Influencing Emotional Task : Call of Duty Infinite Warfare
by Najib Hamid & Edy Aswandi
For this task, in a group of 2, we need to select a PS4 game which we haven’t played before and takes turns playing it. Then, we need to research the Yerkes-Dodson Law & Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Model and explain through the use of the models on how the game has successfully helped to increase the performance, whether it was able to create a state of flow and to what extent did it damage our performance. So for this task, I team up with Najib Hamid. We decided to play the CALL OF DUTY: INFINITE WARFARE
Below is the trailer of the game:
ABOUT THE GAME
Call of Duty Infinite Warfare(COD : IW) released in 2016, a first person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activation. COD:IW is the thirteenth installment series and was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox on November 4, 2016.
With rating M for Mature, 17 years old above can play and more suitable for adults and it contains intense violence, blood, drug reference and strong language. The game rife with spaceships, warp drives and laser weapons. The game play is for single players.
GAMEPLAY
Since it rife in a spaceship, the game fights above the planets and city. Since this game only had a single player, we took turns playing the game until 1hr 22mins. It was a first-person shooter game. Before we play the game, there are 3 options to select either Campaign, Multiplayer or Zombies. We choose Campaign which is a game story with a mission. Every game has different missions. So for the first mission, along the way of the game, it instructed us with the arrows (where to go) and which buttons to interact with the characters. The list of below are the game mechanics that we encountered during the gameplay
Set just before a devastating attack on earth, we play as Captain Nick Reyes, a Tier 1 Special Operation Pilot, lead the remaining coalition forces against a relentless enemy, while trying to overcome the deadly, extreme environments of space. Since we play as first person shooters, we can freely control over the character but with some limitations. As a player, we need to follow computer controlled characters who yell orders to the main character. Sometimes the non playable character moves slow but when it comes to combat battle, they are on the frontline. When in space, the main characters lack freedom due to enemy attack and in a ‘combat zone’. In a battle zone, it required multitasking which is hectic for the first timer who plays the game as we need to focus on the shooting, aiming at the enemy are simple to lock using the dedicated button but, then it can be hard to track them since it is in a fast movement.
CHARACTER
Below are the important characters that we encountered during the gameplay:
THEME
The theme of the game is the buildout infinite war that began in 2014.The game’s mission revolves around a fight for the Solar System, which the Settlement Defense Front (SDF), who are the main rival (antagonist), are attempting to dominate the place.
The environment: the game’s environment is a war-like atmosphere. It also creates the elements of the military aspects - things like battleships, space stations and others. It also designed the gaming experience that was dramatically aesthetic at the same time, fun and enjoyable.
SOUND EFFECT
It is true that when playing the game, as a player, we feel that is like a realistic sound in a war. When playing a first shooter, we can hear a lot of sound for example in one situation such as gunshot, hitmarkers, kill confirmed, reload sfx, bullet whizbees, bullet shell, gun movement, first shot louder and movement.
Call of Duty are always known for its own hitmarkers sound, these sound let the player know what is damaging the enemy, it is like a win win situation, it gives a player gameplay information and also it makes a player connecting the shot much more satisfying. For hitmarkers and kill confirmed, as first shooter, it is the only sound guarantee to be playing over constant or the player needs to be attention grabbing. In COD:IW, there are a lot of guns that we can select or change, the sound from the gunshot makes use of the entire audio spectrum, as a player I can hear that the gun in close position, mechanical gun sound, sub gun sound or tail gun. We can say that it is more detailed and how the player feels when firing the weapon.
Another sound effect that helps us be more excited to play is the sound effect of the environment. Since it is happening in outer space, the sound likes space sci fi. Followed by the deep sound effect of using a helmet and it’s body armor when having a conversation with the first person shooter. We also can hear the opponent's voice chat channel when they are close. The action sound also makes us curious on what will happen next to the first person shooter.
Overall, the audio deserves more credit in general especially in first person shooter, if the sound of the game is worse, then the game feels bad.
How the game has successfully helped to increase our gaming performance
What is our expectation when playing the game?
Before playing the game, we take a look at the Trailer first and know what type of genre we played.
Visually the COD:IW looks stunning allowing for PS4 console like graphics with 60 FPS. The graphics setting can be customized in game graphic quality and frame rate. The game not only looks good but the controls are also very smooth even though we can get confused about what button to press since it is very fast movement and action. We also do not know what button to press but we just press any button and look at what will happen next. There is also a marker or direction if there are things that we need, example pick up, exchange and object interaction.
When playing the game, it looks like a realistic world, objects and buildings in the game which bring almost realistic authenticity to the solar system. As a first time playing the game, when it comes to shooting something, our brain focuses on the object that we need to shoot. Second, we do not need to follow the storyline, as long as we complete the task.
YERKES-DODSON LAW
The Yerkes-Dodson Law proposes that there is a connection among performance and arousal. The rise of arousal can help improve execution, but to a certain extent. Until the point when arousal becomes excessive, performance decreases. The law was first depicted in 1908 by Robert Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson.
The athletes are great examples of the Yerkes-Dodson law. At the point when a player is ready to make a significant move, such as making a goal during a football game, an ideal level of arousal can enhance their performance and allow them to make the shot. Until the point when the player gets excessively pressured, in any case, they might miss the shot.
Below is the Yerkes-Dodson law using the graph:
Higher the arousal = Strong performance
Too high arousal = Weak performance
IMPLEMENTATION OF YERKES-DODSON LAW IN OUR GAME
How did the game affect our performance?
When playing the game in the beginning, the level of arousal is low. This is due to the start of the game and short story of the level campaign so that we know what happened during the early scene. There is also no selection of level, since it is a campaign. In the beginning it starts with a text telling “the sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago.. Had they happened to be in the reach of predatory human hands” continued by Captain Reyes telling the story about what happened to the universe. As we play along the way, there is no tutorial on how to play the game, but there is an indicator on the screen to press the selection button. The early story tells us one of the weapon facilities is under attack by SDF and they believe that it is part of an operation, codenamed RIAH. Intel suggests to target their prototype weapon. The team needs to extract the prototype and torch the site before SDF can locate it. During the early game when they jump from the Helicopter, the level of arousal increases a little bit when the first person shooter kills the enemy by using a knife on the head.
As the game continued on during killing a C12, our level became mid-strong because we alway died but at the same time wanted to play again. Died for 5 times, we did not know that the special weapon can only kill the C12. Once we know how to kill the C12, we keep it constant until we finally succeed in killing C12. The level of arousal is increased to strong due to the timer given one minutes to evacuate. Suddenly they used the F-SPAR to shoot the door or they died. Next scene, they were outside and hopeless. The two colleagues Sipes and Tee are losing their oxygen, and suddenly the enemy comes and tries to kill them. SDF Lieutenant told the admiral kotch that the gun was destroyed but they have retrieved the Data and will be initiating RIAH. Admiral Kotch asked how many we came, Wolf said only the 3 of them. Admiral Kotch then took his gun and pointed to Sipes, as if he wanted to kill Sipes. Here a player thinks that Admiral Kotch is a good guy due to the gun he pointed at Sipes, suddenly he pointed at his guard and shot at it. This time the level of arousal High but the performance became less because we(players) might think that Admiral Kotch is a good guy until he said the place is not yours anymore and killed them. In the last scene, all the three men were killed by the enemy. So this shows that the player has anxiety on arousal but weak in performance.
CSIKSZENTMIHALYI’S FLOW MODEL
The flow was originally developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1975. The flow is one of eight states that can occur during the learning cycle which Csikszentmihalyi traces in his flow theory. These flows include anxiety, apathy, arousal, boredom, control, relaxation and worry; they result when a learner encounters a combination of skill and challenge levels of an errand in non-optimal mixes.
Flow is an optimal state where skill level and challenge level of a mission are at their highest. This creates a chance for studying and for great focus, where the learners can sense loss of contact of time because they are too engaged in the work. On the other hand, the observer can undergo learning calmly when their skill level is elevated and the work’s challenge is getting low. In contrast, the study can experience anxiety when the skill level is low and the challenge is high. Below is showing the flow’s graph:
Below is the another model from Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow:
The short explanation of eight different emotion from the graph when reaching at certain point:
Apathy: Low Skill level = Low Challenge level
Worry: Low Skill level = Low Challenge level
Anxiety: Low Skill Level = High Challenge level
Boredom: Medium Skill level = Low Challenge level
Arousal: Medium Skill level = High Challenge level
Relaxation: High Skill level = Low Challenge level
Control: High Skill level = Medium Challenge Level
IMPLEMENTATION OF CSIKSZENTMIHALYI’S FLOW MODEL IN OUR GAME
How did the game able to create a state of flow?
Let’s just take an example in the beginning of the game.
Apathy: Low Skill level = Low Challenge level
The game starts with a text and short story on what happened outside the universe. Also shown a spaceship, fleets and did mention about a raw material that they need to survive. It also tells us that there is a war machine who wants to take their homeland.
Worry: Low Skill level = Low Challenge level
The players do not know where to press the button at first, but depending on the indicator given. When the player keeps on practicing and skills level up, the player becomes comfortable but still confused on which button to press.
Anxiety: Low Skill Level = High Challenge level
As the game goes on, at part when the team needs to kill the enemy in order to secure the weapon. There are a lot of shootings, where we need to keep on concentrating as the enemy fights back.
Arousal: Medium Skill level = High Challenge level
When the team is going to secure the weapon, they need to destroy C12 as it keeps on firing back to the team. During this time, we always died because the weapons are only for killing the C12. But we switch to normal weapons and kill the enemy instead. For 5 times, then we understand that we need to set a strategy on where we should fire the special weapon to kill the C12. After successfully killing the C12, the team needs to evacuate in 1 minutes, but the enemy is still firing. We then secure the weapon and suddenly the team with the weapon eventually drops somewhere.
Relaxation: High Skill level = Low Challenge level
In the last storyline, this feels relaxed as the team are interrogated and warned by Admiral Kotch that they cannot be defeated. The team then were killed by the enemy. The story then continues as the commander gives Reyes to continue the Mission.
CONCLUSION
The COD:IW developer did something interesting for the player to continue to play the game. With a good storyline, it can affect the game play for the player. Consider 3 main parts of the game. There are sound effects, story and action movement of the first person, when we combine those parts it creates a new space for the user to think about the game. This automatically can affect the brain of the player. But how can those parts affect the brain of the player? For me as a player, because of the attention or focus which the player identifies visual relationships among the surrounding objects. This actually gives the person a positive impact to themself because it helps us pay attention in real life. But the negative impact can be an addiction to play the game more. Although, playing the game can improve our “brain training” thus improving our ability to catch-up and memorise.
Website to view:
COD:IW game Movie (complete version):
References:
