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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
Page:
I thought they cut it out because some board in America said they'd ban the feature...?
And yeah, I don't see a game where you are evil with no motive would work... I think they need to give at least some reason for the person being evil, and actually give the character motives for doing things rather than just 'you are evil, you're supposed to kill'. This isn't really going to keep the player engrossed and could even get boring.
And yeah, I don't see a game where you are evil with no motive would work... I think they need to give at least some reason for the person being evil, and actually give the character motives for doing things rather than just 'you are evil, you're supposed to kill'. This isn't really going to keep the player engrossed and could even get boring.
Sibs wrote:
> I don't really think though that there are huge amounts of these 'too
> good to be true' heroes in games. Sure, we have some, Mario and Link
> for example, but the point of these games isn't about having deep
> characters, plots or any of that, it's just plain and simple gameplay.
>
>
> But I must kind of disagree with RM on the media issue, if anything
> media saying a game is 'bad' makes it sell more! Look at the original
> GTA, it sold packet loads and at least some of that was due to it
> becoming more desirable because people saw it as something that the
> moral majority (or just the papers :D) saw as being wrong. Same goes
> for Carmageddon. Now granted these aren't exactly games where
> characters are just mindlessly evil, GTA you are a criminal, and sure
> you can choose to be mindlessly evil if you wish.
>
> So maybe they are scared people won't like a game where you're
> objective is to be as evil as possible? People like some degree of
> being the bad guy, but maybe developers are scared of taking it too
> far...
I agree with you there there has always been bad in good its like Dungeon Keeper both 1 and 2 they had mistresses ect yes they was bad but the gameplay was so good too it was only a pity the AI wasnt up to scratch. Dugeon Master EyeofTheBeholder all had evil charitures but it was the games play that was so good. It was funny that many years ago games like StarRay(amiga) were called mindless games cause adults didnt see the point in them but does there have to be? and theese types of games certainly sharpened the relexes. ;0)
> I don't really think though that there are huge amounts of these 'too
> good to be true' heroes in games. Sure, we have some, Mario and Link
> for example, but the point of these games isn't about having deep
> characters, plots or any of that, it's just plain and simple gameplay.
>
>
> But I must kind of disagree with RM on the media issue, if anything
> media saying a game is 'bad' makes it sell more! Look at the original
> GTA, it sold packet loads and at least some of that was due to it
> becoming more desirable because people saw it as something that the
> moral majority (or just the papers :D) saw as being wrong. Same goes
> for Carmageddon. Now granted these aren't exactly games where
> characters are just mindlessly evil, GTA you are a criminal, and sure
> you can choose to be mindlessly evil if you wish.
>
> So maybe they are scared people won't like a game where you're
> objective is to be as evil as possible? People like some degree of
> being the bad guy, but maybe developers are scared of taking it too
> far...
I agree with you there there has always been bad in good its like Dungeon Keeper both 1 and 2 they had mistresses ect yes they was bad but the gameplay was so good too it was only a pity the AI wasnt up to scratch. Dugeon Master EyeofTheBeholder all had evil charitures but it was the games play that was so good. It was funny that many years ago games like StarRay(amiga) were called mindless games cause adults didnt see the point in them but does there have to be? and theese types of games certainly sharpened the relexes. ;0)
Point taken Sibs, but (with the exception of GTA) mindless, gratuitous violence is used in some cases to mask the fact that the game isn't actually very good. When I said developers were wary I was alluding to the possibilty of games without a specific motive, apart from harm to others.
It is also worthwhile noting the developers that did this weren't really in the public eye or with a certain reputation to uphold. Point in case is Rare, who eventually declined to use the face mapping feature of Perfect Dark, not becuase the technology wasn't there or because it was unfeasible, but because they were worried of the potential media backlash.
It is also worthwhile noting the developers that did this weren't really in the public eye or with a certain reputation to uphold. Point in case is Rare, who eventually declined to use the face mapping feature of Perfect Dark, not becuase the technology wasn't there or because it was unfeasible, but because they were worried of the potential media backlash.
I don't really think though that there are huge amounts of these 'too good to be true' heroes in games. Sure, we have some, Mario and Link for example, but the point of these games isn't about having deep characters, plots or any of that, it's just plain and simple gameplay.
But I must kind of disagree with RM on the media issue, if anything media saying a game is 'bad' makes it sell more! Look at the original GTA, it sold packet loads and at least some of that was due to it becoming more desirable because people saw it as something that the moral majority (or just the papers :D) saw as being wrong. Same goes for Carmageddon. Now granted these aren't exactly games where characters are just mindlessly evil, GTA you are a criminal, and sure you can choose to be mindlessly evil if you wish.
So maybe they are scared people won't like a game where you're objective is to be as evil as possible? People like some degree of being the bad guy, but maybe developers are scared of taking it too far...
But I must kind of disagree with RM on the media issue, if anything media saying a game is 'bad' makes it sell more! Look at the original GTA, it sold packet loads and at least some of that was due to it becoming more desirable because people saw it as something that the moral majority (or just the papers :D) saw as being wrong. Same goes for Carmageddon. Now granted these aren't exactly games where characters are just mindlessly evil, GTA you are a criminal, and sure you can choose to be mindlessly evil if you wish.
So maybe they are scared people won't like a game where you're objective is to be as evil as possible? People like some degree of being the bad guy, but maybe developers are scared of taking it too far...
A thought provoking post, and I'm really not sure I know the answer. It is quite possible that developers are wary of attracting unwanted media attention by having a player control a character that is interested in wanton, mindless violence. But personally, I wouldn't like that character anyway - violence is best utilised in a character that wants revenge or has something to be angry about, like Max Payne. One of my favourite games was Shadowman for that very reason. It had a dark, violent mood reflected in the character.
The role of the anti-hero is one that hasn't been fully exploited yet - and it will probably need a brave developer(s) to buck the trend and make it more of a regular occurrence in today's games. But the characterisation of the goody-two-shoes, saccharine bubbly hero, whilst infitting with certain types of games, shouldn't be used for everything, especially for 'older' games. The dark side is one that can definitely be used - I hope it will be.
The role of the anti-hero is one that hasn't been fully exploited yet - and it will probably need a brave developer(s) to buck the trend and make it more of a regular occurrence in today's games. But the characterisation of the goody-two-shoes, saccharine bubbly hero, whilst infitting with certain types of games, shouldn't be used for everything, especially for 'older' games. The dark side is one that can definitely be used - I hope it will be.
I think the problems with these games where you are evil is that while they may appeal more to a certain group of people, they cut out the game as appealing to everyone. Developers may be a bit wary to take that risk.
Another thing is I think it may be hard for a player to connect as to why they are doing things if they are playing as a character who is just plain evil. Simply giving the plot as 'You are evil, kill all these good people, don't feel remorse, form alliances with other evil people only to stab them in the back' will make it seem like your character is just randomly killing stuff for no real reason other other than bloodlust which they player probably can't realte to.
Oh, and before I forget, were those 3 *s at the end of the first paragraph sposed to relate to something (like when you put a * by something, then explain it further down...)? Cos if they were I think you missed it out?
Anyway, interesting read.
And Dungeon Keeper rules by the way. Torturing those faeries was so cool :D
Another thing is I think it may be hard for a player to connect as to why they are doing things if they are playing as a character who is just plain evil. Simply giving the plot as 'You are evil, kill all these good people, don't feel remorse, form alliances with other evil people only to stab them in the back' will make it seem like your character is just randomly killing stuff for no real reason other other than bloodlust which they player probably can't realte to.
Oh, and before I forget, were those 3 *s at the end of the first paragraph sposed to relate to something (like when you put a * by something, then explain it further down...)? Cos if they were I think you missed it out?
Anyway, interesting read.
And Dungeon Keeper rules by the way. Torturing those faeries was so cool :D
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
Page: