Blood Brain Barrier said:
It should bother you more to think it does bother you to be killing civilians in a game. After all, it's only a game - what sane person would do the same things in real life that they do in a game? In any real war situation, I - or any of us that hadn't been hardened and emotionally neutered through years of military training - would most likely be cowering in a corner and not charging through an enemy battalion bravely with guns blazing. Once you can no longer distinguish between real life and pixels on a screen is when you should worry.
I'm a few days late to the party, but I just finished the game and I have to agree with this. I did really appreciate its story and the way it was layered and presented, but the whole fourth-wall-breaking dimension of it went completely over my head. Exposing yourself to videogame or movie violence desensitizes you to videogame and movie violence, not real life violence.
I've been in the army, since it's mandatory in my country, and I have witnessed an accident when a guy did not disarm his rifle properly after his shift ended and shot himself in the face while messing around. The bullet was of course blank, as are the first 3 bullets of every clip that is issued in soldier trainees so that they can do guard duty in barracks and what not, but he did suffer some minor burns. He was fine after a couple of days. Still, even though I knew he was gonna be fine, I was so shocked by the event that I could not sleep well for several days. Such an incident seems completely laughable compared to what I usually do in videogames or watch in movies, but it did affect me deeply, as do even the most minor every day real-life displays of violence, from screaming to fist fights. From that, I conclude that fictional violence is mostly harmless, especially when aimed at adults which are more mature and think more critically.
The whole guilt-trip that the game was trying to send you through, telling you, the player, that it's all your fault, and you're trying to be a hero... No shit, that's a major part of entertainment since the days of ancient Greece and Homer, people are entertained by fantasizing that they are heroes, why is this bad? And, this is my fault? What is my fault? That I'm playing a videogame? Because that's all that I'm doing, and if you, as a developer, have a problem differentiating that from real life, then you probably need to see a doctor. You are now attempting to make a point, because I bought your game. If I hadn't bought your game, you would not be able to make a point. I'm supposed to draw some kind of parallel between a protagonist who went insane due to PTSD and went on a rampage, and myself as a gamer? I am not insane, do not have PTSD and did not go on a rampage, as far as I know. So, what kind of parallel am I supposed to be drawing? And, as I already mentioned above, I am certainly not desensitized to real life violence, even in the slightest. So... I really have no idea where they were going with this. I felt that it was unnecessary and it detracted from the experience of a well crafted story. And don't even get me started on the stab that they're trying to take towards other military shooters. Yes, we know, most military shooters have terrible, incoherent, cartoony stories that are as far from realistic as possible. Your story is better. We know that, because we played them. Well done. Please, stop masturbating in our faces about how awesome you are, Yager. Thank you.