Pacing is an important element in narratives, as it maintains audience engagement and allows for the drama to seem more dramatic, the jokes funnier, and the action more action packed. This author/auteur skill helps to manipulate the audience’s emotions to ultimately elicit stronger emotions. Every action movie has the slower, subdued moments between fights and chases to help raise the stakes and allow for character development, just as a tear-jerking novel has moments of levity and humor, making the sad parts hit that much harder. One way to visualize how pacing is implemented in a narrative arc is to combine the Freytag Pyramid with a rollercoaster-type structure. Here is an example using the plot points of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

As each medium has features that are inherent to them in how narratives can be presented and different features are given special import depending on the medium (syntax in a novel is important in and out of dialogue, camera angles are more important to film than games because each shot is carefully created by the director, director of photography, and cinematographer), each medium too has different ways of controlling the pacing of how the narrative is conveyed. When manipulated correctly, the pacing of a narrative can make an audience sit on the edge of their seat, shed a tear, or sigh in relief, sometimes all in one telling of a story. As has been mentioned before, modern games share many narrative features with cinema, and so comparisons will be made to film technique. However, there are features that either can’t be replicated in games or features that are unique to games as well, giving an ultimately fresh experience.

Spoilers abound.

Exploration Vs. Action

One of the most basic and universal ways of controlling the pace is through balancing plot points within the narrative. By having the calm as well as the storm, audiences are able to see how great of an impact an event has. Further, by following a tense moment with a lighter one, audiences are able to decompress and let their guard down, ultimately allowing for greater amplitudes between emotional states.

In movies and books, these plot points flow together relatively seamlessly for the audience, as there is little to no change in how the audience actively engages with the narrative being told. In Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone, readers continue to read mechanically the same way when Harry is either in a class or on the quidditch pitch, just as movie audiences watch Titanic the same way when Jack and Rose are dancing and when the ship is sinking. However, as games are an interactive medium, there are dynamic differences in how gamers interact with the narrative, essentially creating multiple gameplay modes. There are four modes that I will be exploring here. Two of the most common modes that are present in games are the action sequences, in which there are many enemies that must be dealt with, and the exploration sequences, in which a puzzle might have to be solved or there is a moment allowing the player to appreciate their character’s surroundings. The other two common modes are the Quick Time Event (QTE) and the dialogue event. QTEs are scripted moments in which characters are faced with events that are not solvable through conventional game mechanics, and so are instead solved by having the player mash the button displayed on the screen. Dialogue events I will define as moments in which choosing the correct response or line of questioning in integral to the scene.

The Last of Us utilizes this balance between exploration and action to amazing effect. The game takes place in post-apocalyptic America and follows Joel, a middle-aged man that lost his daughter in the early moments of the virus changing his world, and Ellie, a teenage girl that knows only this new, dangerous, changed world. When not in firefights with aggressive human factions trying to steal from you or sneaking around or exterminating zombie-like Infected, the player is exploring surprisingly beautiful ruins of America and teaching Ellie of things we take for granted now. All of the tense, anxiety-inducing fights are completely worth it when you see Ellie show child-like wonder at seeing a giraffe in person. These are further contrasted by the heart-wrenching scenes in which good people you meet and bond with are taken from your life, such as when Sam, a young boy Joel and Ellie meet along with Sam’s father, is revealed to have suffered a bite from the Infected and ultimately turns into one himself. Almost all games feature this balance, be it The Legend of Zelda or Grand Theft Auto.

Tell Tale Games rely on the dialogue event and the QTE in order to create tension. This developer’s games, which include The Walking Dead, and The Wolf Among Us, added an interesting, though simple, feature to their dialogue events: a timer. Much like the shot clock changed the pace of basketball by forcing players to be more aggressive in offense, this limited amount of time to select a response forces the player to make snap judgments. The amount of time available varies on context; casual conversations allow for more time to decide a response, but decisions that appear in the heat of the action must be decided upon almost immediately, allowing for little time to weigh the consequences of your choice. This is contrasted by the quick time events, where the player is told a specific button to press rapidly. Often, this mechanic is used when in a tug-of-war moment and you need to gain the upper hand. Forcing the player to rapidly press a button or follow a series of buttons presses without fault causes tension in the player by making a kind of exertion on their part, something uncommon in games, especially narrative- and dialogue-heavy ones.

Honorable mention for a dialogue event goes to Dragon Age: Inquisition. At one point, the player character (the Inquisitor) and a select group of companion characters attend a royal ball to protect and enlist aid from Empress Celene. As this quest builds to a climax and all evidence of plots of betrayal are found, the player engages in a dialogue event with Floriane, a highly thought of member of court, in front of the entire palace. The event is a dance, both literally and in how the player must expertly maneuver through the dialogue. Not only must the player make accusations and threats, but they must be presented in ways that will shift the courts favor to your cause. It is every bit as riveting, in my experience at least, as a duel. And yet, it is fundamentally different, engaging the player in a different mental state than when battling a boss, though serving the same purpose almost.

Musical Scores

Musical cues and scores have been used to control pacing in films even before audio dialog was recorded along with the visuals. Protagonists and antagonists would each get their own distinct theme, helping to set the tone for how the audience should feel regarding this character. A perfect example is the “Imperial March” for Darth Vader in Star Wars, an oppressive march that follows rigid patterns and is bass-heavy, compared to Luke’s theme, “Binary Sunset,” which is more wistful and almost exploratory, giving hints of potential through music alone. Beyond these easily recognizable scores, films and television shows use music more subtly to make a scene go from sad to depressing, fun to exciting all based on the tempo and key of the music.

Games feature similar cues and scores. Two games that have context-driven scores are Skyrim and Left 4 Dead. Skyrim is the fifth entry in the Elder Scrolls series by Bethesda and is a fantasy roleplaying game. This particular entry heavily features dragons. When a dragon battle begins, players will notice the music build to a theme very similar to the title theme. It builds to an epic battle chant, fueling the player’s fire to help them defeat this imposing foe. Left 4 Dead is a zombie action game developed by Steam. In this series, musical cues announce the coming of what are known as “special infected.” These enemies are zombies that are especially dangerous and have unique skills. Some are able to leap onto players and steal control, while others are powerhouses that take concerted effort to take down and deal massive damage. When the music for a Tank is heard, players often are quick to let their allies know of this development and try to make a new game plan.

I spoke before about Red Dead Redemption‘s score, specifically the song playing as the player first crosses into Mexico. It is a beautiful moment of solitude accompanied by an equally beautiful song. Not only though is the moment of isolation interestingly contrasted by the game’s only vocalized song, it also follows one of the most tense action sequences in the game. You cross over to Mexico in a continued search of your traitorous, former gang members. As the raft you are on follows the river, you are set upon by an ambush of outlaws trying to prevent you from following your former posse. You are essentially trapped at this part, at the whim of the river and with very limited cover. After completing this, players are rewarded by a moment to decompress, ushered in by Jose Gonzales’ guitar and voice. Without the song, the long ride would have been just that: another ride to another quest point, but instead allows for reflection on where you have come and what may come.

Even older games utilize scores and music to control pacing. Super Mario Bros. is one such game. Each type of setting has a different theme, be it the field, the underground, the sea, or the castle. The open air levels have songs that are cheerful and in a major key. They prepare the player for a new adventure. The underground levels are in a minor key and seem more sporadic than the previous levels. The castle levels are imposing and fast paced, with quick beats and quick changes between pitches. Lastly, as the final level of each world is completed, player is rewarded with a victorious tune before being told that “Sorry Mario, but the Princess is in another castle!” Each world has a mixture of level settings, creating a rudimentary narrative arc as Mario traverses the hills and plains, descends into the underground, and navigates a dangerous castle. Further, Every time that the time drops below 100 seconds, the player is given an adrenaline boost by the music speeding up dramatically, telling the player that they better hurry up.

Cut scenes

Cut scenes in games have been used as early as Contra for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), if not earlier than that. This feature is used to provide exposition to the player in a way that is controlled and cinematic. It features fixed camera angles, narration or dialogue, and often greater detail than is usually available during gameplay. What is interesting with cut scenes in term of pacing is that it makes the game become, if only for a moment, a movie; the player has no control and is simply watching a pre-directed scene. So while the cut scene usually is highly dramatic and has great impact, the player is able to be in a “safe” state of sorts. More even than when in an exploration state, the player is safe, if only from his or her own actions.

And yet, it is during these moments that important moments often happen. After the boss is defeated, a cut scene may be used to show the moments of resolution. A game’s climax often occurs in the middle of a cut scene, though is achieved after a tense moment of gameplay. One of the most famous cut scenes in gaming is in Final Fantasy VII. Those that are familiar with the game most likely already know which scene I am referring to. The scene features the death of a close companion of the player character, Aerith. It was one of the first three-dimensional games, making characters seem more lifelike than simple sprites, which is part of the reason it is such a memorable moment in gaming history. Further, it is common for party members in the Final Fantasy series to die, or I suppose “faint,” in battles and then later be recovered through an item. Aeirith’s marks the first permanent death of a party member in that particular installment of the series.

Game developers, just as with authors and directors, use multiple features found in the medium to affect the pacing of the game. By controlling the pace of the game, the audience’s reactions and emotions are manipulated and create an attachment to the narrative. Having a balanced pace also allows for greater changes in audience emotion, making the happy moments happier and the tense moments tenser. Each medium has its own ways of pacing and each genre has its own ideal pace as well. This simply shows one more example of how games are a narrative art form that deserves examination.