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Our mouths literally dropped open when we saw the announcement of the Blackwater game during E3. We couldn’t believe a game company (505 Games) would have the audacity to take the most notorious mercenary army in the world and build a rail-shooter around it, seemingly utterly dismissive, or perhaps intentionally controversy-baiting, about the implications of such a product. We’re proponents of games as a medium to tackle difficult subject matter – the cancelation of Six Days in Fallujah left us ambivalent because we wondered if it could have approached the subject with respect and allowed players to digest a real-life event in a way that other art forms could not provide. Of course, that game could have also been a crass game-ification of sensitive subject matter, but there’s no way it could have been as blatantly oblivious as Blackwater is.
Above: But look how cool their glasses are!
We’re talking about a game that loudly glorifies a company (now under the light and feathery moniker of Xe Services) accused ofmassacring seventeen unarmed civilians (opens in new tab)and injuring dozens more in Iraq’s Nissour square. We’re talking about a company who had forces spark a sniping incident that Iraqi police have calledan unprovoked act of terrorism (opens in new tab). We’re talking about a company that has been involved inat least 195 shooting incidents (opens in new tab)and whose top officials have been indicted onweapons violations and making false statements in court (opens in new tab). The former head of Blackwater, Erik Prince, recently resigned and fled to the United Arab Emirates, which incidentally has no extradition treaty with the US.
Above:In any other gamethis would be a random boring screenshot, but with Blackwater, the potentially imagined implications are chilling
The question becomes: at what point is it not okay to make a game out of something? Our inner defenders of free speech say “never!” but our inner sparks of consciousness – otherwise known as the soul – say “maybe now.” Of course, there could have been a much more interesting way to make this game – tackle the controversy head-on instead of the devs holding their hands over their ears and singing “La la la, can’t hear your complaints, Blackwater kicks asssssss!” Instead, we have as clear an indication of the cluelessness behind this game as we can get: in the Kinect-based controls. We shit you not – the way you shoot in this game is that you point your finger at an enemy, and as long as your gun is trained on them long enough, the gun fires automatically. We really couldn’t get a more perfect metaphorical representation of Blackwater’s collective itchy trigger finger when it comes to the lives of innocent civilians.
And no, we’re not advocating censorship, but goddamn is this game tasteless.
Jun 23, 2011
MONDAY:Most graphics (opens in new tab) | Coolest character reinvention
Best response to fan feedback (opens in new tab)TUESDAY:
Best trailer (opens in new tab) | Most satisfying gore (opens in new tab) | Guiltiest pleasure (opens in new tab)
Most shameless rip-off (opens in new tab)WEDNESDAY:
Best new game we know nothing about (opens in new tab)
Worst first impression (opens in new tab) | Best game for masochists (opens in new tab)THURSDAY:
Most likely to consume our lives (opens in new tab) | Artsiest-fartsiest (opens in new tab)
Most tasteless (opens in new tab)FRIDAY:
Might not actually suck (opens in new tab) | Proof that 2D isn’t dead (opens in new tab) | BEST OF SHOW (opens in new tab)
Above: But look how cool their glasses are!
We’re talking about a game that loudly glorifies a company (now under the light and feathery moniker of Xe Services) accused ofmassacring seventeen unarmed civilians (opens in new tab)and injuring dozens more in Iraq’s Nissour square. We’re talking about a company who had forces spark a sniping incident that Iraqi police have calledan unprovoked act of terrorism (opens in new tab). We’re talking about a company that has been involved inat least 195 shooting incidents (opens in new tab)and whose top officials have been indicted onweapons violations and making false statements in court (opens in new tab). The former head of Blackwater, Erik Prince, recently resigned and fled to the United Arab Emirates, which incidentally has no extradition treaty with the US.
Above:In any other gamethis would be a random boring screenshot, but with Blackwater, the potentially imagined implications are chilling
The question becomes: at what point is it not okay to make a game out of something? Our inner defenders of free speech say “never!” but our inner sparks of consciousness – otherwise known as the soul – say “maybe now.” Of course, there could have been a much more interesting way to make this game – tackle the controversy head-on instead of the devs holding their hands over their ears and singing “La la la, can’t hear your complaints, Blackwater kicks asssssss!” Instead, we have as clear an indication of the cluelessness behind this game as we can get: in the Kinect-based controls. We shit you not – the way you shoot in this game is that you point your finger at an enemy, and as long as your gun is trained on them long enough, the gun fires automatically. We really couldn’t get a more perfect metaphorical representation of Blackwater’s collective itchy trigger finger when it comes to the lives of innocent civilians.
And no, we’re not advocating censorship, but goddamn is this game tasteless.
Jun 23, 2011
Most graphics (opens in new tab) | Coolest character reinvention
Best response to fan feedback (opens in new tab)TUESDAY:
Best trailer (opens in new tab) | Most satisfying gore (opens in new tab) | Guiltiest pleasure (opens in new tab)
Most shameless rip-off (opens in new tab)WEDNESDAY:
Best new game we know nothing about (opens in new tab)
Worst first impression (opens in new tab) | Best game for masochists (opens in new tab)THURSDAY:
Most likely to consume our lives (opens in new tab) | Artsiest-fartsiest (opens in new tab)
Most tasteless (opens in new tab)FRIDAY:
Might not actually suck (opens in new tab) | Proof that 2D isn’t dead (opens in new tab) | BEST OF SHOW (opens in new tab)
