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Nov 5th, 2008 at 12:59:44 - Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC) |
Ok, now I have gotten as far as I can possibly go, to hell in the game of DOOM. I wondered before why in the previous part of the game I had to be Eric even though Dylan seemed to be the guy running the show and barking the orders, but now I am Dylan so it must be a way to force you into the mindset of each player, which is why you can’t choose. I have been fighting in hell/DOOM for at least a half an hour and I can’t make any progress. The only way I can rationalize this is that when Eric and Dylan were alive they were the ones in power with all the weapons, everyone else was weak and rarely fought back. The boys believed in survival of the fittest. Everyone had to die and then them. But after death they became the weak ones, stripped of all their weapons except for a pistol. Everyone Dylan comes across has a weapon and can make vital attacks, many of which kill him. But before, he couldn’t die. It’s almost impossible to avoid the attacks from the characters in hell/DOOM; it becomes the player’s personal hell that dooms them to play endless repetitive attacks. Overall, I felt that the game tried to show sympathy or rather empathy for the two boys because it was shown purely through their eyes. The game humanized them and their actions by telling us why they felt they had to do what they did and showing us their depression medicine and where they take their inspirations from (DOOM and NBK). To top it all off, they ended the boys life with a photo montage of them when they were happy and innocent. The game toys with realism, violence, profanity, and the idea of empathy and morality, leaving the player conflicted with the entire situation.
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Nov 5th, 2008 at 00:34:17 - Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC) |
In my second time playing the game I got as far as killing myself and ending up in hell, which I assume is DOOM, the game they reference. But before I died, I had to go through a non challenging mass killing spree. Everyone I came across was labeled. There were preppy girls, jocks, goody girls, nerds, and church girls who could heal themselves with prayer. Everyone is categorized into clicks based on their appearances. This reminded me of the lecture we had in class on labels. Nobody is just one kind of person, so I feel like what the character does in the game is exactly what he feels is happening to him. He is being picked on for not being in those groups so now everyone not in his group must die. So what click do Dylan and Eric belong to? The Nazi types? They believe in survival of the fittest and speak German phrases. At one point Dylan said I am God and Eric said No Mercy. I wonder if they real guys Eric and Dylan actually spoke German or if these phrases were added to give them a more vilified appearance. It is interesting to note that even though they are the “villains” of the game, they still have inner conflicts. We see this when Eric tells his friend Brooks to go home, thereby saving his life. In a game it doesn’t really make sense to save the life of just one but it really makes it realistic by putting that scene in because that’s what happened in real life. This brings me back to my point before about how terrifying this game is, you play it with little control, causing violent acts to occur with no responsibility for your actions, it all becomes too easy. This is perhaps the point that the game creator is making, the boys did what they did because they didn’t fully understand the consequences of their actions and they knew it would be easy just like in DOOM.
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Nov 4th, 2008 at 17:54:39 - Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC) |
I found playing this game to be quite scary. Although the graphics were terrible, the realism represented in the conversations between Eric and Dylan, was terrifying. I could see how the real event occurred as it unfolded. I assume that was perhaps that goal of the game’s creator, to show how two people could do what they did and how we can see the signs for the future. It is interesting however, that the player does not actually play the game. You cannot actually do anything other than what the game wants you to do. Instead it is more like an active movie. You watch and you occasionally get to push the enter button but you cannot go where the game doesn’t want you to go, you simply have to continue with the boys’ plan or lose and start over. I only got as far as planting the bombs in the cafeteria my first time playing the game, but it became very clear what the player’s motives were, how they would achieve their goals, who their targets were, and their inspirations for doing what they are supposed to do. Eric and Dylan take inspiration from the game DOOM and the movie Natural Born Killers as well as the violent music that played throughout the scenes. Of that music, Marilyn Manson’s CD was said to “inspire aggression and rage”. It makes me wonder if the game’s creator is commenting on the stereotype that violence in games and movies does in fact cause real violence to occur, or if he is actually reinforcing it.
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Oct 5th, 2008 at 17:54:50 - Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas (PS2) |
Since my last session playing the game I have completed another five missions. In doing so, I have gained respect from my gang and therefore more money and weapons. However, I still do not see how this game is anything but a perpetual cycle of stereotypes, gang violence, and crime. Some of the non-violent activities seem pointless, but do in fact have ulterior motives. For example, when you have to go to the gym it is so that you can build muscle and therefore win fights. When you go to get a new wardrobe it is so that you can blend in with your posse, in this case that means getting clothes that sport the green color that represents the characters' gang.
When I explored wardrobe options I was shocked to find out that you can wear nothing but your underwear in public and no one says anything about it, not even cops. This says a lot about the realistic elements in the game. If I were to go outside naked, I would be not only be reported my neighbors but arrested and put in jail were the cops to see me. I also noticed that I can commit a crime in front of a police officer and not get in trouble for it. My wanted status only goes up if I directly hurt a cop. This almost makes it seem if the cops are just another gang in the game; they certainly seem to act like any of the other gangs, minus the drive by shooting effect.
As I played the game I kept looking for anything that might be considered moral, by any ethical theory. However I was unsuccessful. Utilitarianism seemed to totter on the line between amoral and moral, simply because doing something like killing the crack dealers might bring more happiness than unhappiness but happiness is not quantifiable and therefore hard to measure. Also it was a good idea to stop crack dealing, but, then like everything else in the game, it was gone about in the worst possible way, by killing them.
The biggest problem I had with this game, however, was that the immoral objectives, the violence, and the vulgarity were all made to seem normal because nothing else was present. It reinforces stereotypes of blacks and Latinos in areas that are presumed to be concentrated with them. Impartiality is not even an issue in this game, because it is very clear that no one is of equal importance or value.
All in all I find this game quite immoral and a detriment to society. On a gaming level, it's unrealistic and repetitive, making it a not enjoyable game for me.
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Lela9 has been with GameLog for 15 years, 6 months, and 17 days |
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