A conflict is introduced, some kind of mystery or player pertinent problem, and the designers hope that it is engaging enough to get people to follow events through to their resolution.

Fringe‘s storyline, where strange phenomena and scientific experiments are having otherworldly impacts on the world, lends itself perfectly to an adventure game storyline. The idea that every new part of the story adds another crucial piece of information, that brings you closer to understanding what is going on in that fictional world is the backbone of adventure games. In addition, those who play close attention to Fringe may happen upon additional revelations and information, just like those who pay extra attention to various games. Here is where an episodic edition could really shine - perhaps once a month a new “case” is revealed and players would be able to solve it.

2. An adventure game uses puzzles to solve problems, not violence.

True, many critical cast members of Fringe are gun-toting FBI agents. And yes, at least once in an episode Agents Dunham and Francis get to pull out their guns and tell some mysterious bad guys to freeze. They may even get to shoot them. But these active moments only make up a small portion of the show, perhaps only five minutes in a nearly hour long episode.

For the most part, the Fringe Division team spends their time trying to figure out why the mysterious phenomenon is happening using mind, not might. This helps further the argument that a Fringe game would have to be some sort of adventure title. Adventure games tend to have little, if any, focus on fighting. Instead, constant puzzles will appear before the player that require critical thinking, or creative use of gathered materials, to find the correct resolution. Since Walter or Peter tend to be the brains in Fringe, players could be able to step into their shoes to complete challenges.

3. An adventure game focuses on exploration.

As previously mentioned, collecting items and paying careful attention to surroundings and situations to solve puzzles and problems is a commonality among all adventure games. This means that exploration, to learn about the story, the surrounding environment and the characters and to collect various items that could prove useful in further endeavors, is a necessity to properly progress. In some of the more unforgiving adventure games, failing to pay close attention to your surrounds at one points could leave you trapped at a dead end later on.

Once again, Fringe fits perfectly. The majority the show’s time is spent investigating this episode’s unexplained phenomena and trying to explain how it happened and possibly prevent it from happening again. Where Walter and Peter would make wonderful characters for players to control while solving various puzzles in a possible Fringe game, Olivia would be the idea exploration character. After all, she does perform most of the legwork in the episodes. The game could be structured in such a way where players gather information and items pertaining to the situation at hand as Olivia, then return to the lab and use Walter and/or Peter to make sense of things.

The odds of seeing a Fringe game already, when the show is only in its first season, is a long shot. However, if it proves successful, it may spawn an interactive experience, just like Lost. For now, we’ll just have to wait, see and hope for the best.

Site [Fringe]