@dasakamov:Yeah it's kinda like that. The pedestrians downtown in this game are the same people I walk to work with. They represent me and people like me. So even like, hitting one with a car during a chase is like... yikes.
@robo: Yeah totally I think I'm also feeling the ludonarrative dissonance. The characters in the game are very much the young activists you see in SF. A strong sense of justice and a dumb sense of fashion. They fight for what they believe in. Only the ones in Watch-dogs fight with assault rifles.... At least with GTA the game was aware the main characters were psychopaths. But in this game, it's like you are playing happy go lucky terrorists. It's very Nathan Drake
I feel there is part of a light hearthed game in here were you pet dogs, take selfies and hack the planet. Just like... without the murder?
This game seems really strange to me and makes me kind of uncomfortable, especially because I live in the bay area. It's so strange that they have this like... punk-rock-kids-fighting-against-the-squares goofy style and attitude... and then they whip out the guns and start murdering people.
Like... I am no fan of the SFPD. But I don't want to shoot them? You know? It's one thing when it's fake GTA satire cops... but like when they are supposed to be real cops, it just feels different.
And see them walk around in recreations of the places I see every day IS cool. But then whipping out a handgun and seeing people running away in fear kinda isn't. Am I crazy here? It just feels different.
EDIT: Also I love that Dan has lived here for years and barely knows the city.
@valeo: I apologize if I came off as condescending, as those certainly weren't my intentions.
I'm not sure it is your place to tell someone what to think, or how they should think, or even how their parents 'should've' raised them. That comes off as really condescending and frankly pretty annoying.
Also, being made fun of for having 'long hair' is not the same as being made fun of for something that you literally cannot change nor should you ever want to change.
Anyway, that's just how I reacted when I read your post. You have a right to your opinion.
I feel that giving unsolicited life advice, especially to someone whom you don't know, is about one of the most condescending things you can do. I will now immediately break that rule by saying that maybe you should refrain from doing that in the future.
Articles like this and Austin's Shadow of Mordor piece really opened my eyes on just how inherently racial fantasy fiction is. Dragon Age obviously seems really aware of it, but I wonder how many writers of games, books, movies or whatever are completely oblivious to the subtext they are putting out there. Inherent racial traits (Orcs being violent, Dwarfs being greedy) seemingly paired with sentience and freewill suddenly make me pretty uncomfortable.
As a member of the white status quo, growing up I always related to the status quo humans in fantasy fiction. Every other RPG fantasy race is always so out there that I figured people would only what to play those races for fun. To roleplay as something else, something nonhuman, something alien. It never occurred to me that someone with different life experiences might actually relate to those other "races." It caused me to really reevaluate how "racial politics" are handled in these fantasy worlds. And because these conflicts seem to always be settled with violence, I'm kind of disturbed with the message that is sending.
There's something magical about the combination of Dan not knowing what ludonarrative dissonance is and him yelling 'fuck you!' while brutally snapping a unsuspecting guard's neck. :p
Can't wait to play this game. Looks great. I wanna dive through the air and punch people too!
The score is totally fair. I've run into many of these issues myself. That being said if you loved XCOM Enemy Unknown this is even better once you get the bugs ironed out.
...Also, is Giant Bomb the ONLY review site that will knock a game's score down significantly due to bugs? First Fallout now this?
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