Blood in Games

[PeePantz]

Upon reading the blood splatter section in Greg Tito's Skyrim mod guide piece ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/misc/9303-Even-More-Skyrim-Mods.3 ), I realized I rarely notice blood and gore in games anymore. I'm not sure if this is due to be being desensitized or maturation (mine or video games), but the rare instances I do notice is either when there's a gory "finisher" or when it's used to create ambiance.

When used as a finisher, the novelty wears off very quickly and I never notice the gore again. However, when used as ambiance, I tend to always notice. I'll take Skyrim as an example. When I walk into a cave and there's no one around, yet the place is covered in blood, I think "Oh shit, something has gone down. What happened here?"

I'm very curious to people's thoughts on this matter. Do you notice blood in games? Will blood and gore be a determining factor in choosing a game?

Also, I'm of the older generation when games like Mortal Kombat had huge selling points based around gore. Many games were being advertised as being the goriest or bloodiest. Back then, these games generated a ton of sales based on these marketing points. Being very young at the time, I gravitated to these violent games. What about the generation that was raised on games past this era? Was blood and gore no longer taboo and a major selling point?

 

[Swyftstar]

I don't really gravitate towards games with blood and gore anymore but then again i don't think it is used as a selling point anymore. In the past it was kind of a new novelty thing. We went ooh, not so much because it was bloody I think but because we weren't used to games being bloody. I think it has stopped being used as a selling point for the mere fact that is is bloody and gory and is more packaged in with the whole realism selling point now. For example, if I play a game where I double tap a dude's head and I don't see any blood, it kind seems silly.

 

[Scrustle]

I'm with the OP on this one. I barely notice blood and gore in games unless it's completely over the top and cannot be ignored, or used as a way to quite obviously set up a mood or scene. And I get tired of the over the top use once I've seen it a few times too. Most of the time I'm not really aware of blood because it's just everywhere, and all the time I'm very aware that it's not real blood at all anyway. It rarely behaves or looks like real blood. It most often looks exactly like what it is. A particle effect, or whatever it happens to be in any given game.

And although I never usually think about it there was one game where blood was something I was interested in when I was thinking about buying. When they were building up the hype for the release of No More Heroes 2 I discovered how it and the previous game have very different versions when it comes to blood. In the Japanese version of both games whenever you kill someone you usually see Kill Bill levels of blood shooting out of people. In the American version there is no blood and people simply turn to ash. Now, being in the UK I wasn't sure where my version fitted in to all of this. The first game had no blood, like the American one, so that lead me to be a bit hesitant about the content of the second. Not that the blood was like a huge selling point for me, I just felt that having the blood in there is how the game is supposed to be, and fits in with the whole theme of the game, and taking it out is like censorship. I didn't like that. But after I got the second recently I was relieved to find that the UK version is nice and bloody, just as it should be.

 

[him over there]

You know that's an interesting thing to think about. I think the only game I noticed it in was the no more heroes series and that's only because of the excess. Actually that's not true I noticed it in Skyrim, but only because my game had a minor bug that made all blood from characters come from there crotch. was odd but sort of funny. So I guess we are getting pretty desensitized. Probably because most movies or books when they want to emphasize violence as important or intense they add blood. this works because it's used sparingly but I can't name a videogame that wasn't a driving game or tetris that didn't have violence or combat. So iguess use blood sparingly developers... or something to that effect. Also the american version of no more heroes did have blood it was the PAL regions with the ash.

 

[Nouw]

Spoiler: Blood in videogames?

Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!

Heresy aside, I do notice blood in videogames but I don't really look at it, admire it or anything like that. I'm desensitized to video game blood, it's just a bunch of red stuff in my eyes. Of course I aim to play less bloody games when my family is around but aside from that, I don't really care about blood. It does irk me when blood looks fake however. There are cases of this in Skyrim when blood is on the floor and it looks terrible. Ruined the feeling of 'what happened here?'

Blood and gore didn't affect my gaming directly, but rather due to the fact that any blood and gore in a videogame will result in it getting a restricted rating here in NZ. Not that it matters any more.

 

[Freaky Lou]

In the Japanese version of both games whenever you kill someone you usually see Kill Bill levels of blood shooting out of people. In the American version there is no blood and people simply turn to ash. Now, being in the UK I wasn't sure where my version fitted in to all of this. The first game had no blood, like the American one, so that lead me to be a bit hesitant about the content of the second.

Uh...I played the American version of No More Heroes (first one) and there is definitely blood. A lot of blood.

 

[Woodsey]

If its used properly (assuming you're not playing something that's meant to be over the top) then you shouldn't really notice it.

 

[Random berk]

Upon reading the blood splatter section in Greg Tito's Skyrim mod guide piece ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/misc/9303-Even-More-Skyrim-Mods.3 ), I realized I rarely notice blood and gore in games anymore. I'm not sure if this is due to be being desensitized or maturation (mine or video games), but the rare instances I do notice is either when there's a gory "finisher" or when it's used to create ambiance.

When used as a finisher, the novelty wears off very quickly and I never notice the gore again. However, when used as ambiance, I tend to always notice. I'll take Skyrim as an example. When I walk into a cave and there's no one around, yet the place is covered in blood, I think "Oh shit, something has gone down. What happened here?"

I'm very curious to people's thoughts on this matter. Do you notice blood in games? Will blood and gore be a determining factor in choosing a game?

Also, I'm of the older generation when games like Mortal Kombat had huge selling points based around gore. Many games were being advertised as being the goriest or bloodiest. Back then, these games generated a ton of sales based on these marketing points. Being very young at the time, I gravitated to these violent games. What about the generation that was raised on games past this era? Was blood and gore no longer taboo and a major selling point?

The only time I ever notice blood in a game now is when its splattered against the wall. A pool of blood on the ground means nothing. The enemy is dead? Yeah, great. I already knew that. However, in Mass Effect, lets say, or Hitman: Blood Money, I feel that a blood spatter against a wall really helps the feeling that the gun in your hand does real damage. When I snipe a mercenary in the head and he goes down, thats nice. However, when I put a slug through the front of his helmet and his brain explodes out the back of his skull, thats when you feel that you really have a kickass weapon in your hand. On the other end of the spectrum you have sniper rifles like in Gears of War and Fallout 3, where you only know if you scored a hit when they fall over. You might as well be using a prop gun in some kind of pantomime.

(Actually yeah, if you get a headshot in Gears their head explodes, but that doesn't seem like the gun could genuinely do it, its just gratuitous violence.)

 

[Blue Hero]

In the Japanese version of both games whenever you kill someone you usually see Kill Bill levels of blood shooting out of people. In the American version there is no blood and people simply turn to ash. Now, being in the UK I wasn't sure where my version fitted in to all of this. The first game had no blood, like the American one, so that lead me to be a bit hesitant about the content of the second.

Uh...I played the American version of No More Heroes (first one) and there is definitely blood. A lot of blood.

I don't know, man. I played No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2, and I didn't see any blood when I chopped that guys head off. All I saw was red LEGO pieces flying everywhere.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I also don't really notice blood and gore anymore. The only times when I notice it is when it's over the top to the point of silliness, like in the Gears of War series. I do however notice when there's a distinct lack of gore. Take something like MW3, I always notice when a shot should really gib a body and it's sometimes a little distracting when it doesn't. I always hate how when I got a headshot with a Barret .50 cal the enemy's body just kind of slumps over like it got shot with a .22. I mean really?

Quite honestly, when a game uses blood properly it's not really noticeable because it's one of the peripheral details that draws you into the gameworld, and makes it real to you.

 

[Veylon]

I love my gore. It just doesn't feel like a battle unless the land is afterwards strewn with bodies and pieces of bodies laying everywhere in pools of gore. Violence should be messy, dammit!

Spoiler: Click for carnage

Unlike MW3, fallen soldiers in Dwarf Fortress are given a proper burial and mourned.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I just wish games would stop rubbing jam on my screen to indicate damage... it's summer, I'll get ants!

 

[XMark]

I think most modern games show restraint in the gore content. Blood in video games is no longer a big taboo thing that gets news coverage and widespread controversy, so games will only put in as much blood as fits within the overall feel of the game.

Although a few games kind of missed the memo. I'm thinking in particular of the last Soldier of Fortune game. I remember seeing the videos of that game when it came out and thinking it just looked like a cartoon.

 

[Leemaster777]

In the Japanese version of both games whenever you kill someone you usually see Kill Bill levels of blood shooting out of people. In the American version there is no blood and people simply turn to ash. Now, being in the UK I wasn't sure where my version fitted in to all of this. The first game had no blood, like the American one, so that lead me to be a bit hesitant about the content of the second.

Uh...I played the American version of No More Heroes (first one) and there is definitely blood. A lot of blood.

I don't know, man. I played No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2, and I didn't see any blood when I chopped that guys head off. All I saw was red LEGO pieces flying everywhere.

That's because the American version of the game is the ONLY version of the game that includes blood. Yes, even the Japanese version is censored. Observe:

 

[Robert Ewing]

I actually wish blood effects would have a lot more detail on them.

I mean, blood effects is just one of those little things that make the game better. I remember when I played overgrowth, and found that I could make bloody footsteps! And every slash I made with a sword made a realistic wound pouring with blood exactly where I hit them! It was awesome! Not to mention the blood splatter was pretty damn good.

 

[niqw]

Blood and gore are used more for visual flair than to titillate or shock. It's not really a case of expecting a fountain of blood if Mario jumps on a goomba, it's just that as games are either abstract or realistic, there is only a rare case where a game is abstract and violent. Sometimes it's just set-dressing. I expect to see gore from Doom and Mortal Kombat, it's part of the setting. Outside of that, I wouldn't notice a minute amount of blood in the average FPS or something.

 

[iseeyouthere]

I'm trying to think of a game which continues to give me that fear of the blood being everywhere.
I can't remember any though. Mainly because it is treated like blood bags thrown everywhere like water ballons.

I kinda blame God of War... at first it was "WHOAAWESOMEBlOODGOREEXPLOSION", but then it moved onto "What the heck is that red stuff coming out of the enemies?" because it didn't look or feel like blood anymore.

 

[Freaky Lou]

I don't know, man. I played No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2, and I didn't see any blood when I chopped that guys head off. All I saw was red LEGO pieces flying everywhere.

Well, tbh. But it fits well with the heavily stylized art.

 

[The_Echo]

To me, blood in games is nothing more than another aesthetic aspect. It's a design choice more than anything else. Why is that blood on the wall? It's not 'cause someone got killed. It's because the designers thought it would look good, or feel creepy to the player, or what-have-you.

I only really notice blood in games, or in general, when it's stylized or different in some way. Like in Bleach, major cuts are accompanied with fantastic sprays of blood for emphasis. And it looks really nice. At the moment, I can't think of a game that stylized blood in such a way. I know there are some. Maybe Borderlands? [EDIT: Found it! Eversion has nice blood effects.]

It just blends in most of the time. In Skyrim, for example, I won't notice blood in the room unless I'm looking straight at it. It's less visceral, more ornamental. It's not blood, it's paint. That's not inherently bad, but I don't see many games do anything clever or new with it.