I see no reason, why it shouldn´t be possible to create identification and a deep emotional experience in a game. But maybe not all stories can be transformed into a game.

I think its often a mixture of playing the game and experiencing some kind of a "story". Even in a strategy game such as Civilization there can be dramatic, emotional situations and the player might start to identify with his empire, but it is more obvious in RPGs.

Identification is certainly one of the most important keys for a deeper emotional experience. Once we identify with someone, we are personally affected.

The unique (and very fascinating) aspect of games is, that - in my view - one should always keep in mind, that there will be a special co-author: the player. It´s the player who will really finish the game story.

And this player usually wants both: the freedom to develop his very own journey or story plus a dramatic experience. We can influence him, we can confront him with all kinds of things, but we can´t (and we shouldn´t wish) to program his / her part.
I think it´s about finding a balance between these two aspects: giving the player enough freedom and confronting him with a dramatic chain of events, interesting NPC´s, surprise, fights ...

This is maybe, what happens in this Half-Life scene: the story gets an additional dimension and maybe (I didn´t play HL) the player must make a moral choice (help the soldiers to kill the remaining civilians or (harder, but more hero-like) protect the civilians from the evil soldiers).

It´s important, that the players story and the general (written and programmed) storyline of the game remain, to some extent, connected, that they match - but in a way, that is not artificially constructed.

For example: You write some funny dialogue lines for a NPC character, that the player model meets sometime. I think it might be a bad idea, to force the player.mdl in some kind of laughing animation, simply because you can´t be sure, that the (real, human) player will find the joke as funny as the programmer. It might even result in a bigger distance between the player and his player.mdl.

Now some even more theoretical considerations ...

First of all it´s important to create a bond between the player and his hero. I would always try to make sure, that - for example in a RPG - the player can really identify with his player.mdl.

This process often starts before the game really begins: the player can choose and influence some initial attributes or special skills according to his personal taste. He can create his alter ego or a character, he would like to be. This is a great option, that movies for example do not have.The player has to become active and it is a special interactive quality of games, that has a potential to deepen the dramatic experience in a way that is impossible in other narrative forms.

In a movie or novel the hero is often regarded as a window into the story for the audience. It´s not a bad idea to choose a "man without qualities" as the hero character, because the individual member of the audience then can more easily project something of his own personality into this hero. If you analyze mainstream movies, you´ll often realize, that the heros are not the most special or interesting characters. And they often are more credible, when they react (to some sort of challenge).
Another option of course would be to have a character, where you can expect, that the audience just wants to be like him / her, because the hero is so cool, strong, beautiful (in other words: a movie star). Well, usually in movies it´s a mixture between these two options.
In a game we have at least the first option. And I would not underestimate the human capabilities to imagine something. Even in a movie, where you could show and explain everything, it is often the better idea to leave things for imagination. I once read in a book about horror movies, that the most frightening scenes do not happen on the screen, but in the minds of the audience. Or you might show a character from behind, so that the audience can´t see his face, when he has a very emotional moment.
I mention this, because so many people still believe, that identification in games is difficult or impossible because there is a lack of realism, or because the player.mdl doesn´t look or act like a movie star. I think, if the story is interesting enough, most players will fill the missing polygons with their imagination. And then of course the style element in games gets better and better ...

Now back to the main theme: In order to get the audience or the player (co-author) involved, there are lots of strategies that work in games and other forms of storytelling in the same way:

One of the keys is motivation. If the audience can understand and identify with the motives of the hero, they will start to identify with the hero himself. Of course some motives are more universal then others: the desire for love, the desire to live in peace and harmony, the wish for freedom.
In a more psychological way: the desire to be "complete".
Many stories will give you a hero, that isn´t perfect in the beginning, that is lacking an important or essential quality.

Remember Baldurs Gate II? It was the first game, that I was playing on a PC and I still regard it as a reference for storytelling in games.
The hero, that you just created starts in a dark unpleasant dungeon, in a cave. The first logical step of the player in Baldurs Gate: get out of the dungeon (desire for freedom). In the opening cutscene, you learn, that you have been tortured by the evil sorcerer. This eventually creates a desire for revenge. The most important thing however is the fact, that this sorcerer has stolen a part of your immortal soul! You are very incomplete!
It´s this theme, that holds the whole story together until the end.
Later, when you managed to escape from the dungeon, the freedom motive gets replaced by a social one: your sister (one of the NPC allies, that you meet in the dungeon) gets abducted together with the sorcerer. You may want to liberate her.
And then there is of course something, that you find in all RPGs: the desire to grow, to make your hero stronger. In games this is realized with level-ups but in movies or novels you often find something similar: the hero grows, becomes wiser, more complete. The audience likes that very much.

So there are many strong motives in Baldurs Gate and the player can choose according to his taste. All these motives are constantly reinforced by all kinds of events, dialogues and situations.


There´s so much more to say, especially about the implementation of a dramatic storyline
in a game (without destroying the players freedom). But I leave it here. It´s already such a long post ...