We’re not extra surly this weekend; we’re just continuing the violence discussion from this week’s show! (At least, that’s our story.)
Q: Is the violence in games like God of War excessive or a necessary part of the experience?
Randy (@randy_wrecked): I think the violence in God of War has become part of that “brand”. There would be riots in the streets if Kratos didn’t eviscerate barge-loads of harpies, medusas and cyclopses in a new installment. Unfortunately, the developers have found themselves in a situation now where they have to continue to escalate the level of violence in each game or risk disappointing hardcore fans.
Q: The Last of Us‘s shotgun to the face: Shocking, or typical video game violence?
Paul (@spaulsandhu): Shocking. I actually FLINCHED when The Last of Us demo ended with that shotgun to the face scene. I thought it had even MORE impact with the trailer suddenly ending at that moment and not showing us the actual violence. It was a wonderfully choreographed moment that brought home the sheer brutality of the setting of the game. Sometimes what you don’t show makes the message even more severe. I think Naughty Dog did an incredible job with that demo.
Q: What’s the most violent act you’ve committed in a game?
Matt (@mkernan): The two more recent examples that jump out in my mind are from Dead Space 2 and Heavy Rain, but I can’t describe them here without spoilers. Let’s just say both are self-inflicted violence, one of which is deliberate and one that was accidental.
Q: Confession time: Are there any games you play purely for the gratuitous violence?
D.J. (@metaly): OK, it’s not purely the gore that keeps me coming back to Unreal Tournament 2004, but I’ll admit that I make a point to download the “Gibalicious” mutator every time I reinstall it, which lets you fine-tune the amount of bits that opponents explode into when you hit them with a particularly nasty weapon. I usually keep it cranked to about 50x.
Let us know what you thought of some of the graphic gameplay coming out of E3, and especially tell us if you have any violent gaming habits. We won’t judge!