作者：Matthias Zarzecki

游戏并不会让你平白无故地死掉（或失败）。当游戏中不存在失败时，又有什么能够违抗它呢？当游戏中不存在任何让人畏惧的因素时，成功也就失去了它的意义。

但是游戏不能让玩家因为死亡而受挫或者让玩家不得不重新玩很长之前玩过的内容。死亡机制可以整合到故事和游戏玩法中，即成为游戏体验的一部分。

在本文中我们将着眼于多种处理玩家死亡和失败的方法，包括正面与负面。而有些游戏甚至能够同时处理好这两方面。

处理玩家死亡的最佳方法便是将其整合到游戏叙述和游戏玩法中；这也是我们在创造自己的游戏时的灵感来源。

（需要注意的是我们将在此专注于非竞争类游戏。在像《军团要塞2》等多人游戏中，其它规则也同样适用。同样需要注意的是，如果玩家并不期待死亡或失败的，游戏也可以通过忽略死亡而获得成功。像《猴子岛》等指向点击冒险游戏便不带有任何死亡机制。）

叙述死亡

正面：区分叙述死亡和游戏玩法死亡

剧透：在《最终幻想VII》中，一个主角会在游戏中途死掉。这是很奇怪的情况，因为你和你的队友一直都在遭遇死亡，但是你们只要使用复活咒语便能够再次复苏了。

而这两种情况的区别便在于，一种死亡是存在于叙述中，另一种死亡则是存在于游戏玩法中。而游戏所采取的做法便是完全区分这两种死亡。没有人会说，“难道不能在XX（角色）身上使用Raise（复活咒语）去拯救他妈？”因为这会完全打破游戏玩法和叙述之间的界线。

负面：结合叙述死亡和游戏玩法死亡

《无尽之地2》便结合了这两者并遭遇了失败。

这款游戏拥有一个New U Station系统。它们是作为重新开始游戏与复苏的检查点。当玩家死亡时，一个New U便会出现：从根本上看这便是对于你之前角色的复制。

这与《最终幻想VII》中一个和叙述独立开来的系统很像。New U Station就像Hyperion，即游戏中一家公司的名字。过了一会玩家便会开始好奇为什么自己不能只是让死掉的故事主角复活，或者敌人为什么不这么做。

当一直想要杀死你的对手Handsome Jack提供给你一个杀死自己的任务时，情况会变得特别奇怪。你当然可以这么做，并且你能够在这么做之后马上复苏。那么为什么他还要如此想尽办法杀死你呢？！

首席作家Anthony Burch便表示这是故事中一个主要缺陷。确保玩家在游戏玩法中的死亡并脱离故事应该做得更加谨慎，如此才能避免像这样奇怪的重叠。

提供给玩家另一个机会

负面：在最后时刻奇迹般地救活玩家

在2008年的《波斯王子》中，玩家便不会真正地死去。

当你即将死去时，游戏总会在最后时刻拯救你，并将你带回开始的地方，当你在战争的时候生命值即将耗尽，游戏也将再次拯救你并恢复你的生命值，同时敌人的生命值也会得到恢复，而这也大大破坏了游戏世界的逻辑性。

你最终将回到开始的地方，即你之前的前进将毫无用处。

正面：让玩家倒转时间

《波斯王子：时之砂》中最出色的一个功能便是使用名义上的沙子去影响游戏玩法。沙子出现在多个游戏故事中，但你也可以在游戏玩法中使用它。

当你在游戏中死掉时，你便可以倒转时间回到自己还未死亡的某个点上。比起快速加载，你可以待在游戏中，而游戏玩法也支持这样的设定。

在时间旅行的游戏中，这一功能总是和游戏玩法维系在一起。就像《时空幻境》允许你在死亡后倒转时间回到自己还活着的时候，甚至让你能够回到开始一个关卡的时候。

赛车游戏《GRID》同样也使用了这一功能，并且它可能是这类型游戏中唯一使用该功能的游戏。赛车游戏往往很长，而因为小小的疏忽或莫名其妙的撞车而导致的失败总是会让玩家大大受挫，特别是因为赛车游戏往往都不具有拯救系统。而在《GRID》中，玩家可以在每此比赛中倒回时间多次，从而将自己从重大事故中拯救回来。而该功能的局限性同时也能够避免玩家滥用该系统。

正面：使用一个不可靠的叙述者

关于玩家的死亡《波斯王子：时之砂》使用了另一个有趣的系统。当你真正耗尽生命值和沙子时，英雄便会说道：“稍等片刻。事情不该是这样的！”然后你便需要重新加载游戏。

即在这种情况之后将变成由角色讲述整个故事。游戏将从最后阶段开始，即所有的内容将以倒叙的形式展开。

这会让人觉得就好像王子犯了一个诚实的错误。即意识到自己拥有一个不可靠的叙述者是件有趣的事，而这也能够缓和不得不重新加载游戏的郁闷心情。

《狂野西部：枪手》的整款游戏都是围绕着在酒吧讲述一个荒诞故事的幻想而展开。叙述者会改变细节和事实，游戏世界也会在玩家面前发生改变以适应全新故事。让人遗憾的是这款游戏并未包含玩家死亡设定，虽然这非常适合游戏。

正面：让玩家能够逃离死亡

在《蝙蝠侠：阿卡姆疯人院》（及其续集）中，“抓钩”便是一种核心元素。它让玩家能够快速在游戏世界中移动与攀爬。

如果你掉进游戏中的一个深渊，你也不会死亡。相反地，蜘蛛侠会在你开始跳跃时出现。这便有效使用了抓钩机制去阻止玩家的死亡。当然了游戏中也存在许多其它会让玩家死亡的方法，所以这种设定也不会显得唐突。

《星战前夜》同样也拥有在玩家死亡前让他们逃离死亡的特殊方法。

当玩家在游戏中舰船被摧毁时，他们还有“飞行员胶囊”。这是一艘除了移动什么都做不了的舰船。通常情况下你可以使用它回到最近的太空站上并从新获得一艘合适的舰船。

而一旦胶囊被摧毁，你便会死亡并且失去所有昂贵的植入物。你可以在最近的太空站重新复活，但这时候你将不再拥有之前的植入物。

这创造了MMO游戏中一种独特的机制。基于胶囊的死亡会让人不悦，但这通常适用于暗杀等情节中。

正面：确保玩家处于一种“堕落”状态中并存在回到行动中的方法

当你在《无尽之地》中耗尽所有生命值时，你并不会马上死亡。相反地你将进入“最后的机会”模式。

屏幕颜色将变淡，直至所有一切变成灰色，而这时候的你只能匍匐前行。如果你能够成功杀死一名敌人，你便能够恢复精力并重新站起来，同时获得恢复生命值的药剂，并能够再次战斗与行走。而如果你是基于合作模式的话你也能在此获得其他玩家的帮助。

这是一个很棒的系统。它能够确保你始终专注于游戏中并且不会马上将你带离游戏。

而在《无尽之地》之前，《Prey》便已经拥有一个恢复精力机制了。

在《Prey》中，你能在游戏玩法中获得一种能力而进入“精灵世界”。在这里面你将是无形的，能够穿越一些障碍，并且也能够使用一些只存在于此的路径。在游戏中使用这一机制是非常重要的。

当你死掉并进入这个精灵世界时，你便进入了一个关卡的幽灵版本。如果你在这里成功杀死了一定数量的精灵，你便能够在之前死亡的地方复活并继续游戏。

《求生之路》也拥有类似的系统，即基于你在被击落时损失了所有的生命值。当你掉落在地面上不能移动时，你仍然可以发射手枪。这时候屏幕会慢慢变灰，直至你真正死亡。如果其他玩家能够帮助你重新站立起来的话你便能够继续游戏，而这么做也能够确保玩家团队更加团结。

但是关于掉落状态的最完整的版本还是来自《共和国突击队》。

这是第一款带有复活选择的游戏，甚至是在《战地2》，《求生之路》或《质量效应2》之前。在游戏中，当你的一名队员死亡时，你便能够使用魔法治愈药物Bacta和电击重新复活他。

而这里的特殊之处在于游戏会提供给你选择去决定是否让队友给予帮助或继续战斗。

当你死亡时，你将看到游戏头盔上会出现三个选择。Maintain Current Orders是让你的军队继续对抗敌人，Recall and Revive则是让其中一名队员来拯救你。在激烈的战场上让对手先消灭一些敌人去缓解危险局势是更有效的做法，所以你不能只是想着自己。而只有最后选择能让你重新加载游戏，并且这已选择在你面对整支团队全军覆没时最有用。

这创造了非常紧张的战斗时刻，在这里你可能会被打倒并且需要衡量当前队友是否应该前来拯救你。游戏中的AI也能够有效支持这一设置。

综上

最佳：将死亡整合到故事中

《生化奇兵：无限》是基于多个宇宙的主题。即在游戏故事中你能在不同宇宙间穿梭着。

当你死亡时，你会突然在自己的办公室里醒来，这就像是一种倒叙场景。而打开窗户则能让你更加接近自己死亡时所处的位置。

这也暗示着你其实是真的死了。然后宇宙穿梭角色将把你带到第一个场所并前往另一个宇宙，让你在那找到另一个自己，你们将快速穿越故事并来到自己最初死亡的位置上。

这也暗指了在游戏一开始你会看到自己之前所做出的一列决定，它将暗示着这里将会出现十几个你自己。

一旦玩家的死亡与游戏玩法整合在了一起，游戏故事也将向神话内容延伸。

《堡垒》便在其“New Game Plus”游戏攻略中使用了类似的方法。在游戏最后你将面对一个选择，即离开破碎的世界或使用具有未知属性的机器，这有可能将玩家带回游戏开始之处。如果玩家选择了后者，游戏将再次重新开始，并将整合游戏外部行动到游戏中。

正面：将停机时间保持在最短

如果不存在任何呈现有趣死亡机制的方法，开发者至少需要确保玩家的死亡是不痛苦的。这意味着：

首先，让玩家能够尽快重新加载游戏。当你在《Trials》中失败时，你可以按压重新开始按键并马上回到上一个检查点中。这里不存在冗长的动画或加载时间。玩家将不会因为自己的失败而受挫，同时他们的失败也仍具有自己的影响力。

其次，确保自动且公平的重新开始/解救点数，如此玩家便不会觉得自己需要重新玩某些部分是一种惩罚了。

《枪口》使用了一个基于过去的交错重新加载点数的有趣系统。即当你死亡时，你能够从过去不同时刻的多个重新加载点数中做出选择，这也将转变成一个时间旅行的机制。

结论

让玩家能在游戏中失败也是很重要的，因为这将赋予游戏玩法和故事意义。而使用不可靠的叙述者是一种将玩家死亡整合到故事中的相对有效的方法。避免让游戏角色承认复苏系统是叙述的一部分则能够有效维持这种难以置信的悬念。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转发，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

How to Incorporate Satisfying Death Mechanics Into Your Game

by Matthias Zarzecki

Games that do not allow you to die (or fail, for that matter) lack heft. When failure is impossible, what purpose is there in defying it? Success loses its meaning when there’s no dread.

But player deaths don’t have to end in frustration or the player having to replay long stretches of the game. Death mechanics can be integrated into the story and the gameplay, where they become part of the experience.

In this article we’ll take a look at different ways to deal with player death and failure, both good and bad. Some games manage to do both at the same time!

The best ways to deal with player death are fully integrated into the narrative and gameplay; these are the ones we should use as inspiration in our titles.

(Note that we’ll focus on non-competitive games. In multiplayer games, like Team Fortress 2, other rules apply. Also note that games can get away with no death if death or failure isn’t expected. Point-and-click adventures like Monkey Island do not need to have death mechanics as there is no expectation of them.)

Narrative Deaths

Good: Keep Narrative Death and Gameplay Death Separate
Spoiler: In Final Fantasy VII a main character dies halfway through the game. Which is weird, because you and your teammates die all the time, but use resurrection spells to bring people back to life again.

The difference between the two is that one death exists in the narrative, while the other deaths exist in the gameplay. The game deals with that by keeping both things separate and never referencing each other. Nobody says, “Hey, couldn’t you use Raise [the resurrection spell] on [Character] and save all that heartache?” as that would break the barrier between gameplay and narrative.

Bad: Mix Narrative Death and Gameplay Death

Borderlands 2 fails at this and mixes the two.

The game has a system of New U Stations. These work both as checkpoints from which to restart the game and as resurrection points. When you die, a New U is created: basically a clone of your previous self. You lose some money, and the voice of the machine quips that you should avoid jumping into lava and states how much money you have made for the company.

This could work like in Final Fantasy VII, a system separate from the narrative, but it is not. The New U stations belong to Hyperion, one of the companies in the game. After a while you may start to wonder why you can’t just use it to bring major dead story characters back to life, or why the enemies don’t just use them as well.

This is especially egregious when Handsome Jack, the main antagonist who is trying to kill you, gives you a mission to kill yourself. You can do it, and you get insta-resurrected… Then why is he trying to kill you?!

Lead Writer, Anthony Burch, laments this as one of the major faults in the story. Keeping player death in the gameplay and out of the narrative should be done in a strict manner to prevent these weird overlaps.

Giving the Player Another Chance

Bad: Magically Save the Player at the Last Second

In the 2008 reboot of Prince of Persia, you can’t actually die. Ever.

When you’re about to fall to your death, you are saved at the last second and deposited back where you started. When your health is about to run out in battle, you are saved, you get your health back, and the enemies regain their health too, which is another break in the logic of the universe.

You end back where you started, with no progress made.

Good: Let the Player Rewind Time

One of the best features in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is the use of the titular sands to affect gameplay. The sand shows up in several story segments, but you can also use it during gameplay!

When you die, you just rewind time to a point where you are not dead. Instead of quick-loading, you stay in the game, and the gameplay fully supports this.

In a time-travel game, this feature practically comes with the gameplay. Braid allows you to rewind after death back to when you were alive, and even further to the point where you began the level.

The racing game GRID also allows this, and is maybe the only game in that genre to do so (apart from its sequels). Races can be long, and failing one due to a slip-up or a freak crash can be very frustrating, especially since racing games usually do not have in-race save systems. In GRID, however, you get a few rewinds per race, which you can use to save yourself from a major crash. The limited nature of this feature also keeps the player from abusing this system for minor slip-ups.

Good: Use an Unreliable Narrator

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has another fun system for dealing with player death. When you actually do run out of both health and sand, the hero says, “Hang on a second. This isn’t how it happened!” before you need to reload.

What’s happening is that the entire story is actually told by the character after it happened. The game starts right at the end, and everything is told in flashbacks.

This feels as if the prince might actually have made a honest mistake. Realizing you have an unreliable narrator is fun and softens the impact of being pulled out of the game to reload it.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger centers its entire game around the conceit that the story is actually a tall tale told in a saloon. The narrator changes details and facts, and the game world reshapes itself in front of your eyes to fit the new story. Sadly it doesn’t involve the player dying, which would fit perfectly.

Good: Allow the Player to Escape

In Batman: Arkham Asylum (and its sequels) the grapple-hook is a central element of the game. It lets you quickly move around the world and climb objects.

If you should fall into a pit in the game, you do not die. Instead, Batman pulls himself out where you began the jump. This nicely integrates the grapple mechanic to prevent some player deaths. As there are plenty of other ways to die in the game, this does not feel like a cop-out.

EVE Online also has a unique way of escaping before actually having to die.

When your spaceship in EVE is destroyed, the “pilot capsule” remains. This is a ship that can do nothing other than move. Usually you use it to get back to the nearest station, where you can get a proper ship.

The capsule can be destroyed, however, killing you and taking all your costly implants with it. You can get cloned at the nearest port, but without the implants that were part of your character.

This creates a unique mechanic in MMOs. Capsule killing is frowned upon, but is used in assassinations and other plots.

Good: Keep the Player in a “Downed” State With a Way to Get Back Into the Action

When you run out of health in the Borderlands games, you don’t immediately die. Instead, you go into “last chance” mode.

The screen color fades until everything is grey, and you can only crawl. But if you manage to kill an enemy, you get a “second wind”, stand up, get a portion of your health back, and can fight and walk again. You can also be helped up by another player, if you are playing co-op.

This is a great system. It keeps you in the game and engaged, and doesn’t immediately throw you out.

Long before Borderlands, though, Prey already had a second wind mechanic.

In Prey you get the ability to enter the “spirit world” during gameplay. Inside, you are invisible, you can move through certain barriers, and you can use paths that only exist in there. It is necessary to use it within the main game.

When you die you go into this spirit world, a ghostly version of the level you are in. If you manage to kill a certain number of spirits with your bow, you get resurrected right on the spot where you died and can continue playing.

Left 4 Dead has a similar system, where upon losing all your health you are “downed”. You fall to the ground and cannot move, but you can still fire your pistol. All the while the screen slowly turns grey, until you actually die. You can continue playing if another player helps you up, which keeps groups of players tight.

But the most integrated version of a downed state is in Republic Commando.

This was the first game to include the resuscitate option, way before Battlefield 2, Left 4 Dead, or Mass Effect 3. When one of your teammates dies, you can bring them back to life with an injection of the magical healing substance Bacta and a defibrillator blast.

What it does (still!) uniquely is offer you the choice to command whether they should get you or keep fighting.

When you die, you see three options displayed on your (now blurry) in-game helmet (pictured above). Maintain Current Orders has your squad continue to engage the enemy, and Recall and Revive calls one of them over to bring you back up. In the heat of the battle it might be more useful to have them reduce the danger by eliminating a few enemies first, so you can’t just call this automatically. Only the last option has you reload a game, and becomes necessary when your entire team dies.

This creates tense fights and moments where you might get downed and have to weigh the chances of your squadmates being able to revive you. The AI is also good enough to support this—with horrible AI it wouldn’t work as well as it does.

Above All…

Best: Integrate Death Into the Story

Bioshock Infinite handles the theme of multiple universes. You jump between them in the story.

And when you do die, you suddenly wake up in your office, which looks like it did in flashback sequences. But opening the door puts you close to where you were when you died.

This implies that you did actually die. Then the universe-hopping characters that engaged you in the first place went to another universe to get another you, and fast-forwarded through the story to leave you at the point of your previous death.

This is alluded to at the start of the game, where you see a list of decisions you have made before, and it implies there were several dozen yous.

Once again player death is woven beautifully into the gameplay, and actually extends the mythology.

Bastion uses a similar approach in its New Game Plus playthrough. At the end of the game you get the choice of leaving the broken world or engaging a machine with unknown properties, which could possibly turn back time to before the game started. If you do the latter, characters refer to the repetition after the game has been started again, integrating the out-of-game action into the game itself.

Good: Keep Downtime to a Minimum

If there is no way to have a fun death mechanic, at least make sure it’s as painless as possible. This means mainly two things:

Allow reloading or restarting as quickly as possible. When you fail in Trials you can press the restart button, which puts you immediately at the last checkpoint. There is no lengthy animation or load time. Players aren’t frustrated by failure, yet it still retains its heft.

Also, keep automatic and fair restart/save points, so the player doesn’t feel punished by having to replay segments.

Gunpoint uses a fun system of staggered reload points in the past. When you die, you get to chose from several reload points at different times in the past, which essentially turns it into a time-travel mechanic.

Conclusion

Having the ability to fail in a game is important, as it gives the gameplay and story meaning and substance. Using an unreliable narrator is a relatively cost-effective way of having player death integrated into the story. Avoiding having in-game characters acknowledge resurrection systems as part of the narrative also helps maintain the suspension of disbelief.（source：tutsplus）