Lords of Shadow 2 made me uncomfortable with iron fellating.

[Shirokurou]

So apparently when I posted in the "Sooo... Dracula doing his thing = trivializing of sexual assault" it got me a warning for reply in January thread and the thread was closed.
So might as well start a new thread.

So I was playing Lords of Shadow 2, enjoying my time, getting irked by the modern day setting and all. This is a mature game and the ESRB notice does say "nudity" so I was going in with a mature perspective, even ready to see some well-done nudity.

And then Carmilla boss fight happened.
Not really a spoiler, since she was in the trailers and all, but anyway, you fight her. She's sort of Succubi and nothing wrong with a Temptress villian. But this is how you take her out.

http://youtu.be/tULIdMA93_c?t=10m50s

I mean...this scene... Why? The rod stabbing to her...pleasure? And then the same rod fellatio?

Sure God of War has you kill topless gorgons and harpies, but Kratos usually kills them in the same manner as any other monster. But here, not only was the choice of death...suggestive, the direction and angles were also deliberately porn-y. I was uncomfortable watching it. Like it insulted my appreciation of erotica in games with any actual nudity. Had they been fighting naked or during sex...I'd take it as some "artistic thing" or just go "well they wanted nudity".
But this was just...immature and bleh...

P.S.: With how God of War got controversy for a trophy name of "Bros before Hoes" I'm surprised this didn't make the news. I'm sure Sarkeesian will love it though.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

*boggles* You are seeing far more on this than i am. Does the character Carmilla spend a lot of time talking? Is that why she gets her mouth nailed to a wall?

One other thing...did you really feel uncomfortable or are you just exaggerating your opinion for the sake of discussion? I don't find that scene to be anything other than a main character killing a villain...just like every other game. Watching fictional rape in a film is about the only thing that makes me uncomfortable...can't say a game has come anywhere near as close to 'bothering' me.

Captcha: WTF? Has the website really started using advertising instead of words? Tut tut...i'm disgusted

 

[hazabaza1]

Doesn't make me uncomfortable and I think the focus is more on the violence than the sex (though the sex thing is there) but it certainly does looking fucking dumb.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

You know, I read the title on the front page and thought "what does OP mean?". Are they perhaps speaking figuratively? Is there a large part of the game that spends it's time expounding the amazing properties of ferrous metal and exhorts us to invest in this new wonder material? Does somebody try to give a steam iron a blow job and swiftly regret their decision? Then I read the content and watched the clip.

Yeah, the initial stab is pretty normal as stabbings with iron spikes go, then when it pans back to just her head and shoulders she rocks back and forth a couple of times as if taking a couple of thrusts from the ol' pork sword. The spike in the mouth...yeeees.

I'm sure you could probably write some sort of essay on the symbolism in that, but personally I don't give a shit, it gets an eyebrow raise and an amused smirk, it's the kind of thing you'd see in some sort of tacky horror film. Mainly I just clicked to find out what the heck the title was on about.

 

[Tom_green_day]

Since when was 'chest' referred to as 'pleasure'
I think you're projecting there a bit dude.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Dude, ether you are into some way kinky fetishes or if not then I gotta say that you're doing it wrong. Last time I checked a ladies polly ain't in her chest, you need to go further south. Also what the hell kinda porn have you been watching to think the camera angles are like porn?

Me thinks one is projecting a little too much here.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Well, that was really stupid. Not disturbing to me, but good for a long, bored sigh and thinking to myself "Ugh, so dumb".

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Yeah, that was pretty tasteless. And also unintentionally hilarious because the game takes itself so damn seriously that juvenile crap like that can only make me guess at just what the hell the director of this tripe was thinking. I think the only reason this hasn't gotten more attention is due to how badly the game is doing critically so everyone just takes it as another sign of a bad game being bad.

 

[SmallHatLogan]

I can't say that I see anything sexual in that scene. I guess her moans could be perceived as pleasure but after rewinding and watching a bit of the dialogue I attribute that to the voice actors hamming it up big time.

Protip: If fellatio results in the giver having a giant hole in the back of their head then someone is probably doing something wrong.

 

[Shirokurou]

Clarification.
I wasn't feeling uncomfortable in the "I need an adult" way. More like I love the Carmilla bossfight from LoS1 and here it's...this. It is hella cheesy and I was the "my god, they made a boss fight into a sex joke" thing.

I had no qualms with the earlier scene where you kill a woman for blood which was designed to be "uncomfortable". But this was just stupid. Seemed like a scene from a Duke Nukem game or say God Hand... Really contrasted the "serious drama of Dracul" story they were pitching.

And...I friggin' love God Hand.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

It looks dumb, that's for sure, but I'm not irked by the undertones to the same extent as you are. I'll just say they certainly could have made the scene a lot gorier and less like it could be mistaken for what you interpreted it as if it isn't that, so they either were trying to convey it, or screwed up.

 

[sXeth]

Yeah, that one was definitely odd, though I wouldn't call it disturbing. I was more wondering why he didn't stake her (I guess maybe the chest shot was). Granted she's not specifically a vampire in context, but there's no reason to suspect she wouldn't be.

Then again, the boss before that, he falcon punches them through their head, rips their heart out, and poses with it above his head like it was Mortal Kombat, so maybe the people doing the boss fights were just a tad at odds with the people writing the "serious" story.

(It should be noted when we're saying serious that,

Spoiler

This is a game where the Grim Reaper resurrects Dracula in a cybergoth future to stop the return of Satan, aided by a time travelling wolf/ghost/boy/hallucination. I'd speculate you're supposed to take this as seriously as MG:RV or so.

 

[unindexedsearchengine]

in... your... dreams...
oh yeah, right in them, just like that


*ahem*

Yeah, if it would have been like that, I'd understand your discomfort, but in it's actual form, I think you're reading into it too much. Sure, it looks absolutely ridiculous, but there have been worse things shown in video games for sure.

 

[krazykidd]

I read the Op , then read the comments , then watched the video. I don't know if i'm desensitised to all this stuff, but this is NOT what i was expecting after reading what you said. I was dissapointed. I don't see anything uncomfortable about that. Like at all. I feel you are exagerating quite a bit. God of war 3 was way more disturbing when you killed Poseidon(?) in first person and ripped his eyes out.

Sorry OP, i like a scandal as much as the next person, but i'm not seeing .

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Gamers are slowly being conditioned to see sexism everywhere. It's just a gruesome death scene. No more, no less.

 

[flying_whimsy]

I'll be honest, I imagined much worse than was there when I saw the video. That said, however, I do see where the OP is coming from: it made me a bit uncomfortable. The moaning and the stake through the mouth were both disgusting and I wonder if it's out of place next to how other people die in the game.

It's like Yahtzee said in his Bayonetta review: "I'm not getting off to this but I know someone out there is."

 

[sXeth]

I'll be honest, I imagined much worse than was there when I saw the video. That said, however, I do see where the OP is coming from: it made me a bit uncomfortable. The moaning and the stake through the mouth were both disgusting and I wonder if it's out of place next to how other people die in the game.

Well, if you want to compare it to the previous boss, which was equally ludicrous in its own over the top way, here's a handy link (at 4:45 specifically)

Spoiler

 

[MysticSlayer]

Since when was 'chest' referred to as 'pleasure'
I think you're projecting there a bit dude.

I think it was the gate spike through the mouth that people think was sexual...maybe. Honestly, if no one had told me to look for something sexual, I would have just viewed it as another over-the-top death.

Actually, I'm more disturbed that people are seeing an over-the-top death in a series with plenty of over-the-top deaths and instantly thinking it is supposed to be sexual...

 

[daveman247]

Well, if she was indeed a succubus - is it not fitting she took the ultimate rod in the end? >

Seriously though, just looks like another OTT videogame death to me. Though I can see how it would be a bit jarring if the game has taken itself super-seriously until then.

Don't play dead space 2, you will hate what happens to poor isaac.