(Sorry if there had been a thread already, i used the search function, honest!)
(No spoilers about the ending or something here, just so you know)
Soo, yeah.
A lot of people seem to have a bit of an issue with the extreme violence depicted in Bioshock Infinite.
At the forefront, we have a well written piece from Chris Plante at Polygon that may probably did started the whole thing: http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/2/4174344/opinion-why-my-wife-wont-play-bioshock-infinite
And if you like a broader spectrum of quotes as well as more pretty pictures, we have Kotaku (of course): http://kotaku.com/bioshock-infinite-is-insanely-ridiculously-violent-it-470524003
In my opinion:
Well...it's pretty hard to tell.
On one hand, i am of the opinion that Bioshock Infinite absolutely needs some of it's extreme violence.
Many people who criticise mention the moment the game first becomes an actual First Person Shooter/Action Game, that starts with Booker shoving a policemans Face violently into the spinning hooks of death (to prevent that he does it to him first).
Interestingly enough, it's one of the moments were the violence of the game is most poignant and important.
People tend to forget that:
1) Violence is in itself usually extreme and shocking.
2) Booker is not a nice person. At all. And he obviously resorts to violence since he is not in Columbia to claim any kind of moral superiority.
In a way, it irks me that especially Bioshock Infinite is now made to be the poster boy for "unneccesariy violence" when it does in fact handles it's depiction better than most other games. As said above, the first outburst of violence is horrifying. The first time Elizabeth sees Booker murdering a bunch of people (in self-defense), it's not something that is shrugged off immediately and even though Bookers actions in that scene are somewhat justified, it paints a negative light on him, as it kind of should be. And even when Elizabeth becomes more "mature" and desensitized to violence, she still gasps and shrieks when a kill is especially violent.
---
But at the same time, i can't deny that Bioshock Infinite DOES get over the top with it's violence. While i feel Blood and Brutal Beatdowns are needed, the way heads occasionally explode due to the exposure to electricity or the spinning hooks of death, feels almost embarrassingly comical and the way people get massacred in this game has often nothing to do with realism or even poignancy.
And of course, while Elizabeth does react appropriate to SOME of the violence, she will still open locks and give you money with a cheery tone while she is wading through the burned and mutilated remains of your enemies.
And that is the thing...there is no easy answer to whether or not Bioshock Infinite should be as violent as it is, and i see it as a problem that people already start to form opinions in absolute terms.
We need to stop seeing violence in a game as a whole, but in it's multiple contextual situation, and start judging violence on whether it is important to the narrative (good) or used to pull in a certain kind of gorehound market (bad..in BSI) as well as of course, what the target demographic of a game is (not in terms of age, but in terms of what the customer wants to get out of the game).
There shouldn't be any hiding behind broad statements here. Bioshock Infinite shouldn't be shamed for it's violence, and it shouldn't let be entirely of the hook for it (Except when you have a good reason why heads should pop or why the contextual violence should be toned down).
...It's kinda my problem with ALL the controversies in the gaming biz nowadays.
(No spoilers about the ending or something here, just so you know)
Soo, yeah.
A lot of people seem to have a bit of an issue with the extreme violence depicted in Bioshock Infinite.
At the forefront, we have a well written piece from Chris Plante at Polygon that may probably did started the whole thing: http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/2/4174344/opinion-why-my-wife-wont-play-bioshock-infinite
And if you like a broader spectrum of quotes as well as more pretty pictures, we have Kotaku (of course): http://kotaku.com/bioshock-infinite-is-insanely-ridiculously-violent-it-470524003
In my opinion:
Well...it's pretty hard to tell.
On one hand, i am of the opinion that Bioshock Infinite absolutely needs some of it's extreme violence.
Many people who criticise mention the moment the game first becomes an actual First Person Shooter/Action Game, that starts with Booker shoving a policemans Face violently into the spinning hooks of death (to prevent that he does it to him first).
Interestingly enough, it's one of the moments were the violence of the game is most poignant and important.
People tend to forget that:
1) Violence is in itself usually extreme and shocking.
2) Booker is not a nice person. At all. And he obviously resorts to violence since he is not in Columbia to claim any kind of moral superiority.
In a way, it irks me that especially Bioshock Infinite is now made to be the poster boy for "unneccesariy violence" when it does in fact handles it's depiction better than most other games. As said above, the first outburst of violence is horrifying. The first time Elizabeth sees Booker murdering a bunch of people (in self-defense), it's not something that is shrugged off immediately and even though Bookers actions in that scene are somewhat justified, it paints a negative light on him, as it kind of should be. And even when Elizabeth becomes more "mature" and desensitized to violence, she still gasps and shrieks when a kill is especially violent.
---
But at the same time, i can't deny that Bioshock Infinite DOES get over the top with it's violence. While i feel Blood and Brutal Beatdowns are needed, the way heads occasionally explode due to the exposure to electricity or the spinning hooks of death, feels almost embarrassingly comical and the way people get massacred in this game has often nothing to do with realism or even poignancy.
And of course, while Elizabeth does react appropriate to SOME of the violence, she will still open locks and give you money with a cheery tone while she is wading through the burned and mutilated remains of your enemies.
And that is the thing...there is no easy answer to whether or not Bioshock Infinite should be as violent as it is, and i see it as a problem that people already start to form opinions in absolute terms.
We need to stop seeing violence in a game as a whole, but in it's multiple contextual situation, and start judging violence on whether it is important to the narrative (good) or used to pull in a certain kind of gorehound market (bad..in BSI) as well as of course, what the target demographic of a game is (not in terms of age, but in terms of what the customer wants to get out of the game).
There shouldn't be any hiding behind broad statements here. Bioshock Infinite shouldn't be shamed for it's violence, and it shouldn't let be entirely of the hook for it (Except when you have a good reason why heads should pop or why the contextual violence should be toned down).
...It's kinda my problem with ALL the controversies in the gaming biz nowadays.