GamerNode: Columns - Leave Them Laughing

Leave Them Laughing

Videogames are a serious business. Well, you'd think that judging by the current lack of humor in their dialogue, and the absence of any characters that fit the generic "funny" archetypes we experience through television shows, books, and radio.

Many would claim humor died with the death of Nintendo's fabled loyalty to its hardcore audience, using physical comedy in games like Luigi's Mansion and Wind Waker to put a smile on our faces and make our bellies rumble with mirth. Personally, I think it still exists; it's just evolved into a more subtle creature that we don't always notice, nowadays.

Portal is a great example. From the get-go, you're introduced to a robotic voice with little to no indication whether she's hindered by speakers or uses an artificial voice emulator. GLaDOS is completely unfeeling, very blunt, and a prime example of the dark, unconscious comedienne. But why is she so funny? Is it the refreshing change from the generic three stooges humour of America to the dark, dry satire of the British? Or is it simply because we're laughing out of fear?

A character known widely in the Xbox circles for running his mouth in an amusing fashion instead of simply turning tail and running is Cole of the Gears of War series. Preach all you want about racial stereotyping, the man is extremely funny, and is voiced by someone with a fantastic sense of humor. To have such a dark, violent, brown and grey universe populated by genocidal monsters, interrupted by announcements like "let's go for a ride on the Cole train, baby!" is just the thing us serious gamers need to remind us that everything need not be so serious.

But not all games pull it off this well. I wish they did, simply because the games that fail to come off as funny after trying so hard usually end up putting me off playing them completely. The LEGO games in the Batman, Indiana Jones and Star Wars universes are fantastic, but the physical comedy in cutscenes is tired and leaves me wanting to skip them every chance I get. Army of Two attempted to add a little chuckle into their title by allowing your two hired serial killers to "bump fists" and air-guitar. But after being introduced to a game touting itself as such a serious experience, it was baffling and disappointing to see these two antiheroes transformed into Bill and Ted, though with the insane difficulty curve, a damn time machine would have been nice.

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