I have always loved the action-adventure genre, with some of my favourite games being the Uncharted and Tomb Raider series. What makes these games such a firm favourite though is the fact that they’re not just action-adventure games but grounded in real-world history. As someone with a love of history, taking both History and Classics at A Level, these games are the perfect mix of history with compelling stories and action and adventure.
This next script is my version of a history based action-adventure games, set in Scotland. I decided to first do the scene where the player meets the two main characters; Luke, and Clara. While not the beginning of the game, it is the first meeting between the two characters and their first meeting serves as is a good introduction to both the characters and their personalities.
Orient Express’s Scottish Highlander
Game Overview
Join Luke Hayes a travel writer who also moonlights as a treasure hunter searching for the lost Jacobite Gold, gifted to the Pretender Prince Charles by the Spanish and hidden within the glens of Scotland. Getting access to these Highland estates is not easy so in order to explore without suspicion, Luke has joined a travel trip around the Scottish estates aboard the Orient Express’s Scottish Highlander where he meets fellow traveller Clara Barnes. Though Hayes fails to find the hidden Jacobite gold he does come across the diary of a Spanish Conquistador who writes that he believes he has discovered the lost ancient Aztec homeland of Aztlan. To prevent Aztlan and its wealth and knowledge from falling into the hands of the British, who Spain was at war with, its location was hidden through a series of clues hidden across the globe. What starts out as a search for lost treasure in the highlands of Scotland leads the pair on an adventure across the world in search of the Lost City of Aztlan.
Characters
Luke Hayes
- Age: 28
- American-Cambodian, soft but distinct South East American accent
- Works as a freelance travel writer. He’s always been really into history and the travel writing has given him the chance to explore the world, and look for its lost treasures.
- History buff which is what has led him down the treasure hunting path.
- Fluent in Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian
- Bit of a flirt and ladies’ man
- He’s using his job as a travel writer, writing a piece on the Orient Express Scottish Highlander, as a cover while he hunts for the lost Jacobite treasure. This is his first big solo treasure hunt, his previous ones being smaller or as part of a team with his mentor. His last exploration, in the Caribbean, didn’t quite go to plan and his mentor need some time to recover so Luke is working solo for this exploration.
Clara Barnes
- Age: 27
- Scottish, obvious accent but not so strong you can’t understand her.
- Military Doctor, though she tends to just tell people she’s a doctor.
- Fluent in German, Russian and Mandarin
- Allusive about her reasons for being on the trip alone, claiming that it was meant to be a holiday with a friend, but they cancelled last minute. In reality it was meant to be her honeymoon, but she caught her fiancé cheating on her with one of the nurses so cancelled the wedding and went on the honeymoon without him. The whole experience has made her a bit guarded around people, but she’s determined to not let it affect her.
FIRST MEETING – INTERACTIVE CINEMATIC
Orient Express Scottish Highlander Train, First Meeting
Cinematic Summary
Luke Hayes has travelled to Scotland and boarded the Orient Express Scottish Highland in Edinburgh earlier on that day. Not wanting to raise suspicion as to why he is on the trip, and draw attention to his treasure hunting, he has made his way to the observation carriage at the end of the train for pre-dinner drinks and live music. While ordering a drink, which the player will be able to choose, at the bar he meets Clara Barnes, a Scottish doctor who is on holiday, but keeping her cards close to her chest. Luke and Clara hit it off and Luke is immediately taken with her and keen to see her again, so much so that he needs to remind himself to focus on the reason he is there.
SCRIPT
Fable & Fern 