Play The Killer, Then Ask Yourself, 'What Kind of Person Am I?'

I wasn't affected by the game until at the end when the guy was tumbling after you shot him, and I saw the first of the other bodies and realized it was a mass grave.

It helped that going in I knew a little bit about the Khmer Rouge and the killing fields.

Is this a test to see if someone's a psycho? I walked all the way and shot in the air.... I don't know why.

This to me is a prime example of why video games are classified as art.  There is no back story for who you are, where you are, where you're going or who is in front of you.  But it sparks a reaction none the less.  Sure some of it is pretty obvious, but after a prolonged journey (which is there for a reason, if you just choose at the start, there is no impact, you can just replay it and see the other ending) and at the end of it you choose how it ends.  Its a perfect blend of feeling for who you are and the difficult decision that you have to face.  Why is that person in front of you?  what did he do?  why do I have to do anything to him?  Sure these are all rhetorical, but if you think about these things, they take true meaning.  I dont see anywhere where someone said this game was 'fun' or 'exciting'.  If you think its an artsy fartsy POS, then I feel truly sorry for you.   We live in such a secluded world that we don't understand what Cambodia or any third world county is like.  Or even just a certain segment of their history or culture is about.  
 
I thank Patrick for having the gumption to write something that has a lot of emotional backing behind it.  He has opened up Giant Bomb as something more than just 'the place I go to laugh about bad games and listen to a podcast.'  Maybe some people don't like that, but I do and I hope he continues. 

Great article, but all I could think about while moving forward to music is that Techno Kitten Adventure was a way better game.

great article and great game. The moment we as gamers define what a game is it's all downhill from there. Interactive experiences or video games whatever you want to call them, it's trying to do something different and that you Jordan Magnuson and Patrick Klepek for introducing me and others to this.

Five words struck me hard while i was "playing" the game: Incrediblely pretentious and horribly lazy.

A hit and miss Patrick......

I appreciated it for sure... and I found a new artist that I like.. so I'm 2 for 2     hooray!

Another great article! I love to see coverage of these kinds of games and issues, and I agree that the medium (though not necessarily the industry) stands to benefit a lot from experiments like this "nongame"

We're in agreement there, even if I understand the precarious balance, as ultimately games need to make money.

I disagree that games need to make money.

A parasitic trekker who can't program made an unbelievably shitty "game". If you want to see shit about how fucked up Cambodia was, go watch The Killing Fields.

Thank you for this Patrick. It's awesome to have someone here showing us these extraordinary experiences.

Honestly, I thought the presentation of this 'piece' was pretty lazy. I thought of at least half a dozen ways that could have made a stronger impact, other than an excruciatingly long and needless walk. I understand that contemplation is one of the strongest ways to drum up emotion, but only having to hold space made me rest my head in my hand rather than contemplate the ways that I would put a bullet in the dude. also the tiny pixel art made it hard to grasp any context. is this dude I'm going to execute black, or does he have a bag over his head? am I in a forgen country or am I about to rob a bank? Why the hell should I care where that field is? and after the confusing and boring walk then it gives me context, so much for that contemplation. basically it's a waste of time, don't play it, read a text book and you'll get the same effect.

@JohnRabbit said:

We're in agreement there, even if I understand the precarious balance, as ultimately games need to make money.

I disagree that games need to make money.

The people who make them need that money to make a living, and provide themselves and families with basic needs. You may not need to eat at McDonalds, but the poor guy that loses his job sure needs that money he was getting until he stopped being paid to flip burgers. It's hard to say if anything is really "needed" because there is always something connected to that thing.

@StrikerTheLizard said:

Did you castrate and burn 10 jews in your basements or why are you writing these "thoughtful and emotional" articles? How about VIDEO GAMES. I don't give a F about some Indonesian bloke dealing with the loss of his dog by playing Rapelay. Get a life.

Then don't click on the article that is clearly that. If you want a site dedicated to only what you give a fuck about, then go hire some poor saps to suck your dick and give all your favorite games glowing 5 star reviews. You aren't the only one coming to this site, and many of us in the community enjoy this stuff. It's not like your getting this instead of the newest juicy scoop. You aren't even a subscriber and you want them to cater just to you? lol.

Man, it must be tough living in a world filled with so many people that enjoy the box.

@MordeaniisChaos said:

@JohnRabbit said:

We're in agreement there, even if I understand the precarious balance, as ultimately games need to make money.

I disagree that games need to make money.

The people who make them need that money to make a living, and provide themselves and families with basic needs. You may not need to eat at McDonalds, but the poor guy that loses his job sure needs that money he was getting until he stopped being paid to flip burgers. It's hard to say if anything is really "needed" because there is always something connected to that thing.

I didn't say the creator's don't deserve to be rewarded for their creations, I said I disagree that games need to make money. Turn a profit. Line the pockets of a useless middleman who does absolutely nothing. Should art make money? Is art a product to be consumed?

Don't answer those questions because they're outside the purview of this article. The point I'm trying to raise is that its foolish to think all games everywhere should turn a profit in order to justify their existence.

Didn't emotionally strike me that hard. But at the same time I get what it's trying to do. I tried to make the Killer commit suicide, but unfortunately that just counted as shooting into the air. I didn't think of myself as the killer at any point, I thought of him as any guerrilla leading someone to their death. Then with the music playing I felt like this killer who was essentially walking forever, didn't want to commit to killing his prisoner, so in my mind he had just as much sadness as the prisoner he was holding, he either led this guy to his death or released him(regardless of what outcome that may imply) and face repercussions he could not escape. So I decided to put him out of his own misery.

Why, Patrick? Why would you spoil in the article title the one thing that would affect me in this experience?

The implied story telling is lazy. I don't care what the creator was trying to accomplish, fact is he is telling a story through an interactive medium. Its a shallow story, and barely interactive.

If you have a meaningful story to tell, you should write a book.

I hardly see how the goofy pixel art compliments the serious nature of "the story".

In this case, it's "faze", not "phase". 
 
Also, yay nongames.

@JohnRabbit: Profit is needed to invest in future operations. That money has to go somewhere, pay someone. Especially if you try and put out a game without a publisher, or start one without a publisher, you need money to start that project, and even if you have a publisher or financial backing, it's not going to pay for everything.

Have fun being a hipster though, my hat goes off to you.

@MordeaniisChaos:

apparently "hipster" is internet code-language for "someone who doesn't agree with what i'm saying".

you're not even seeing the point of my original post. artists should be rewarded for their art. the reward in this case, is money (or fame, respect, whatever). i just disagree with patrick's sentiment that games "need to make money" in order for them to be successful as games. games "need to make [their creators] money" in order for them to be successful business ventures. if you're comfortable with art and entertainment being dictated by lawyers and accountants by all means continue to teach lessons in economics 101.

it wasn't until I stopped walking that I realized I was the one holding the gun. I seriously thought the entire time I was the one walking waiting to killed. 

I'm a sucker for games like these, I'm reminded of the weird game Passage.

Edit: nvm, should've read it better, haha

Holding space sucked.....little emotionial impact at the end, as I was busy nursing my poor finger.

Why does Patrick love this "game" so much? He's written about it before. Sometimes I feel like he tries too hard to write 'moving' or thought provoking articles that often result in a waste of words. 
 
Just my own opinion of course, but there it is. I dig his news contributions to the site, some better than any GB news content in the past, but the other half is poop like this. 
 
FIN.

I put this in the same category as "One Chance". They're both great the first time you play it. They're nice experiments, and it'll be interesting if these kinds of games are realized on a bigger scale. But for now they're just experimental flash games. 
 
Also, I don't know why, but this suddenly made me think of hipsters.

Interesting experience and a clever way to convey the message. Reminds me of a 'game' I played a while back; it gave you one screen, a cross-hair and a stick figure against a wall. If you shoot, you get a game over and when you reload the guy is always dead thereafter.

For this I shot in the air at the end.

This story has really brought out a lot of small minded, rude and aggressive people. If you don't agree with the story, or don't like the game then great. Forums are here for people to debate things like this but the amount of obnoxious, spiteful comments from people who don't even want articles like this written make me sad.  
 I didn't think The Killer was particually amazing, but good God, the rest of the internet is full of cut and paste, PR driven gaming "news." Patrick and the whole Giant Bomb crew seem to be trying to broaden their, and our horizons and I am staggered to think this angers people.

Made an impact on me, that's for sure. For those who argue about needing "gritty realism" to evoke some emotional response try reading a book or a poem - the ones without pictures.

For me, in terms of gameplay for lack of a better word, I got two things from it. First I played cautiously, prodding the figure until the end. I fired in the air feeling pretty proud of myself until I was informed that had I made that decision in real life, I would have been shot as well. I started to think about Cambodia and all I've seen and read.

I started again, this time driving the figure forward without stopping, thinking about what I would do when I got to the Killing Fields again. We didn't make it. I jump out of my seat. My heart didn't stop racing for about a minute. I think about all the explosions in games I've played, the atmosphere that Battlefield 3 will bring and how mundane it really is.

I think games can be so much more, I would love to see what a mind like Peter Molyneux or Ken Levine could do interms of interaction. I doesn't matter if the story is fact like this or fiction. It's about the interaction and response and so far games have required very little from us.

Articles like this always make me sad, because when I'm finished reading them I scroll down too far and see the comments and realize that most Giant Bomb users, and the vast majority of people playing video games, are either unable or unwilling to have this discussion.
 
Hell, most of them are probably unaware that there is a discussion to be had.
 
And that's almost as depressing as the end of this nongame/game/thing.

this thank you patrick for a very good article i played and shot in the air but afterwards seeing one spared cannot compared to the millions left there dead the music mixed in well with the atmosphere i get what the designer and make of this had in not to make play around but to endure to really think about everything that is going on around you wanting you to open your mind more 

@JohnRabbit: No, you literally just sounded incredibly hipstery with your language and sounding like a hippy. Which I don't disagree with.

And I did misunderstand somewhat. Your right that to be successful as a game it doesn't need to make money. However. He never said as a game he just said they need to make money. Which is true. Everything has it's value, and money is important, like it or not. Art is obviously much more than something to be sold, but that doesn't mean artists need money any less. In fact, they don't get nearly ENOUGH money. All the money in artistry is in digital arts, in fact. Obviously there is more value to art than what I'm willing to pay for it, but that doesn't make the money unimportant.

That was boring.

I haven't read any like the articles Patrick Kleppeck writes before he came to GiantBomb, and I got to say, this is what gaming press needs!

I'm glad that GB is willing to spend time disseminating and discussing experiments and art pieces like this. Despite what the trolls and troglodytes may say, I think the burgeoning space for thought experiments like this and Jason Rohrer's works is a noteworthy and fascinating offshoot to the video game culture we all love (or love to hate).
 
I hope you continue to write about things like this, Patrick.

Made an impact on me, that's for sure. For those who argue about needing "gritty realism" to evoke some emotional response try reading a book or a poem - the ones without pictures.

Sure, artists or people in general are free to use interactive video as they like like any other medium. But yeah, like the creator said himself, it's doesnt feel like a game.

That said, it feels a little shallow (as in real short and lacking detail) as well. But if it gets people interested in the subject I guess that's enough.

Simple video (documentary) and anthropological studies (like ethnographies) are probably best suited for this type of documentation and exposition. Interactive mediums are OK for expressing emotion.

Ran into a mine.

I wouldn't call it a not-game... I would rather call it a not-entertainment. Saying it's not a game would remove part of the elements that make this piece of software so impressing.

I went in blind, and didn't really notice the part where you said the game takes place in Cambodia-- so the combination of the slow pan down and the reveal text afterwards were pretty powerful.

People ask whether games are ever going to get more "serious--" and yes, heavier ideas are going to continue to find their way into mainstream games, here and there-- but independent projects like this are always going to be where actual statements get made, precisely because they don't need to operate under the requirements of being a game. They can totally undermine your expectations. And that's why I'm always glad to see them highlighted-- even on a decidedly un-heavy, feel-good site like this one. So yeah, great article.

Both are prisoners of their own world.
 
If this does happen in Cambodia and if I have a decision to end it all, I would without a second thought. Unfortunately I don't have that power, the only decision I can make is whether I dwell on this or not.  The thing is: I will still live my life, do I need to dwell on this? No, life has given me ample amount of stress already.
 
No matter what I decide, the outcome will be the same (just like the choice of the man with the gun, same outcome).

Great scam this guy is running.  Kickstart cash to travel the world and make shitty flash nongames.
 
I gave his game as much consideration as he did making it - none.  Craftsmanship is worth something dude.  Get some skills.

Hands down funniest game of 2011.

Another Flash game I've played reminded me of this.  
It's called One Chance, and the game will lock you out after you finish it, giving your decisions real meaning. 
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/555181 

I think where this (non-)game succeeds and fails is at the heart of the whole thing. It's a creation that reflects one person's idea of what something was through a song that sets the whole pace. I would consider the idea that the killings were probably a lot less melancholic and more stressful and brutal. The walking, as noted by some, is a bit of a chore and personally I figured I was the victim. So when I finally stopped and it told me to aim I realized who I was. As for things having to be fun or games because they're interactive, I personally don't think "games" have to be "fun", but they should be engaging and pique my interest in some way.

But at the same time, just because an interactive experience is about something tragic, doesn't mean it's free from criticism.

 this was really interesting for me. i shot into the air because i was all caught up in the music emotionally.
 

however the reviews on newgrounds made me realize how dumb so many people are. let me more or less  paste a good example:
 
0/10 "boreing"
 
"i dont get it sense all i do is hole space and we walk, when do i get to do anything. this is not even fun, 0/10"
 
another one was the dude asking how to shoot.
 
 it still baffles me that people are unable to understand stuff like this. how can one even function in society without any kind of comprehensive capabilities. even reading the comments here i see some people who just don't get it.

Absolutely astounding that a simply pixel art "notgame" with a well selected music track can make more of an emotional impact than 99% of the stuff Hollywood puts out in the same category.

That was surprisingly powerful. People like  xzibition8612 are the reasons why we don't see more of this. It's sad really. 

What I found interesting was how most people that hated the game, shot the guy at the end.

Interesting indeed...