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So, what’s the deal with all these characters we control, eh? Most of the time we’re the too-good-to-be-true, cool-as-a-cucumber, slick hero who has to save the world from a great evil that’s always more vast than is thought in the outset. When we finally get the chance to play the bad guy, it’s either a comically unrealistic character that we take charge of, or a non-human***
One of my favourite games of modern time has got to be Soul Reaver. Not only does it let you play as an evil undead spirit, Raziel, but also he’s been subjected to immense torment for centuries leaving him as a bitter, twisted, evil character who sets his sites on killing his brothers and creator.
But why must such games, in which you take control of an evil character, make that evil character a vampire or evil being of some kind? Why not have a game where you’re actually playing as a bitter human intent on causing evil. Even Shakespeare, in “Timon of Athens”, tells the tale of a generous man who, after going bankrupt, is abandoned by his friends. So bitter is he that he leaves the city and plots his revenge on humanity.
Of course, there are some games that attempt to put you in control of an evil human character. However, these tend to be clichéd get-away drivers (GTA) and in any case are hardly truly evil characters like that seen in Soul Reaver.
I think that developers are just too scared to enter into the area yet. Scared that they’ll be criticised for glorifying violence or encouraging evil acts. By hiding such activities behind the pretence of vampires, or by blowing the whole idea open by basing it on the stream of 80’s films, they can avoid the critics while partially appeasing the fans.
But things will change. In a film like Leon you see everything through the eyes of an assassin who actually appears to be a nice guy. The Godfather glorifies mob violence as a piece of drama. People want, and indeed need at a psychological level, to have their craving for violence and evil fulfilled. People use Tekken to relieve stress and Rez to relax. Now we need games that’ll let us get rid of the anger in out bodies by taking it out on in game characters rather than real life.
It’ll happen one day.
Sonic
One of my favourite games of modern time has got to be Soul Reaver. Not only does it let you play as an evil undead spirit, Raziel, but also he’s been subjected to immense torment for centuries leaving him as a bitter, twisted, evil character who sets his sites on killing his brothers and creator.
But why must such games, in which you take control of an evil character, make that evil character a vampire or evil being of some kind? Why not have a game where you’re actually playing as a bitter human intent on causing evil. Even Shakespeare, in “Timon of Athens”, tells the tale of a generous man who, after going bankrupt, is abandoned by his friends. So bitter is he that he leaves the city and plots his revenge on humanity.
Of course, there are some games that attempt to put you in control of an evil human character. However, these tend to be clichéd get-away drivers (GTA) and in any case are hardly truly evil characters like that seen in Soul Reaver.
I think that developers are just too scared to enter into the area yet. Scared that they’ll be criticised for glorifying violence or encouraging evil acts. By hiding such activities behind the pretence of vampires, or by blowing the whole idea open by basing it on the stream of 80’s films, they can avoid the critics while partially appeasing the fans.
But things will change. In a film like Leon you see everything through the eyes of an assassin who actually appears to be a nice guy. The Godfather glorifies mob violence as a piece of drama. People want, and indeed need at a psychological level, to have their craving for violence and evil fulfilled. People use Tekken to relieve stress and Rez to relax. Now we need games that’ll let us get rid of the anger in out bodies by taking it out on in game characters rather than real life.
It’ll happen one day.
Sonic
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Yeah, I was going to mention red alert when you said about war games, but looks like you already did :D
Anyway, another example I spose would be Medal Of Honour... what would the media (and public...) reaction be if you played the Nazi's trying to stem the invasion...? I mean, the media would probably have a field day about how video games are encouraging Neo-Nazism, and I doubt the majority of the public would buy it because of the thought of killing 'British troops' (virtual or not...)
Same goes for Wolfenstein and the Commandos series... how much of their success is down to people wanting to kill something that is 'evil' (ie. Nazism) because it harmed our country in the past...?
Anyway, another example I spose would be Medal Of Honour... what would the media (and public...) reaction be if you played the Nazi's trying to stem the invasion...? I mean, the media would probably have a field day about how video games are encouraging Neo-Nazism, and I doubt the majority of the public would buy it because of the thought of killing 'British troops' (virtual or not...)
Same goes for Wolfenstein and the Commandos series... how much of their success is down to people wanting to kill something that is 'evil' (ie. Nazism) because it harmed our country in the past...?
Well, the Wario games aren't really the best example of the point...
For one it's the same as collecting rings in Sonic, or coins in Mario. Your a non-human, comically evil character as oppossed to a truely evil person, and even then you never really do more harm than Link does when he smashes pots to find gems.
What about seeing a Wario game where you actually set out to kill mario- really! It would be like the transistion of Gannon, the pig faced person in SNES games, to the dark prince in the N64 games. If successful in the game you would bannish Mario from Mushroom Kingdom and reign supreme... Then there could be te follow-up Mario game where you had to overthrow him.
This is escentially what Ninty did with Zelda OOT.
Sonic
For one it's the same as collecting rings in Sonic, or coins in Mario. Your a non-human, comically evil character as oppossed to a truely evil person, and even then you never really do more harm than Link does when he smashes pots to find gems.
What about seeing a Wario game where you actually set out to kill mario- really! It would be like the transistion of Gannon, the pig faced person in SNES games, to the dark prince in the N64 games. If successful in the game you would bannish Mario from Mushroom Kingdom and reign supreme... Then there could be te follow-up Mario game where you had to overthrow him.
This is escentially what Ninty did with Zelda OOT.
Sonic
Microgarlicbread wrote:
> What about the Wario Land games? Admitidly there aren't actually any
> other humans in the game, nor is it violent or anything....but you do
> go around stealing valuables from people and stuff...
I did mention this to Sonicrav on MSN, that Wario was evil. Obviously didn't include it though. Also, in the Dungeon Keeper games you play as a bad guy (I think), and they're really popular. You can even get Dungeon Siege 2 as a free gift from SR (I think).
> What about the Wario Land games? Admitidly there aren't actually any
> other humans in the game, nor is it violent or anything....but you do
> go around stealing valuables from people and stuff...
I did mention this to Sonicrav on MSN, that Wario was evil. Obviously didn't include it though. Also, in the Dungeon Keeper games you play as a bad guy (I think), and they're really popular. You can even get Dungeon Siege 2 as a free gift from SR (I think).
Sibs, you're right in saying that a player will not relate to a character who is just deemed to be evil from the outset. The trick is to show why the character is evil- for example, in Soul Reaver it is explained how the main character has been tortured by his master and brothers. When this is done well you actually feel angry for the injustice and WANT to carry out Raziel's revenge.
Your point is true of all game characters- good or evil. If you are simply placed in the role of someone with little explanation then you will never relate the the charcater properly.
What I would love to see is a reversal in the way games are played. For example, in Sonic Adventure 2 you play as both the good guys and the bad guys. Take this a step further and allow you to play as both the good and bad guys in a war game. The only reason it's not done is because the developer will be deemed to be breeding young Hitler wannabes!
However, this need not be the case. You could take control of the army of a nation that's impoverished and in need of more resources, and invade peaceful countries. This isn't dissimilar to Red Alert (Soviets vs. Americans), except that the idea is done jokingly in Red Alert with comedy characters.
Oh, and Sibs, the *** at the end of paragraph 1 should be "..."- When I write long posts like this I copy them into MS Word to do a spell check. The problem is that word changes "..." into "…" (if that doesn't show up on your computer it's because it's an MS word character thingy). So I change the ...s into *** so that I don't forget to change them back... DOH!
Your point is true of all game characters- good or evil. If you are simply placed in the role of someone with little explanation then you will never relate the the charcater properly.
What I would love to see is a reversal in the way games are played. For example, in Sonic Adventure 2 you play as both the good guys and the bad guys. Take this a step further and allow you to play as both the good and bad guys in a war game. The only reason it's not done is because the developer will be deemed to be breeding young Hitler wannabes!
However, this need not be the case. You could take control of the army of a nation that's impoverished and in need of more resources, and invade peaceful countries. This isn't dissimilar to Red Alert (Soviets vs. Americans), except that the idea is done jokingly in Red Alert with comedy characters.
Oh, and Sibs, the *** at the end of paragraph 1 should be "..."- When I write long posts like this I copy them into MS Word to do a spell check. The problem is that word changes "..." into "…" (if that doesn't show up on your computer it's because it's an MS word character thingy). So I change the ...s into *** so that I don't forget to change them back... DOH!
What about the Wario Land games? Admitidly there aren't actually any other humans in the game, nor is it violent or anything....but you do go around stealing valuables from people and stuff...
Well, apart from the fact I have no wife and baby to be killed, a cop friend to be murdered, I have no guns, and I have no feeling of A) vengeance, and B) Bullet Time ability, I think I can relate to Max!
;)
;)
No problem...
:D
:D
Protagonist! That's the word!
Sorry, I couldn't remember that word yesterday when I wanted to use it, and now you've reminded me :D
Sorry, I couldn't remember that word yesterday when I wanted to use it, and now you've reminded me :D
One of the things I love about games like Shenmue/Shadowman/Max Payne is because of the fact they want vengeance, and its what fuels them. The violence isn't gratuitous, its necessary for them to go through - I like that.
For me, violence is perfectly acceptable, as long as there's a motive - whether the protagonist is a tradiional hero or a dark anti-hero.
For me, violence is perfectly acceptable, as long as there's a motive - whether the protagonist is a tradiional hero or a dark anti-hero.
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