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1. OrbitMonkey
   Member

   The issue of excessive violence has been popping up a bit recently, most notably regarding Tomb Raider and The Last of Us. Violence for violence sake, gore porn, call it what you want, but ps3/360 games are dripping with it.

   And yeah, sometimes that's great, but lately I've grown numb to it all. It's ridiculously easy to end a virtual life nowadays and tbh it's boring.

   Long story short I'm playing Arkham Asylum and loving it. No easy neck snapping, or throat slitting, just Batman kicking ass in a non-gratuitous way. It got me thinking of how few games offer this option... Not many.

   Mirrors Edge and Human Revolution spring to mind and to my mind are better games for it.

   Posted 11 months ago #

2. Phoenixblight
   Member

   "Human Revolution"

   Riiiight because getting a haymaker to the face from arms made from metal would totally not kill anyone. Not to mention the "stealth" TKO all would have really either killed someone or disabled them for the rest of their life.

   Posted 11 months ago #

3. Puggy
   Member

   Usually Metal Gear Solid games also offer the Option to not kill your opponents, as you can "knock" them all out.

   Alpha Protocol I think did not have you kill your enemies... possibly the end bosses though. Beside that, well there are some MMOs where you do not have to kill stuff (SWG and Guild Wars 2 if you can believe the reports)

   Then of course we have all the other games that obviously are not build around killing stuff. Cooking Mama... though you do kill the octopus in it :O

   Posted 11 months ago #

4. Moonwalker1982
   Member

   Why did you mention Tomb Raider? Violence for violence sake? I surely don't see it that way at all. She happens to be on a island full of crazies and they have bad intentions. Her friends get kidnapped and she needs to survive and overcome fears. I don't get why you mentioned this one.

   Posted 11 months ago #

5. polygem
   Member

   we are living in a very violent society of meat eaters, warlords, greedy politicians, bankers and so on, the industry and medicine/science still uses animal testing for absoluteley everything even though there are a lot of great alternatives...

   violent videogames do just reflect that world. they are not the root of violence. not at all.

   that said. i am very very bored by violent videogames. i am having so much more fun playing nintendo games atm.

   last of us looked great though. the violence made sense to me. they had to kill in order to survive.

   Posted 11 months ago #

6. OlderGamer
   Moderator

   Orbit you can't have a conversation like this on a core games site. Most of the people will just dismiss it and you. Would be like talking about reckless sex at a swingers party.

   I think a better question to ask would be: Are video games today in a rut?

   Cause honestly, I read and hear a lot of people telling me they are bored of most games. I don't think violence has anything to do with it. I think franchise fatigue and over exposure and an extended generational lifecicle are more likly the culprets.

   Posted 11 months ago #

7. OrbitMonkey
   Member

   Oh I don't know OG, I'm sure theirs one or two guys who won't act like I'm attacking their beloved medium ;-)

   Posted 11 months ago #

8. viralshag
   Member

   Completely unnecessary comment OG, given that most people who have replied have raised valid points related to either the question or the discussion.

   I honestly don't see what the problem is as there are many games which have violence but do not require it. I actually don't think Batman is a good example as it could still be considered violent.

   Depending on the age group playing, you have to take into consideration of how they will react to it and interpret those actions. I myself, don't even really think about all the blood and gore that I might be seeing in a game. I just think of it as progression regardless.

   However, just because I may not notice it as much in games, doesn't mean I'm desensitized to seeing real violence in the news, papers and real life.

   Going back to my point about games that have violence but don't require it - most MMOs offer you ways to play and level without you actually having to do the killing (being a healer, letting your companions fight in TOR), as well as other games such as Skyrim that you can play and enjoy without having to go on murderous bandit-killing rampages.

   There are games out there that cater to more than just killing and such. If you actually look at all the games available these days, I don't even know how you can say it's in a rut. I can't remember a time where I had such a fantastic wide choice of games to play.

   Posted 11 months ago #

9. OrbitMonkey
   Member

   Who wants to be a healer? Boring!! I'm not against violence, I'm bored with how easy it is to kill. I was playing Uncharted 3 recently and it's just ridiculously easy to kill folk.

   Nathen Drake, loveable rogue and mass fucking killer. Guy makes Dirty Harry look like a boy scout. And when your game's bodycount starts to hit the hundred mark, what's the difference between it and Saints Row?

   At least Saints Row acknowledge the daftness of a character killing with impunity.

   Posted 11 months ago #

10. DSB
    Member

    I think the difference Orbit is talking about is constructive violence versus gratuitous violence.

    Personally I think it's a question of time and place. I think non-violence is enjoyable because it makes it easier to enjoy your surroundings. It allows developers to set a lighter mood, like Portal 2. It just never gets too heavy, and at least for me, that makes me want to stick around longer.

    My favourite games of all time are the Little Big Adventure games. Your BFG in that game was a bouncy ball, and it was fucking brilliant :P

    Even in the less-than-lethal category, I thought playing something like Swat 3 or Police Quest was far more exciting in terms of actually shooting people, because you did not ever want them to die. Even if it was a total douche, you were still better off going for the legs and doing whatever else you could to keep them alive, while neutralizing them.

    It's definitely an overlooked element to games these days, and I do think that's a shame. I don't really mind violence, but sometimes I wonder what developers were thinking. Max Payne 3 isn't exactly a game that holds a lot of irony (if it did, the writing would be easier to swallow) but if you keep shooting a guy in that game, after he's dead, he'll just wallow around on both legs and take it.

    I thought that was pretty unneccessary. Instead of providing gratification that you'd killed the guy and saved your life, it just made you feel like a sick fuck for making his dead body dance like that.

    Posted 11 months ago #

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