Poll: So do you actually like "violent video games"?

[Araksardet]

So, as we all know, there are lots of people who like to harp on about violent video games and their terrible influences. But whenever I see this, I can't help but think about by own favorite games - games like Minecraft, Civilization, Mass Effect, Portal, TES... of those, only Mass Effect and The Elder Scrolls are meaningfully violent, and even they barely feature any gore or totally senseless killing in the spirit of what Fox News seems to think video games are about.

I was wondering about the rest of you - we all know games like Postal or Mortal Kombat exist, but are those really representative of what we actually enjoy? How violent are your favorite games? Did you ever go through a phase where you enjoyed more violent games than you do now? What changed?

 

[Dr_Horrible]

My taste in games ranges wildly. While I enjoy really gory stuff, I also like nonviolent games and all shades of grey between the two.

 

[Richardplex]

Let's see, my top 3 games are Assassin's creed 2 and both Mass Effect games, not in that order. None of which have any realistic, if at all, blood or gore in them. But I don't really care how gory it is, so long as I can stomach is. How violent it is is very low down on my priorities. So, I guess Simplified violence.

Also, Chess is serious business violence wise - See Lord Loss or Harry Potter for reference.

 

[oplinger]

All different sorts. Since I don't have a list of favorite games (it's unrealistic imo for me to have one >_> with as many games as I play and enjoy. for multitudes of reasons)

Violence and gore don't bother me, no matter how much or how little there is. I do recognize when games get carried away with it though, usually that's the point.

 

[Mordekaien]

Something as violent as assassin's creed or Mount and Blade. But on the other hand Painkiller was pretty awesome with the titular weapon

 

[The-Epicly-Named-Man]

I doesn't make a difference to me, I play games because I like them not because they're violent (or not).

 

[Armored Prayer]

Sure I like a little gratuitous violence in my games. Not all the time but sometimes.

Though adding violence and gore to multiplayer makes my kills more satisfying.

 

[Mojo]

Really depends,
Mass Effect or Bad Company 2 dont
need ultra gore to add to the experience. (as examples)
In Fallout 3 for example less violence would
take away a little something.
(In my opinoin)

 

[loc978]

I just love the use of "ultrarealistic" up there. If anything, gory games such as Mortal Kombat, God of War and Fallout 3 are more graphically stylized than games like Mass Effect.

That said, ultra-exaggerated gore doesn't do anything for me. I enjoyed the first God of War game for its story, then the series went downhill. I enjoy Fallout 3 and New Vegas for being in a setting I love, and for their open-ended gameplay... yet I've never played a Mortal Kombat game I enjoyed, the controls and animation are universally terrible.
So in essence, I don't judge for or against a game based on its gore content.

 

[CATB320]

God, yes. But I still enjoy games/other media that aren't gory.

 

[spartan231490]

I generally dislike gore, but I love violence and combat and blood. TES and FPS are pretty much my games of choice.

 

[Thaius]

The poll is kind of broken: by asking how violent the "most violent" of my favorite games is, you're asking me about Gears of War 2. As opposed to most of my favorite games, which are more along the lines of Final Fantasy, Mass Effect, Shadow of the Colossus...

At any rate though, I agree with your point. Even the ultra-violent games are very rarely about senseless murder and horrible crimes; more like saving the world from evil or something.

 

[Mister K]

Gore and blood must not be the central element of the game. But, if story and/or gameplay truly needs it, then it must be made in realistic way. What I mean is that it must not be too exxagerating and death of the fallen must not be center of enjoyment ( Yes, MK, I am looking at you), but the game still must not forget to show cuts, bruises and other traumas dealt by weapon, nature, etc.

 

[TheDuckbunny]

As most games rely at least a little on combat as a gameplay mechanic most of the games I play do feature violence in one way or another, but I've never seen violence as a selling point in any game I've played. Sure I enjoy the occasional fighting game or first person shooter but not because of the portrayal of violence but because of the underlying gameplay mechanic or the art and design that went into the game.
Combat (and thus violence) works very well as a way of interacting with the game world and their characters and that's what I think draws most players to these types of games, not so much the actual violence itself.

Videogames are still in a very early stage of their existence and as they develop we will find all kinds of innovation in interactivity. For now it's combat which works well, but it's nothing to worry about. People will play games, no matter the subject matter.

 

[Erana]

I could go without gore almost entirely. On rare occasions, a limited amount of gore can add to the experience, such as to emphasize the relentless, uncaring environment of the game Limbo, but rarely does it do anything for me.

In fact, I've gone and turned blood textures transparent just because I find them excessive.

While I know that, in theory, someone bleeding when you cut them is more realistic, the experience we're supposed to feel is far from what its like to actually kill. When the death of an NPC is more the end of a puzzle than a fight to the death, why should our actions be treated to the aftermath of murder?
I don't think most games should have gore in a battle unless wounding the enemy is meant to be a significant, visceral event.

The way the character reacts to being hit does more to make it real than any amount of gore could.
When you shot a grunt in Halo and they doubled over, holding their side, you feel like you got them, even though there was nothing but a bit of purple blood on the environment.
If you shoot someone in another title and they don't recoil but there's a chunk of flesh flying out of their model, then its like nothing even happened.

 

[BoredDragon]

It doesn't matter how much violence or even if the game has violence at all as long as it's fun.

 

[Henkie36]

Depends on the game. A game like Prototype would be awful if if wasn't for the bodies you can slice in half with a single chop of your blade-shaped arm. But in a game like GTA I prefer just some realism, I don't need loads of blood and bodyparts flying all over the place.