According to the outside world, the world of non-gamers, video games are an object of mindless entertainment. We shoot, we kill, we go crazy over them. Fox News donned the xbox as a “sexbox” due to content in Mass Effect. The Columbine shootings were blamed on Doom. No matter what us gamers do, our actions are always blamed on our passion, that console sitting graciously in front of our TV. The “outsiders” never take a look at what games truly mean. If other forms of media, such as books or movies, can have an overall meaning or purpose, why can’t games? Go! Gaming Giant has compiled a list of video games through the ages that have reached beyond the cliché of shooting and killing, and have truly made a statement about the world we live in today and what could possibly be happening in our future.
1. The Fallout Series
Out of all of our fears, nuclear fallout is ranked high up on the list. The idea of a weapon that can decimate countries in an instant is mind-blowing. The fear of it is even greater. Look at the Cold War. An entire war was devoted to the fear of nuclear war and the repercussions that would come of it. Fallout brought a new idea to the table. How would our world react to the plausible threat of nuclear armageddon? What would the earth become after the bombs drop? Black Isle Studios, and more recently Bethesda Game Studios, introduced an answer to these questions. In a world going to hell, corporations still looked to make a profit in the Fallout universe. Vault-Tec introduced a fallout shelter system, better known as Vaults. Families could reserve a place in these protected areas for a price to remain safe from the explosion and resulting radiation. This is in all ways a possible and very likely reaction to a nuclear war. But Fallout lore doesn’t stop there. The idea of civilization returning after all-out destruction is introduced with the Wasteland. There is a certain instinct in us that pushes the need to become civilized. In the event of a Fallout-like catastrophe, and if there are survivors, they will feel the urge to recreate the world as it was, no matter how futile the attempts. In Fallout’s Wasteland, we see that constantly. People have begun to repopulate areas, build new homes out of what resources they can find, and even begin to form a government. The truth is, Fallout is a mirror image of how we humans react to the nuclear threat and almost certainly how we will cope with the consequences.
2. Bioshock
Mutation and genetic enhancement have been hot topics as of late. The human need to rise above everyone else strives within us all and is even present in the ways we live. Bioshock introduced the fact that the way our society is headed is much like Rapture. As advances in technology get larger, we find ourselves relying more on objects of enhancement rather than our own natural bodies. In Bioshock, the substance Adam gave the citizens of Rapture the ability to change their bodies in unbelievable ways and shape themselves into an almost superhuman state. As main character Jack, we see the result of the greed of the citizens and what had become of their bodies as they continued to manipulate their genes. Although we aren’t to the point of injecting altering substances directly into our bloodstream like in the game, we have surgery to form our bodies into what we want them to be. There is also evidence of surgical experimentation in Bioshock. Splicers have brutal, mangled faces directly resulting from the intense amounts of surgery they have received. Bioshock brought with it a very interesting thought: Have we advanced so much that we are beginning to harm ourselves indirectly during the process of increasing our physical abilities and appearance?
3. Resident Evil Series
Medical experimentation has always been a wide-spread issue throughout the world. While medicinal scientists have come up with major breakthroughs like penicillin, most of the time we come up with failure. Testing and experimentation has also been a large issue with human and animal rights activists, who feel that testing on anything should be abolished. The story of Resident Evil began with a simple test. A medicine created to kill a disease went terribly wrong and caused mutations in human and animal test subjects. Signs of cannibalism and hysteria became evident, and it was obvious that the medicine was not a success. This mutated strand made its way through separate hosts and eventually took out an entire city. Could this be our future? With all the experimentation going on in the world, we are bound to find something that will eventually harm mass amounts of people. Even in other types of media are we finding the end-of-the-world-by-experimentation scenario. I Am Legend also depicted the near end of humanity, all caused by what was thought to be a cure for cancer. Is the earth bound to one day become like the Raccoon City incident? Will Umbrella Corporation-style companies be the end of us all?
4. Metal Gear Solid Series
Military conspiracy stories are a dime a dozen in this day and age. There is constant speculation on what the government is planning in the never-ending predicament that is war. But one series, Metal Gear Solid, brought up many thoughts that make you wonder: is this what we are headed towards? Nano technology is a big hit in modern day science. With it comes options that would never have been thought possible. The ability to track thoughts, feelings, or slight changes in body conditions could mean a huge breakthrough in the medical science field. But what can be advantageous can also harm us. In Metal Gear Solid, nano technology is abound. Government agencies track every soldier’s movement and reaction. The nanodes in your body become your identity allowing only you to access your equipment, providing an entirely new level of protection and security. Many games have strived to depict the future of war, and in my honest opinion, Kojima got it right with this series. War is costly and destructive. Every side is looking to get the upper hand against their opponents, and nano technology could be the answer they are looking for. The art of war depicted in Metal Gear Solid is most likely the best idea of what is to come.
5. Frontlines: Fuel of War
Although it may be the least popular of the list, Fuel of War is golden when it comes to depicting our future. As of right now, we all know that the price of gasoline has skyrocketed. The war in Iraq isn’t helping lower the prices either. Although we don’t wish to commence a political argument, many assume that the war is not about terrorism or freedom, but about fuel. In Frontlines, fuel is literally the most valuable thing in the world. These soldiers of the future are constantly fighting to control one, maybe two oil refineries at a time so their country can use it for resources. Thousands give their lives to protect what citizens back home will use to complete everyday tasks. In the future, a soldier may have sacrificed himself to allow you fill your car up and get to work on time. It may sound brutal, but it is certainly a possibility. If the economy stays as it is, and if the price of fuel makes another jump upwards, Frontlines: Fuel of War may become reality.
As you can see, games aren’t just for entertainment. Many can reflect us as a society, pointing out our flaws. In many ways, games are an exaggerated version of the world we are currently living. Whether they are working on our fear of nuclear fallout, or depicting a future of nano soldiers, games should not be underestimated. It is time that video games stop being considered as mindless entertainment and begin to take their rightful place as interactive literature, and above are five prime examples of why this should be so.
