I must admit, I really do agree with the article. Games have so much more potential to affect their audience than books or movies, but more often than not, they squander that potential. Frankly I'd love to play through a game that was well written enough to include struggling against a metaphor for my own grief in the form of an in-game obstacle, like that UP example in the article. Even better if the game has put me into the same state of mind as the character I'm playing.
Games really need more surreal stuff like that.
As for death losing impact in really violent games, I'd like to bring attention to Call of Duty 4, a game that pretty much centers around you killing lots people. Yet, despite this desensitization to death and dying, when that nuke goes off, your helicopter crashes, and you (the player) are forced to live through that US Marine's last few moments of life it becomes a really deeply emotional experience. I'd have to say it is damn near the greatest moments in [recent] gaming history.
Then, in Modern Warfare 2, they ruined it by making half of the characters you play as die, trying (too hard) to "up" the drama/"wow factor", and by the time Roach dies the whole thing has pretty much lost its sting.
And there's another example in Portal 2. I hate to go on about this game as the hype is starting to die down, but there is just one part in the game that really left me reeling and, I think, also encapsulates a feeling similar to what one receives when a character dies, despite the fact that nobody does.
Now, if most gamers reacted the same way I did, then they probably desperately wanted to save him from what is, effectively, his demise. This powerful surge of emotion, having just watched somebody you wanted to save be lost forever right before your eyes, of course, was only compounded by his mournful, apologetic monologue after the credits. And this is in a game where most of the dialog is making light of dying and death through dark humor.
Games really need more surreal stuff like that.
As for death losing impact in really violent games, I'd like to bring attention to Call of Duty 4, a game that pretty much centers around you killing lots people. Yet, despite this desensitization to death and dying, when that nuke goes off, your helicopter crashes, and you (the player) are forced to live through that US Marine's last few moments of life it becomes a really deeply emotional experience. I'd have to say it is damn near the greatest moments in [recent] gaming history.
Then, in Modern Warfare 2, they ruined it by making half of the characters you play as die, trying (too hard) to "up" the drama/"wow factor", and by the time Roach dies the whole thing has pretty much lost its sting.
And there's another example in Portal 2. I hate to go on about this game as the hype is starting to die down, but there is just one part in the game that really left me reeling and, I think, also encapsulates a feeling similar to what one receives when a character dies, despite the fact that nobody does.
During the ending cutscene, as Chell is desperately hanging on for dear life, lest be sucked out into the vacuum of space. Specifically, the moment when GLaDOS knocks Wheatley out of your hands and you can do nothing but watch, helplessly as he drifts off into the endless void, begging for help.