Is There Such A Thing As Too Much?
When is the line crossed?
Video games have a unique way of conveying their message compared to other entertainment forms in that they require interaction. While it varies from game to game and era to era to see how much of each action you have control of, players need to push a button to talk, press a button to jump, and pull the trigger to shoot.
A couple of weeks ago, I spoke about narrative realism in gaming. While not all my examples were heavy-handed or had serious topics or themes, some did. From totalitarian governments and innocents suffering from wars to the loss of your child; realism, most of the time, has something to say.
With gaming’s unique position, it can help people empathize with or see things that may have never occurred to them, or that they never realize possible. Just as books can help develop empathy by pushing the reader into different perspectives, allowing them to see themes and topics unfolded through different set of eyes, with gaming’s unique interactivity, can gaming do the same safely? Is there such a thing as going too far?
As said, realism has a message, and I think that creates a divide between conveying a powerful message and going for shock value. It’s almost like the ideology of “everything is allowed in comedy, as long as it’s funny.”
When Was The First Time A Game Made You Uncomfortable?
As time passes, creating a game becomes more accessible, people are allowed to develop their ideas and share them with others. However, some ideas are better kept behind closed doors. But this has been happening for a very long time, as people have made video games where you reenact a school shooting, an American raping a native American, a Nazi concentration camp manager, ethnic cleansing, and so forth in the early 2000s or earlier.
Hatred is the most recent one that made me question its purpose. A game in which your sole purpose is to kill as many innocents you can before you meet your end, ending with the protagonist blowing up the city. While it can be argued for each game what its purpose is, such as entertainment or recreational purpose or some hidden meaning, does it serve a positive purpose either in its narrative or gameplay?
While I can’t remember the first game that made me uncomfortable, I do remember that my introduction to VR was exciting and prompted me to look for VR games to purchase. This is how I found out about Blood Trail, a VR game that attempts to simulate violence as you kill cultists. It was unnerving to see how the bodies dropped and jerked on the floor as they continued to shoot them.
It made me uncomfortable, and I then realized that this wasn’t the first type of VR game that was hyperviolent. A game of this caliber makes Hatred seem not so bad, as the player has to swing their arm to slit someone’s throat, take aim and pull the trigger themselves. It’s immersive, and while I do commend them for doing a good job of that, it’s just a violent game and nothing else.
In a similar spectrum, Outlast Trials, a game that, although I am having fun playing it, also makes me question whether a game has gone too far or not. The examples from my previous post have a clear purpose or message on what they want to deliver, and so far, none of these games have a clear message. They are hyperviolent, and in Outlast Trials’ case, hypersexual, too. But I do believe that, if there’s a purpose for these occurrences, if there’s a message, then the lines, whichever they may be for an individual, can be crossed.
But in Outlast Trials, when you saw a person’s legs off into a plate, to symbolize the body of Christ, to then have child mannequins pretend to eat them, is it just for shock value? Is it like the other games, mindless or without a purpose?
Admittedly, I am trying to see this from an unbiased standpoint, given my catholic faith and enjoyment of the game, but it wasn’t until I read up on the lore that it stopped bothering me. I got the message. But, without knowing all this, it just comes out as something mindless.
With all these realistic graphics, the ability to make things more immersive with more complex mechanics or VR, is this a way to take advantage of the technology? Of course, people have the right to create whatever they like, but should we be more conscious of what we create and give to the masses?
Is This Too Much?
This is something that has been spoken about in the gaming community or against the gaming community. It has not only been GTA that has been targeted, but even games such as Dark Souls, and Slenderman.
As someone who played very violent video games when young, I understand that they won’t affect everyone, but I think we should also be honest and understand that they can affect a good amount and that they should be used effectively, not mindlessly.
I’m not against any of the aforementioned games, even Hatred, but even the developers went on to create what seems to be a competent and gruesome stealth game where minors can die, but reflects well on the atrocities of war called 63 Days.
Even in Mouthwashing -SPOILERS AHEAD- there is rape and suicide in the game and has a meaningful narrative purpose, which made the overall message more impactful and heartbreaking. -SPOILER OVER-
Let me know what you think about this in the comments below! What do you think about violence and realism in gaming? Should there be a purpose or is entertainment a good enough purpose?
I’m debating on going further into this, so I may come back to this topic.
Epic article. The game that first actually "disturbed" me is outlast trials that you mentioned.
Extremely gory but as you said it is fun, especially with the pals.
Gaming is in the midst of its own maturation, similarly to film at the turn of the 1930's. Once colour and sound were introduced, the commercial apparatus around them began to balk at the prospect of fully realised hedonism and violence - that's what led to Hollywood's Hays Code. VR, in particular, adds a confrontational culpability to the player: you're looking through the eyes of the protagonist, their hands are your own.
Triple A can be quite disquieting, but their content is mostly disturbing as a work of graphic viscera. Cyberpunk, however, had a mission where you could crucify a convict, which I was utterly disarmed by. I find CD Projekt's approach to morality to be a pretty effective subversion on the inherent solipsism of single-player titles. When the implication is greater than the act, I find its provocation to have resonance. I think indie and VR titles will change the form, rather than challenge it - one for its statement unbound by commercial expectation, the other for the directness of its message.