Spring Break
Console Wars: 'Dark and brooding' sells games, but recent releases are especially negative
Rhian Hibner
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Culture
There is an odd trend toward the apocalyptic among recent and forthcoming video game releases this year.
For instance, "Tom Clancy's EndWar," which is set for a fall release, tells the story of a third World War fought conventionally, under the protective shield of an anti-ballistic missile system. "Fallout 3," also hitting the street this fall, concerns the trials and tribulations of the denizens of a post-apocalyptic North America. "Turning Point: Fall of Liberty" is an alternate-reality tale set in the 1950s, letting the player fight off a Nazi invasion of the United States.
One has to wonder what the source of all of this negativity in the game industry might be. Perhaps it's the flagging economy. After all, John Steinbeck wrote "The Grapes of Wrath" during the Great Depression, and that's about as negative as books come. Is this trend in video games merely a reflection of the economy? Or does it reflect something darker in the American psyche?
Whatever the case may be, one irritating side effect of this trend is that games of this type don't actually need to be good to sell. They just have to be dark and brooding. There are hundreds of examples of this in the last five years alone. The lackluster PlayStation 3 exclusive "Resistance: Fall of Man" is a great example of mediocre post-apocalyptic gaming.
On the other hand, this same trend brought a masterpiece like "Gears of War" into the world. Whatever the cause of this negativity may be, the gaming public should be willing to eat a hundred "Resistance" clones for a single game on par with "Gears of War" or "Half-Life 2."
"EndWar" is probably going to rock. So will "Fallout 3." The question is, why can't the industry make awesome games without them being so depressing?
For instance, "Tom Clancy's EndWar," which is set for a fall release, tells the story of a third World War fought conventionally, under the protective shield of an anti-ballistic missile system. "Fallout 3," also hitting the street this fall, concerns the trials and tribulations of the denizens of a post-apocalyptic North America. "Turning Point: Fall of Liberty" is an alternate-reality tale set in the 1950s, letting the player fight off a Nazi invasion of the United States.
One has to wonder what the source of all of this negativity in the game industry might be. Perhaps it's the flagging economy. After all, John Steinbeck wrote "The Grapes of Wrath" during the Great Depression, and that's about as negative as books come. Is this trend in video games merely a reflection of the economy? Or does it reflect something darker in the American psyche?
Whatever the case may be, one irritating side effect of this trend is that games of this type don't actually need to be good to sell. They just have to be dark and brooding. There are hundreds of examples of this in the last five years alone. The lackluster PlayStation 3 exclusive "Resistance: Fall of Man" is a great example of mediocre post-apocalyptic gaming.
On the other hand, this same trend brought a masterpiece like "Gears of War" into the world. Whatever the cause of this negativity may be, the gaming public should be willing to eat a hundred "Resistance" clones for a single game on par with "Gears of War" or "Half-Life 2."
"EndWar" is probably going to rock. So will "Fallout 3." The question is, why can't the industry make awesome games without them being so depressing?
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