Ancient Domains Of Mystery, forum overview / General / Insight
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Jonesy Registered user Liberate Te Ex Inferis Last page view: 6513 days, 10 hours, 38 minutes and 1 second ago. |
Insight Through the Barrel of a Pixelated Gun I have always found that the bastardized, marginalized genres of entertainment are the ones with the most opportunity for subversion. If you're not a fan of science fiction, you wouldn't know that a huge number of sci-fi novels are about violent overthrow of governments (oppressive ones, of course). Comic books like The Invisibles and Preacher assault mainstream cultural and religious values. Horror movies like Dawn of the Dead ruthlessly mock consumer culture and make eerie statements about the human capacity for violence. It goes on. Transgressive social commentary can be found in gangsta rap, punk rock, public access television, even personal websites. I'm not saying that these entertainment forms are always rebellious and insightful. Probably 90% of the time, they're crap. But it seems to me that since the mainstream turns up its nose at these "immature" or "low" forms of culture, that the authors of these projects can get away with saying bold, controversial things without facing harmful consequences. Which is why I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised to find bits of radical political philosophy buried in a sci-fi video game. I shouldn't have been, but I was. In most ways, Deus Ex, originally released in 2000, was both a video game and sci-fi cliche. It's 50 years in the future (yawn), and you are a bionically enhanced (yawn) secret agent (yawn) fighting terrorists (yawn) in a Blade Runner- type cyberfuture (zzzzz...). So after you complete some missions for your UN anti-terrorist task force, you begin getting clues that you are working for the wrong side. Your character realizes that the "terrorists" are actually working to counteract the oppressive plans of your employers at the UN. It wasn't till my character ended up in a Hong Kong bar plying a barkeep for information that I realized that something unusual was going on. Every time the bartender spoke, you could choose a response from several provided for you and your character would reply. The conversation was made up of these exchanges. I barely noticed when my search for clues had turned into a debate about the nature of democracy... Yes, while the bartender was arguing for safety and security, my character was offering counterarguments for the freedom of man like he was Locke or Rousseau instead of a sci-fi action hero. The conversation eventually ended, and my character again began shooting at villains and sneaking into enemy strongholds. But I continued to be impressed that the game had snuck this intellectual discourse into the middle. And I would be even more impressed by the game's conclusion. The game approaches climax as your hero has managed to enter the inner sanctum of the villains, Area 51. But you are given three different options on how to conclude the game, none of which is "correct" or better than the others, each of which will radically change the life of every person on Earth. One of your allies tells you that you should simply kill the main villain. Once destroyed, both you and this ally can use the powerful resources of Area 51 to rule Earth from the shadows, corrupt elites giving the illusion of freedom to the masses. People would have order and security, but not power or self-determination. Another ally is an advanced AI, poweful enough to control every electrical and telecommunication network on Earth. It wants you to flip some switches to give it access to the world, which it will then rule with cold computer efficiency. It offers you the chance to merge with its systems, so that its efficiency will be tempered by human sensibilities. Basically, it proposes benevolent totalitarianism. Order and security, tinged with fear and powerlessness. And finally, a third ally instructs you to utterly destroy Area 51. The base is a hub of all the world's communications and electricity. Destroying the base will lead to a "new dark age," but one in which people will not be controlled by plutocrats or dictators. People will create their own societies, not on a global scale, but on a local scale that they can actually comprehend. Technocide for democracy. "My god," I realized, "this video game is forcing me to think about the nature of government, and which form I think is the best: the corrupt corporate 'democracy' of the modern era; totalitarianism; or anarchy!" Beat that, Pac-Man! Each choice has its own ending, which concludes with an interesting and appropriate literary quote. Totalitarianism: "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."- Voltaire Corrupt democracy: "Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heaven."- John Milton, Paradise Lost Anarchy: "Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love."- Kahlil Gibran Of course I had to try all three finales to see what happened. But what was my first choice? What would Jonesy, the psychotic maniac have done if forced to choose among the three? Area 51 was atomized in a cataclysmic fusion reaction. Electric lights winked out across the globe, as final radio transmissions fuzzed out into static, and then silence. No guarantees, no happy promises. Just rebirth, and the opportunity to build my own world, our own world, from the ground up, with our own hands. "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."- Voltaire "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven."- John Milton, Paradise Lost "Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love."- Kahlil Gibran "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it."- Voltaire. "What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist."-Salman Rushdie |
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 Armada Registered user Last page view: 1233 days, 10 hours, 2 minutes and 15 seconds ago. |
Yes thats the beauty of Open ended scenarios in Video Games. And of course i totally agree with you that the "Upperclass" disregards videogames and some music forms as social or political agendas, but thats what some really make it. Rage against the machine for example Or the book series Hyperion by Dan Simmons Both a great listen or read, AND the authors/musicians view on society at the same time. |
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Kryllion Registered user Last page view: 7050 days, 15 hours, 42 minutes and 20 seconds ago. |
Holy smokes, Jonsey - great post! ~Kryllion~ Master of the Screeching Humanling |
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3763 days, 6 hours, 39 minutes and 17 seconds ago. |
Great, Jonesy, I'm going to be philosophizing about that for the rest of the day... Oh, well, probably better than daydreaming aimlessly about winning the Nobel Prize or (even harder) ADOM, for a change. Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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Jonesy Registered user Liberate Te Ex Inferis Last page view: 6513 days, 10 hours, 38 minutes and 1 second ago. |
That's really not the whole of it. In Deus Ex: IW (Invisible War) they actually combine all three endings. You merge with Helios (the AI), killing Page(the villian) in the process, but the merge goes wrong and you cause the Collapse. Then, another clone of you from the first game (JC Denton) is the main character in the sequel(which is absolute rubbish, except for the endings). There are four different endings you receive, and the most important factor that determines what ending you see is done within the last twenty minutes of the game, so saving when you get to the final level is key. Ending 1 - The Apostle Corporation's Great Advance J.C.'s vision of universal biomodification (ie, nanites and DNA slicing to make you stronger, faster, smarter, etc) becomes reality, and through a group consciousness, the world becomes the perfect democracy. Helios communicates with everyone on a personal level, allowing the world to function as a true democracy. Ending 2 - The Illuminati Light What Happens? The Earth is forever cleansed of evil, and the future is bright and clean. The Illuminati continue to control governments in a way that's positive for the people. (Dictatorship with the illusion of Democracy, using the one world Religion, the Order, to control the masses. The two main Illuminati members are the head of the WTO, and the head of the Order Church.) Ending 3 - The Flooding What Happens? Luminous Saman and the rest of the Templars seize control of the world while everyone is in panic over the flood. The Templars rule the earth with a religious totalitarianism regime. They kill anybody that has anything to do with biomodification (scientists, people who are biomodded, experiments, etc.) Ending 4 - The Ruined Earth What Happens? The Omar take over. They begin to eliminate all other groups and proceed to enforce their militaristic capitalistic ideals on everyone. They ensure that everybody is biomodded with a group consciousness. (The world has 2 centuries of war, following the end of the game, leaving the Earth as a barren wasteland. The Omar win the war, as they are so biomodded they can survive anything up to a nuclear bomb. They leave Earth and head for the stars, never to return.) I suggest you play the first game, because it rocks, but probably not the second game because it requires the computer resources of a NASA control center to run. "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."- Voltaire "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven."- John Milton, Paradise Lost "Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love."- Kahlil Gibran "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it."- Voltaire. "What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist."-Salman Rushdie [Edited 1 time, last edit on 2/16/2004 at 11:37 (GMT -5) by Jonesy] |
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Iridia Moderator on this forum YASD Last page view: 3763 days, 6 hours, 39 minutes and 17 seconds ago. |
Actually, NASA's computers aren't all that great... :P Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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Maelstrom Registered user The Knight of the Black Rose Last page view: 3124 days, 17 hours, 24 minutes and 19 seconds ago. |
Actually NASA uses mostly 486's :P A pessimist sees a dark tunnel. An optimist sees a light at the end of that tunnel. A realist sees a train. And the train driver sees three idiots on the tracks. |
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Jonesy Registered user Liberate Te Ex Inferis Last page view: 6513 days, 10 hours, 38 minutes and 1 second ago. |
No, I'm talking about the new one that they attempted to build a year and a half ago, wasted 50 million on, and then gave up on because it was taking too long. That one had a lot of stuff. Or, rather, you'd need the resources of one of those Cray-2 supercomputers that the CIA and DoD use. "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."- Voltaire "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven."- John Milton, Paradise Lost "Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love."- Kahlil Gibran "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it."- Voltaire. "What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist."-Salman Rushdie |
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Jan Erik Administrator Last page view: 4 days, 12 hours, 48 minutes and 56 seconds ago. |
Yeah, Deus Ex is great, only complaint I have is that I wasted hours on the first battle with Günther before I came to the conclution that it was a no win situation (he's unkillable at that encounter (took out all the troops and boots though)) and let myself be captured (I kept loading when I was "killed" so I didn't realise you woke up in the cell afterwards) :) My first choice was benevolent dictatorship under the AI, seemed better than fake and corupt democracy or throwing the planet back into the dark ages :P Haven't tried #2 yet though, probably will at some point though... What sort of requirements does it have? My computer is a couple of years old now, but it handeled Max Payne 2 with maximum detail settings and 1280 x 768 resolution without a hitch, though granted the games are not very simmilar. Max Payne has fairly liniar and small levels (and hardly any non hostime NPC's and no dialogye (outside cutsenes) at all), not a gazillion different routes though air vents and what not... Jan Erik Mydland HoF admin |
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Armada Registered user Last page view: 1233 days, 10 hours, 2 minutes and 15 seconds ago. |
Ahh i did the same thing Jan. I lasted quite a while against Gunther too. Those mechs were a real pain though. But they were slow, so id run around a building, come upon it from behind and whack it with my crowbar...Was out of ammo quick :P |
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Jonesy Registered user Liberate Te Ex Inferis Last page view: 6513 days, 10 hours, 38 minutes and 1 second ago. |
Basically, Deus Ex:IW is nearly impossible to run on PC. Sometimes, on a older system, it'll run fine, but on a brand new one, it'll run like crap. There isn't any real midpoint to it's quirkyness, either it runs well, or it doesn't. The patch didn't fix all that much. It runs fine on my computer, but that's all I can say. The endings are the only real reason why you'd want to stick through it. The gameplay is downright horrible. They took out the skill point system, and made the biomods limited to 15, down from 18 (total). Plus, all the non-melee weapons use an universal ammo system, which is total bullshit in my opinion. (Come on, a rocket launcher using the same ammo as a pistol?!). The plotline isn't all that great either. The physics is downright atrocious, you can whack a body with a chair and the body will go flying 10 feet. It doesn't show that much difference between a 'little' stimuli and a lot. (I spent about an hour throwing flaming bins at people, watching them catch on fire and throwing chairs into ceiling fans). Overall, I'd say it's one of those games you rent (or for PC, you download). It's about 8 hours long. I'm not spending my money on a 8 hour FPS game that is horrible. If I wanted to do that, I'd play Daikatana. "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."- Voltaire "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven."- John Milton, Paradise Lost "Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love."- Kahlil Gibran "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it."- Voltaire. "What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist."-Salman Rushdie [Edited 1 time, last edit on 2/17/2004 at 20:39 (GMT -5) by Jonesy] |
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Jan Erik Administrator Last page view: 4 days, 12 hours, 48 minutes and 56 seconds ago. |
Hmm, yeah I've heard that it's not as good as the first one... I'll defenently not pick it up while it's new... Max Payne 2 also have some physics problem (it uses the "CHAOS" engine), bump into a cardboard box or chair and it's likely to fly across the room like a projectile, especialy if you hit it from the "right" angle. Most of the time it seems to work ok though. A lot less interaction though, short of opening doors you can't realy do much... Hitting people with doors is funny too by the way. At one point I was in someone's appartment and opened a cuppboard while some old lady was walking close by and the door hit her on the face and sent her flying 2-3 meters backwards o_O (she didn't seem to mind though, just got back on her feet and went about her business). The "ragdoll" system from the corpses is quite good though, it's always irked me the way dead people tend to stick trhough walls or lie straight out into thin air if they fell near a ledge or stair or someting. In MP2 they will fall down, bounce and roll realisticaly without arms and legs (or more) sticking though walls or "magicaly" lying, seemingly in thin air. Jan Erik Mydland HoF admin |
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Jonesy Registered user Liberate Te Ex Inferis Last page view: 6513 days, 10 hours, 38 minutes and 1 second ago. |
Remember turrets from the first game? In the second, you can control them with Bot Domination. The thing is, once the people are dead, and you keep shooting the bodies, they jump up like 20 feet from the machine gun blasts. Oh yeah, one of the more unnerving things is the enemies don't do anything when you hit them with a bullet (Ie, don't flinch, or go 'Aarrrgh!' or stuff like that). "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."- Voltaire "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven."- John Milton, Paradise Lost "Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love."- Kahlil Gibran "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it."- Voltaire. "What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist."-Salman Rushdie |
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Illumi Unregistered user |
(This is odd, i thought HK people being spoiled in an ultra-safe city would love freedom more than anything...) Btw i personally hate living in the first ending...democracy isn't the answer for everything. A world need sadnesses and sorrows and unfairnesses to push people to search for their dreams. Even if it is inacquirable. |