So.. I currently feel like shit. Complete and utter shit, for a choice I just made in a video game. So shit that I had to save and leave, I can't continue for awhile. I will tell you in detail here. There will be minor Fallout 2 spoilers, though I am unsure how many people will be bothered by that.
So, I've been playing Fallout 2. I finished up the first game, loved it, and started the second a little while ago. I'm a ways in, currently on my way to Vault City when I came across the small town of Madoc. They had a quest for me, to check out a nearby farm that was desecrated with corpses, and where disappearances had been occurring. I found my way beneath the farm, and was held at gun point by two guards. They told me to follow them to their leader, but, being in such a hellish hostile world, I trusted no one but Sulik (my dear companion). I wanted to ask questions first, but they told me in no uncertain terms that there would be violence if I did not follow them. I resisted, fearing treachery.
Long story short, there was a massacre. After some initial firefights, I started noticing non-combatants attacking me. Weak ghouls and defenseless women, though I thought nothing of it at the time. Sulik and I finally fought our way through to their leader, and my machine gun tore him to pieces. After his death, the remainder tried to flee, but I shot them in the back with my rifle. This is when I started feeling off. I was killing helpless people as they tried to run.
I explored the underground caves a little more and came across a group of children that were hiding. This is when I started freaking a little, and Sulik and I found a ladder that led upwards and fled. We returned to Madoc and informed their leader of the event. He scolded us for it, we had massacred a village of innocents. When we checked the corpses that littered the farm, we learned they were in fact dummies splattered with Brahmin blood, not actual human corpses.
Sulik and I (and myself as player) sat down and shared a beer, contemplating what just happened. We committed a genocide. A genocide of innocents. Sure, we thought we were fighting for our very survival but still, the ends did not justify the means. We just butchered an entire town of innocent people who, like me, were just trying to survive and who, also like me, were wary of other people.
And that has made me feel like complete shit. It's almost laughable, the Fallout world is so hostile and bleak, so hopeless. You learn not to trust anyone, especially others who are well-armed. When I finally put that distrust and caution into practice, it was tragedy. My character, who I was trying to roleplay as a generally nice guy, will forever carry the burden of that genocide. And myself as a player, feel like I have utterly failed at the game.
I did reload just to see what happens when you in fact go to the leader peacefully, sure enough, they were a friendly people who just wanted help, and were rightfully cautious of outsiders. Of course I'll keep my original choice, and face the consequences, since I'd be dishonest otherwise.
But yeah, probably the most negatively emotional experience for me in a video game, and it is increased when you realise the fault lies not on the game, but solely on the player.
So, does anyone else have any similar stories to tell? Has anyone else made choices that later made them feel horrible, or that brought terrible consequence? I'm not talking about a scene that you'd see in Spec Ops, but one that is entirely of your own doing, as a player.
So, I've been playing Fallout 2. I finished up the first game, loved it, and started the second a little while ago. I'm a ways in, currently on my way to Vault City when I came across the small town of Madoc. They had a quest for me, to check out a nearby farm that was desecrated with corpses, and where disappearances had been occurring. I found my way beneath the farm, and was held at gun point by two guards. They told me to follow them to their leader, but, being in such a hellish hostile world, I trusted no one but Sulik (my dear companion). I wanted to ask questions first, but they told me in no uncertain terms that there would be violence if I did not follow them. I resisted, fearing treachery.
Long story short, there was a massacre. After some initial firefights, I started noticing non-combatants attacking me. Weak ghouls and defenseless women, though I thought nothing of it at the time. Sulik and I finally fought our way through to their leader, and my machine gun tore him to pieces. After his death, the remainder tried to flee, but I shot them in the back with my rifle. This is when I started feeling off. I was killing helpless people as they tried to run.
I explored the underground caves a little more and came across a group of children that were hiding. This is when I started freaking a little, and Sulik and I found a ladder that led upwards and fled. We returned to Madoc and informed their leader of the event. He scolded us for it, we had massacred a village of innocents. When we checked the corpses that littered the farm, we learned they were in fact dummies splattered with Brahmin blood, not actual human corpses.
Sulik and I (and myself as player) sat down and shared a beer, contemplating what just happened. We committed a genocide. A genocide of innocents. Sure, we thought we were fighting for our very survival but still, the ends did not justify the means. We just butchered an entire town of innocent people who, like me, were just trying to survive and who, also like me, were wary of other people.
And that has made me feel like complete shit. It's almost laughable, the Fallout world is so hostile and bleak, so hopeless. You learn not to trust anyone, especially others who are well-armed. When I finally put that distrust and caution into practice, it was tragedy. My character, who I was trying to roleplay as a generally nice guy, will forever carry the burden of that genocide. And myself as a player, feel like I have utterly failed at the game.
I did reload just to see what happens when you in fact go to the leader peacefully, sure enough, they were a friendly people who just wanted help, and were rightfully cautious of outsiders. Of course I'll keep my original choice, and face the consequences, since I'd be dishonest otherwise.
But yeah, probably the most negatively emotional experience for me in a video game, and it is increased when you realise the fault lies not on the game, but solely on the player.
So, does anyone else have any similar stories to tell? Has anyone else made choices that later made them feel horrible, or that brought terrible consequence? I'm not talking about a scene that you'd see in Spec Ops, but one that is entirely of your own doing, as a player.
