[internisus]

In what ways has investigation been implemented in videogames? Not only in more obviously narrative formats like adventure and RPG games, but action titles as well. For example, it seems to me that it has become increasingly prevalent in FPS games since the System Shock and Deus Ex titles, up through Doom 3 and Condemned (my knowledge of the more recent games is very limited). To what extent can, for instance, the CSI-like investigative aspects of Condemned be described as investigative gameplay? Is it too railroaded to be taken seriously as such?

[internisus]

It's pretty much always the story that's revealed through such clue-gathering, isn't it? It never seems to be related to both game and story.

But then, if you consider Silent Hill, you have to do some thorough rummaging to turn up the medicine sprays, maps, and boxes of bullets you need. I actually never found the hunting rifle in the first game. But we don't really consider that investigation, do we? Is that because the word investigation implies story-related findings?

Sticking with Silent Hill, what about the optional stuff involving the liquid? Might it be said that some of the newspaper clippings and other story clues you can read press you towards keeping your eyes open and thus help you to fulfill a gamist goal? Is this a good implementation of investigative gameplay that serves both gaming and narrative ends?