Hi all! During the time that we played video games, we have already killed hundreds of thousands of dragons, monsters, bandits and other all kinds of creatures. For the purpose of defense, of course, because in most cases we simply did not leave any other choice. Starting from an early age, in Mario we pressed the evil mushrooms of Gumba, beat the aliens at Duke Nukem, crushed demons at DOOM and shot fascists at the Medal for Courage. Of course, all this is a pod and, no matter who said anything, it did not have any negative impact on the psyche on us. But at one point something has changed. We have changed, and with us and games. Probably matured or something else. There were such games as Fallout, Thief, Gothic and Myst, to kill in which it was not always necessary or not at all necessary. In “To the Moon” (and not only) we thought about the price of one human life. Yes, the author composed it and, nevertheless, we took the story of it seriously. In The Last of US, we felt how to lose and find a loved one. Sometimes we were given a choice to be good or bad in the game, and, choosing a righteous path in the gameplay, we showed our best human qualities. About these games will be discussed in my today’s blog.
There is such a statement in the Bible: “And if you hit you one cheek, substitute another” (the phrase is torn from the context and in its full form implies evil to answer good). What will happen if this advice is followed by an average video game of which you play? Right. He has health and you will lose. In video games, this does not work (and in life is also not always). Life is a struggle and video games about the same. We repulse our offenders or compete for the championship. Any good and popular video game, one way or another, includes fights, battles, battles on swords, jumping on the heads of enemies or shooting. And, despite this, in video games, as in the works of other areas, you can find humanism. Enemies can be neutralized without murder or bypass them. The game can be held with a minimum of victims or the game itself contains a certain humanistic message.
Positive characters as a role model.
Have you noticed that playing for the character in the video game, you unknowingly began to behave like him? If in the plot the main character is positive, the player tries not to harm civilians and addresses them kindly. If the role of a negative character is assigned, then the players do not disdain to perform vile actions and relate to virtual little men cruelly.
"The pressure was too large, and I sank to their level" -says Max Payne, if the player kills the guard at the Metro station "Ovo-Street". This shows that the character did not expect such an act.
Of course, I only assume that most players do the same as I do. I did not conduct any surveys. Nevertheless, it seems to me that many will agree with this simple remark.
For example, playing for Tommy Angelo in a video game "Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven", I unconsciously behaved extremely educated and prudent. He drove the car carefully, did not go to the red light and during the chase he tried not to crush any pedestrian, even if their detour led me to a meeting with a brick wall. Despite the fact that the main character of the game rotates in the cruel criminal world and kills the bandits, and sometimes the police (as in that segment on the roof, after the explosion in the hotel), he tries to act correctly in his life and does not change his moral principles. The game will present Tommy Angelo as a very good person who simply ended up in the wrong place. In the gameplay outside the player’s gameplay, they are not forced to imitate the character of this hero. You do not have to be just as positive in the game itself. Nevertheless, I, probably, to many, are more familiar to reproduce the character of the protagonist in the gameplay. And in general it would be strange to arrange lawlessness in the streets after Katsenen with the good and noble Tommy Angelo.
The exact opposite I noticed in "Grand Theft Auto v", playing for Trevora Phillips. I definitely unconsciously adapted to the established nature for this character. If in the mafia during the chases I tried not to bring down pedestrians, even at those moments when it was almost impossible to avoid, then in the role of an alarm the driving style automatically became crazy and cruel to all living things. Moreover, this was clearly done not on purpose and did not depend on any circumstances. Somehow, imperceptibly for myself, having accelerated the fullest, I crash into a random car, then I throw out a virtual driver from it and arrange a fight with him in the middle of a lively road and all this, well, well, you understand, that is what the sail Phillips would have done.
Of course, in the first and second case, all this is a good. I made the following conclusion for myself: a well -prescribed video game character, whether it is positive or negative, unconsciously for the player becomes an example of how to behave in the game world.
This kind of unconscious ropley character video games can be felt in many games.
Probably, especially beloved heroes of virtual https://slotuna.co.uk/mobile-app/ worlds become examples of how to behave not only within the framework of the game, but also in life. Maybe. I definitely can’t say this. Sometimes I noticed that some girls (or guys) who like to play for strong female (or male) characters and behave quite cleverly and resourcefully in life. You don’t have to go far for an example, look at the sincere and great love of Daur Avidzba for Lara Croft and you will understand everything.
But what can be said for sure is that giving useful advice to others, even playing for an extremely noble hero, is very difficult ..
In the video game Yakuza 5 Kazumi Kirya, working as a taxi driver, often encounters ordinary good people who are prevented by the bandits from living. The hero helps out of trouble, both his friends and people, whom he simply accidentally collided on the streets of the city. In one of the plot game videos, Kazumi Kirya in a dispute with the lieutenant of the Yakuza clan pronounces the following words: “For you, the path of Yakuza is the path to death. For me, the path of Yakuza is the path to life ". This character is full of heroism, mercy and courage, like the other four active heroes in the game, for which we play. Well, isn’t it an ideal role model?
Finally, we have three big games about one of the most popular characters in pop culture, about Batman, who, as everyone remembered well after the movie of Christopher Nolan, never kills. IN "Batman: Arkham asylum" And "Batman: Arkham Knight"Our hero performs justice with fists without bloodshed. IN "Batman: Arkham City"He was joined by his criminal girlfriend" Woman-Cos ", which in turn also follows this rule. And if criminals are armed with firearms against our heroes, players can use their abilities in dexterity, secrecy and cunning.
Kindness and compassion in games.
So, let’s figure out what “humanism” actually is in the broad sense of the word. To do this, we turn to the dictionary. One of the closest synonyms of the word humanism is humanity. Synonyms for the word “humanity”: kindness, sensitivity, responsiveness, sincerity, sympathy, etc.D. Therefore, games in which the player can truly test or show these qualities in at least one or more game moment are also not devoid of humanism. I’m right? It seems to me that yes.
You know how they say: "Sometimes animals have more humanity than people".
In the video game "Shelter»From the 2013 Might and Delight Studio, the player is managed by the mother-barshuh, who cares about his offspring. The goal of the game to migrate during the advancing colds from one territory to another. This is an adventure video game where the player needs to look for food, hide with the cubs from birds of prey and overcome obstacles. On the way to meet even a segment with a forest fire. Alas, but despite the stylish visual solution and an unusual concept, it is quite short and linear, the gameplay is repeating, and the scenery is poor in paints. However, Shelter manages to make the player feel what it feels to be a parent and worry about his children. Just read the reviews in Steam. It is clearly evident that people were sincerely imbued with this video game and were moved by the local history. In general, Shelter turned out to be pretty and sweet. The authors managed to recreate the authentic behavior of these animals and the sounds made by them.
By the way of animals. In some video games, assistance to our smaller brothers is also rewarded in the game itself. In "Biohazard 4" the wolf saved by the player will help him in a difficult battle with a very aggressive El Gigante.
The ability to forgive your enemies in a meaningless and merciless war is also humanism. In the video game Suikoden 2 The player will stand in front of the dilemma (and more than once), show mercy or execute captive soldiers. In the end, both you and they simply fulfilled their military duty. At this moment, the fact that opponents did not know that they fought on the side of the vile traitor of their homeland will also play at this moment. Upon learning the truth, they will take the side of the player. Of course, only if he wants it.
The commander of Kib and his son Klaus can join the player’s army, but may not join, having lost their heads. In fact, it is bad to act in this case unprofitable in terms of military strategy. It is clear that with such experienced warriors to win the battlefield will not be as difficult as without them.
The shooters are full of humanism.
Are there such shooters? – You ask. Yes! – I will answer. At least two I know. Special Weapons and Tactics 4 Or briefly Swat 4 From the 2005 Irrational Games studio. This is the so -called game in the Smart Shooter genre, where the skill in the team is welcomed, a carefully developed strategy and strong nerves. For the completion of the tasks, each of which takes place on a certain location for him, the player receives a rating. The best rating is 100/100, which, however, is sometimes oh how difficult it is. To receive the highest rating, the player must neutralize all opponents on the map without murders using only non -lethal weapons and handcuffs. For a clear example, see how our Stopheimians tried their hand at this amazing toy. Cry!
I can’t help but take this case and not joke. At that moment Ivan Loev Thought (in the voice of Max Payne): "The pressure was too large, and I sank to their level". Lul.
If without jokes, then the pressure on the team of operatives is really large. One little mistake can cost the whole team of your friends. Opponents attack without warning, quickly kill and can deceive the player, pretending to give up by putting one weapon to the ground, after which they took another from behind. Nevertheless, Swat 4 is one of the few fascinating fps games that you can go through without killing anyone.
Another “humanistic shooter” (by the way, also from the studio of Irrational Games) – “BIOSHOCK"Does not need a presentation. In this video game, moving according to the plot, the player needs to save or take the lives of monstrotive girls who go under the protection of monsters, collecting a narcotic substance from corpses called "Adam". Bioshock offers three endings, one of which is good, and the other two are respectively bad, but are somewhat different from each other. A good ending contains not only an extremely sentimental and touching gaming video, but also a rather unusual reference.
If the player saved the little sisters during his passage, a geneticist scientist who fled from the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz (Nazi, well, you understand), named Bridget Tenenbaum will express his gratitude. When the player will rise on the elevator in Fenthaus Frank Fontaine in the suite of Mercury, she will say: “They say that saving one life is like saving a whole world”. Actually, this moment.
*By the way, this is an official reference, so if you did not know this, then now, now you know.
I could mention in the text about the video game "Postal 2", but did not do this. Now I will explain why. Yes, it can be passed by a “pacifist”, but, firstly, I do not know a single person who would play it like that. Secondly, she is very, very vulgar and there is nothing humane in it. Thirdly, despite the fact that the game seems to be (because I am honest, not sure) can go without murders, the game does not push you to this. For example, in a very gloomy and cruel action horror "The Suffering", The player can show humanity to the characters that meet him on the way. There it will have some kind of meaning in the plot and a little in the gameplay. Still, in such cases, the game should encourage the player for peaceful actions. "Postman in a square" does not do this. Rather, on the contrary, with all her appearance, the player pushes the player to violence. Therefore, it does not fit.
In general, the theme of humanism in video games is not so common. What to say there if hers Gandhi (more precisely, his virtual prototype) threw nuclear bombs at neighboring states because of a bug in one of the games of the series "Civilization". Nevertheless, what we have, for the most part, surprisingly amazing video games. If you know more, report this in the comments. What game moments come to your mind at the mention of the word "mercy"? Thank you for your attention.