At the moment I can't think of one, although I'm not saying there aren't any. The closest I can think of is Bioshock, but I never finished it and from what I did play, it didn't seem to be unique in its message. Like I said though, I didn't finish it.
It's kind of disappointing, because I feel like games can't be regarded as a serious artistic medium until developers learn to integrate intelligent explorations into the experience. At the same time, it's promising to see the quality of storytelling take large strides with games like Mass Effect and Enslaved.
Are there any games with significant political/social commentary?
" Noby Noby Boy is a brilliant commentary on the arduousness and frustrations of young adulthood, losing a father and regaining hope in life. I tell you I can not play that game without getting a tear in my eye. "Indeed, I can also see a harsh critique on the proxy like effect of technology on 21st century society in that game, really masterful.
Gaming is not an auteur medium. Movies, books, and the like can do things like jab at society or policy because it possible for a single person to be in creative control of the work. Even most indie games are such a colossal effort to create mechanically that any edge or bite to their design is dulled by the time they are completed. Holding the idea ahead of gameplay is suicide, so developers opt to work for gameplay (most of the time).
My strongest off-the-dome examples would be Tropico, Metro 2033, the recent GTA games, and MGS4.
" AAA games are the summer blockbusters of the industry. You are looking at the wrong games. "Which are the right ones?
@ahoodedfigure said:
" @Purple_Proletarius: The thing that prevents me from coming up with some examples is your use of "significant," since that could wiggle in either direction. Games tend to live or die based on popularity and gameplay, too, so you may have some games that go a little too far in the commentary direction and wind up alienating people, cutting into their potential audience and making them less well known. Some are even reviled for being too preachy, especially if they don't have the gameplay to back it up. "Merging enjoyable gameplay with sophisticated storytelling is very, very difficult. Which is why it hasn't been successfully attempted.
Games can't exactly report on what is happening in the world in a meaningful way, so no.
But really the answer is: Comix Zone.
" The Metal Gear Solid games. They're all essentially about throwing messages of morality through your face. "It's from those games that I learned not to trust nano-machines. Or vampires.
"Stephen Colbert's future game that's due out in 2011 will have it. "
O_O Don't give me a heart attack on false information.....please tell me this is real....
" @Abyssfull said:That's why we should be thankful! Won't be learnin any da shiz from skool!" The Metal Gear Solid games. They're all essentially about throwing messages of morality through your face. "It's from those games that I learned not to trust nano-machines. Or vampires. "
The best political/social commentary in video games can probably be found on the radio staions in the GTA games.
As a whole I's say that the GTA series has the best stab at it, but it's not something that games have done well.
" @Jimbo said:Fuck if I know, but you aren't gonna find it in a AAA game anymore than you'll find it in Transformers 2 (Bioshock being the possible exception that proves the rule). Indie games sometimes try it at least, though I still don't know if I'd go as far as to call it 'significant'. Try reading Rock, Paper, Shotgun; they love that shit." AAA games are the summer blockbusters of the industry. You are looking at the wrong games. "Which are the right ones?"
Most, but not all." AAA games are the summer blockbusters of the industry. You are looking at the wrong games. "
To Answer The OP's Question:
- BioShock
- Grand Theft Auto IV
- Metal Gear Solid franchise (Behind all the wackiness of the plot, the game provides a preachy anti-nuke message)
- Modern Warfare 2 (It provides political commentary, in the most nonsensical form one can imagine in a military themed shooter)
- Fallout 3
This seems close to the games as art discussion that gets thrown about allot. It really depends how you want to look at the situation. Most games are conduits for wish fulfilment, in and of themselves giving a commentary on the sections of society that play them. However this is an indirect way of looking at them and they weren't designed with a social or political statement in mind.
There are some notable exceptions to the rule if you look for them. For instance the interesting focus the "would you kindly" aspect of Bioshock placed on our tendency as players to blindly follow the instructions that we are given within the structure of a game. Metal Gear Solid lays on the rather heavy handed and over laboured anti war message but it is still there as a political statement, I guess. There are some interesting ideas littered around the industry they are just well hidden.
Really other than the typically preachy attempts at simple morality commentary made by some Japanese mainstream games you would be best served by diving into the indie development scene.
On the other hand there is the point that \Games are better served by inserting their political and social commentary subtly within the game and making it less obvious. Unlike Films that occupy a relatively short amount of time and can be clear and direct within the short time given, games are worlds. Crafting a world with a particular message in mind could easily break the whole experience. The best example of Games with a social message wound into the world itself would be second world war shooters.
Often touted as being historically accurate second world war shooters have far more in common with the propaganda of the time than any actual accurate and un bias look at the people involved in the world. Its easy and easy for us to accept. All Nazi's were automatically evil thus shooting hundreds of them is a completely guiltless experience. Its a two dimensional world that simply does not reflect reality. Come to think of it even games like modern warfare are based around modern day propaganda ideals. Terrorists are all bad with evil intentions thus its ok to shoot them.
Actually I take it all back. Most AAA games are incredibly successful at commenting on one extremely important aspect of Politics and Society.
Humans are incredibly good at dehumanising other humans in order to aleviate any sensation of guilt they feel at killing other humans.
Also Zombies are the perfect Metaphor for the way we perceive "Enemies" .
In conclusion.... Er Zombies are the ultimate game device and Zombie games win?!?!?!
" @Purple_Proletarius: Well I would argue that it may well have been, but because I don't know what you think is significant it's hard to say very much beyond that. "Alright, if I define significant as unique, thought-provoking, and not an afterthought, what would you say?
MGS 1 (War be bad)
Bioshock (Science for the sake of science...among others)
Shadow of the Colossus (personal need and greed)
there are more I'm sure...I just don't want to think at said moment. You won't find scathing satire in games yet like you will in movies or books, the medium is still to young
Dead Rising has a few subtle jabs at the obesity epidemic in America as well as American consumerism but it's nothing you can't find in Dawn of the Dead.
@GhostlyEnigma: I'm going to disagree with all of those if we're going to use my definition of significant. But I'm curious to hear what you feel Fallout invokes.
@Manatassi: I've played my share of indie titles over the years and while I admire the effort, it always returns to the issue of crafting an engaging product without the benefit of a budget. And while I don't disagree with the "indirect" argument, I feel that's some weak meta bullshit.
Interestingly enough I just watched this video :
I mean seriously. Everything is a commentary on something. Games have been commenting on society since their inception. Just because it's not spelled out as blatantly as in a game like Metal Gear Solid, where that game literally, fucking literally preaches to you about the badness of war, doesn't mean it's not there.
Donkey Kong is a commentary on Communism.
Think about it.
Red Dead Redemption definatly shows a good story regarding good/evil and how industrialisation has changed both our views of nature and the people around us.
"@GhostlyEnigma: I'm going to disagree with all of those if we're going to use my definition of significant. But I'm curious to hear what you feel Fallout invokes."Here are some examples:
- BioShock: Stem cell research
- Fallout 3 (And the entire series in general): Resource and energy consumption.
- Grand Theft Auto IV: Soulless capitalism
- Metal Gear Solid franchise: WAR IZ BAD!!!!
- Modern Warfare 2: PATRIOTISM IZ BAD!!!!
One of the problems with this idea (aside from the fact that most major games are very high-budget, risk-averse projects), is that the few games that do attempt to convey deeper messages do so in a way that's largely irrelevant to the actual gameplay.
Bioshock doesn't actually play like a Randian parable, it plays like System Shock. Metal Gear Solid may be anti-war, pro- "choose life and live" in its themes, but it sure doesn't penalize you much for snapping fifty fuckin' necks.
What will be really interesting is when more designers come up with a way to express the "message" of their games through the rules of the gameplay itself. That's the unique artistic potential that video games represent - the ability to convey a message through rules and consequences. And, to allow you to have an experience of your own, within those rules, at the same time.
What's really weird is that Missile Command pretty much did this 30 years ago, and was also a totally awesome game.
If you look hard enough, you can see messages in everything. Same with video games. Look at Modern Warfare 2. Yeah, most of the story is completely bonkers, but the story of General Shepard could be taken as a parable for the idea that 9-11 was staged by the US government. Not saying it was intended that way, but that's how some people took it.
So, yes. Every game.
First Deus Ex had long political/sociial arguements, usually to posit something. What was so unusual was the setting, a collection of conspiracy theories such and fringe beliefs, such as aliens. These in-story became mainstream, and it was pretty intelligent setting for the game, rather than just making things loonytune. Thus black helicopters, UN new Order world domination, secret societies, good old evil plotters, and Greys from (maybe) another planet comprised the background. Within this framework were sometimes longish political arguements that deal with the issues we actually care about now, say individual freedoms vs the needs of the many, or how best to rule people for their true good, say by a benevolent dictator, or by near anarchy, or by other means. I know it's beat to death and everyone has been exposed to how deus Ex works, but this helped make Deus Ex one of the best games I ever played. It's RPG style, plot, and freedom in this world to choose also of course contributed.
"Thought provoking" depends on who is doing the thinking, and I have no way of knowing if something is an afterthought or not, but the unsuccessful Haze made ham-fisted commentary about war propaganda, how it clouds the mind and makes you insensitive to what's going on around you; Braid was about something, and therefore people had a knee-jerk reaction against it: people who've finished it say it was about the emotional entanglements of losing someone you love; A Mind Forever Voyaging was about the implications of artificial intelligence; Photopia was about the subjective experience of loss; Virtual Jihadi is a counterpoint to the hooray destroy-the-arabs style of FPS; Passage is about life in general I guess, since whatever you choose there are consequences; One Chance also underscores consequences, since you can't actually play the game again (without getting into system files or something equally involved).
All these wind up being my interpretations, or my interpretations of others' impressions, since political and social discussions tend to allow for multiple perspectives. I think if you only look at the mainstream stuff, what you'll usually find is the kind of material sort of tailor made NOT to bother people, or to bolster unadventurous majority opinions, often in bland ways that will alienate the fewest amount of people so they can get the biggest sales figures. There are plenty of games out there that are challenging in just the ways you describe, but there will always be a bit of a backlash against such games because some people use games to ESCAPE those sorts of discussions. They use them to have fun and nothing more, and get a bit irritated when they're challenged in this way. Hell, I'm like that sometimes-- sometimes I just want to let off some steam and not be preached to. But I don't think limiting game narratives is a good idea, since games can run the gamut if people will let them.
It's a bit exhausting to go through the games I've played or heard about, though, and try to imagine whether or not you might find their content significant. It's best for you to just dive in to video game media and read about stuff that's making headlines but isn't part of the usual crowd of releases. You'll find such games, since people are definitely making them, but it helps to look in places that are likely to talk about them. Rock Paper Shotgun and Destructoid tend to cover stuff that doesn't just rack up sales figures, for example.
-Bioshock franchise
-Fallout franchise
-GTA franchise
-Assassin's Creed franchise
-Red Dead Redemption
-Beyond Good & Evil
-countless adventure games such as Beneath a Steel Sky, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream
-DEFCON
-Braid
-Bully
-Red Faction franchise
-management/political simulators
-Dead Rising franchise
On the topic.
It is actually very easy to make great video games with engrossing, compelling and relevant stories.... why aren't there more of them? Let's run though a pitch meeting where your average Acme game studio meets with some high powered investors or even publisher reps.....
"Our game has a slow burn story about a man who is on the brink of discovering a cure for cancer but his troubles at home and with his wife are getting to him and he must find a way to bridge the two extremes of his life"
[The execs look at each other]
Executive 1: Does it have Space Marines?
"Well, not really. It's not that kind of game"
Executive 2: What kind of multiplayer experience are you guys envisioning for this?
"None? Why would there be multiplayer in a--"
Executive 1: Can you go ahead and take a small step to your right?
"Sure. Right here?"
Executive 1: That'll do.
[Exec 1 pulls a lever which lowers a vat of boiling water on to the game developer]
Executive 2: I think I got something. Call of Duty: Cart Racers.
[The two executives smile menacingly at each other]
The end.
Despite the fact I didn't really think the game was that great, Beyond Good and Evil would probably be the best answer. It very explicitly fits this theme; an evil government spewing political propaganda and an underground rebel group aiming to expose the truth. In fact, given the current situation with Wikileaks, this game seems sort of pertinent.
Check out some indie games; http://db.tigsource.com/
You might be interested in:
- Everyday The Same Dream
- One Chance
- Braid
- flower (I suppose it could be interpreted in a way that provides social commentary)
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