I’ve been watching live streams of Metal Gear Solid 5 lately and I have one recurring thought all the time… how is this military shooter treats it’s enemies with more regard for life than our actual police (I’m speaking about American cops, that’s my lens).
In MGS 5, it is more valuable to keep your enemies alive by Fultoning them than killing them because the enemy troops can help you at your base. Snake has an unbelievable amount of non-lethal options at his disposal, everything from knives that stun to various tranquilizing guns. Snake even has an assault rifle with rubber bullets. Not killing is an important function of the game, why can’t our police force do the same?
Also Slave. Tetris. My least favorite thing and my favorite thing combined. Not quite a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup but it’s a combination none the less. I don’t want to comment about how offensive the Slave Tetris mini-game is. It got pulled from Steam and for good reason. What I think is interesting is what Slave Tetris was trying to accomplish. Slave Tetris wanted to educate people about slavery through gaming. That’s a novel concept.
How would you make an educational game about the slave trade or other controversial topics? I imagine an adventure game, with less action and more of a narrative driven experience…but I also see the value in forcing somebody to become a slave owner and enact the awfulness by their own hand. Red Dead Redemption but in slave era USA. What about a game where you are a slave traversing through the underground railroad. This era seems like a great setting for a powerful educational gaming experience. I feel like people are afraid to make games like this because if you make a risky game that doesn’t come across as intended everyone will vilify you, the risk is not worth the reward.
Assassin’s Creed III Liberation dabbled with the time period but didn’t take the issues head on. Becoming a slave was basically a gimmick…put rags on, fit in, rags off blend into another group. It was a good “passing” simulator but not what I was looking for.
Just thinkin’… Thanks for Reading!
J3Blackgamer 