The buzz right now is all about Bulletstorm and it has really got me thinking. You may or may not have noticed that I have written a lot of thoughts about it in the last week. The game is getting pretty strong reviews and rightly so in my opinion, but still; is it really something to be proud of? Isn't it maybe time to start going out in new directions? Stay with me on this and brace for the epic wall of text!
Videogames, as an artistic medium (yes this again and by me), are still in their infancy. Very smart and creative people are really pushing the boundaries of what a videogame is, how it can be used, how to tell a story, how to get people involved, and how to illicit a reaction. The big thing is though is that no one really has been able to really tackle a hard, sensitive issue or really push the bounds of relationships or human emotion. We have come really close and made strides, but in all, games are still seen as toys for children and ways to enact adolescent fantasies. PG-13 movies constantly feature sexual acts, but Mass Effect adds in a tasteful and mature sex scene and there is a ridiculous outcry. Videogames are and can be very violent, but they always are seen as more psychologically damaging than movies. Hell, film can get away with a lot more than games can, but why is that? Because film, during it's development as an artistic media, had the balls to expand their subject matter and continually push the envelope.
One of my favorite movies both recently and all time would be District 9. The movie works very well because it hits on a lot of fantastic levels. It has some amazing super weapons, some fantastic and suspenseful fights, and great use of limited special effects that really provide a visual spectacle. It also is an allegory for Apartheid South Africa and has a huge focus on racism, oppression, and justification of dehumanization (or desalinization?). The abuse in the film can be very difficult to watch and it touches on a lot of very sensitive subjects. Would this ever be allowed to work as a game?
The last time really edgy, and I mean a relative, sensitive, provocative topic tried to be handled by a videogame people folded to pressure and things feel apart. Extra Credits said it better than I could.
I really would love to see some brave developer really tackle a complex issue or emotion in a videogame. I'm talking racism, relationships, the human condition, difficult decisions, something other than shooting Nazi's, aliens, zombies, or all of the above. I want to see a brilliant story that doesn't have shoehorned adolescent sex appeal. I want to see a mature, sophisticated story written and told in a way where it works best as an interactive medium, and not a book, movie, or serial television show. I really want an experience that causes us to really think and be uncomfortable in a way that only mature and difficult subject matter can.
I have a feeling its an Indie developer who will have the chutzpah to do it because the major publishers just don't want to risk a little PR to advance our medium forward (and prolly make a ton of cash). We need the Pan's Labyrinth's and Up's to balance out the Kill Bill's and Die Hards.
Now I would never say there isn't room for games like Bulletstorm and Duke Nukem. I'm playing through Dead Space 2 right and thoroughly enjoying using future mining equipment to dismember creepy alien, zombie things. Granted it is a ton of fun, and isn't that the point after all? My only problem is I also want more! There is so much more possibility with videogames that hasn't been tapped into yet out of fear of controversy and fear of the unknown.
We need someone to bet on other than Duke. We need to listen and think with skill, not just kill with it. It's time to grow up a little.
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