Trigger Happy
power-up, but as we saw it’s also a special case of the dreaded “functional incoherence.” By contrast, Metal Gear Solid superbly combines a large number of gadgets with a delicious freedom as to how they are used and reused in various situations. You may use a simple cardboard box to hide in, or to get yourself transported unwittingly by the enemy in a truck. When you meet your sharp-shooting nemesis, Sniper Wolf, for the second time, you can choose to battle her with the sniper rifle, or throw gallantry to the wind and fire off some Nikita guided missiles instead. If your aim is shaky, you can pop a tranquilizer, or smoke a cigarette. If you need to make some alarm beams visible, you can smoke a cigarette or use your infrared goggles— and so on.
A great game, we can say for the moment, will probably have one or both of the two semiotic virtues identified. The first is to set challenges that involve complex, rich interactions of signs. And the second is continually to expand the player’s own vocabulary, to present the gift of freedom in negotiating those semiotic thickets.
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