S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

[Sabriel]

A video game based on "mutants" inside the Chernobyl zone? What a super idea!

I can't wait for...

D.E.F.O.R.M.E.D.: Legacy of Depleted Uranium

"Enter Baghdad and fend off genetic deformities while you search for Saddam's lost treasure!"

Should be a fun time.



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[YOY]

1. actually it's not based on that at all

It's based on an alternative history where the reactor starts producing anomalies and Stalkers go into the "zone" to collect artifacts among a lawless and radioactive zone. Mutants are a threat, but more-so are other humans.

So, let me guess...you haven't played it but wanted to make a political statement (on something I generally agree is bad.)

Actually, I think Karl Rove makes a cameo under the mutant name "Flesh":

[Sabriel]

2. My point was more along the lines of a video game based on tragedy

Not its historical, scientific, or temporal accuracy.

My "political statement" was aimed more toward the idea that we've become anesthetized to tragic events to the point that they're fair game for fun.

Do I need to be a gamer to make that comment?

[YOY]

3. Since the second reactor explosion that happened in the game never happened in reality

The extent of the tragedy in the game is nothing like the one in reality.

Incidentally, there are many books, movies, and video games based on tragedy for entertainment purposes. Heck, Homer's "The Iliad" is a fantastic epic poem about the destruction of Troy rewritten by Homer for both historical and entertainment purposes. Does it make the destruction of Troy fun to read about? Yes, it does. Tragedy is a form of entertainment. It always has been. It also creates backdrop for other stories.

What about the movies "Titanic", "Sophie's Choice", "The Killing Fields", "Doctor Zhivago"? All set to the backdrop of tragic historic events...all more real than S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s alternative history and all films I wouldn't tun down as anesthetizing the masses at all.


You need not be a gamer, but you do need to know what you are talking about...much like the folks who claimed the movie "300" was political (most of which had never even seen the movie) when in fact it was based on a graphic novel (dead-on the graphic novel actually) that was written nearly 10 years ago.


Incidentally, if you peer closer you will find the game developed by Russians/Ukrainians and not Western sources looking to recreate this environment. You might venture that the programmers/developers knew someone affected by the actual events. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. actually has moments that are reminiscent of the human tragedy that has sprung from the core's meltdown. Little human touches, such as a discarded teddy bear visible in one of the loading screens in a ruined dacha make the game less fantastic and brings the grim reality of the situation home.

Hell, my life has been touched by Chernobyl as my wife needed an Amnosythesis before our daughter was born due to her living close to Ukraine for many years. She's know people who have had children with birth defects from it. I've know a woman from Priyat who lost her baby from radiation sickness.

This game is hardly a mindless killing rage btw nor is it Mario goes to Magic Mutantland, it's a survival game. If you go about killing every little figure in the game you won't succeed...in fact you'll mess up horribly. Little know fact to folks who don't play video games: Good games create an emotional environment just as any film or book will. To me Stalker's main emotion is a hollow pit of fear mixed with curiousity and the need for survival. Playing it is a lot of fun...if you can beleive it.

Anesthetized? Hardly. I think you're just being a bit hard on the medium, that's all.