Jokes come fast and reference everything under the sun, and mostly (this is important to the argument) they're pretty good jokes. But, and this is key, it knows what it is. It's not even going to be the Last of Us. Now, Saint's Row IV? It's not going to be the next Crime and Punishment. But you look like you're tired of the world, (and, to be fair, you have good cinematography, art assets, and all the other things Rockstar does well) people usually don't ask if you're genuine worldweary or just trying to sound deep when you don't know jack/shit. It's a deeply unpleasant setting, I'll grant you, and deeply unpleasant is easy to mistake for art, because a lot of great art deals with the dark undercurrents of the human soul, and mankind's relationship with suffering.īut look at lines like, in GTA IV "War is where the young and stupid are tricked by the old and bitter into killing each other." That isn't insight! That's generic "War sucks, maaaaan." Fuck it, I got a more in depth examination of the hells of war in old Sgt. No crime movie worth a damn would end with "And with enough murders, they all lived happily ever after." You don't have a speech early about how crime is a sucker's road and close with "J/K, crime can totally work for you." You're playing a giant badass who leads some other huge badasses, and everything you do is awesome. Neither is spending much time delving into mundane drudgery, or rubbing your face in the crippling psychological flaws of all the characters. Making you feel bad is absolutely not part of the game's agenda. Not just in terms of scope (although Los Santos is a phenomenally massive and well-realized setting), but in how committed they are to not shying away from the ugly or the mundane-how many AAA games are gonna make you spend time mopping, or make it absolutely clear that the "badass" ex-hitman is a pathetic, self-loathing hypocrite?īut for pure, simple fun, I think Saints Row IV does a better job. GTA V impressed me a lot more as a technical and artistic achievement. Its a game that lets you do an amazing amount of stuff, but often seems to be trying to make you feel bad about it. Lots of the missions involve you being shit on and berated by random people you can't shoot, then doing some menial bullshit, then not getting paid. One of them is a mysanthropic douchebag with the world's least likable family, and the protagonist who's set up to be the outlet for the player's id and let you just run wild doing whatever you want, is an absolute monster-not just a serial thief and murder (standard for GTA), but a sadistic torturer, and heavily implied to be a cannibal and a rapist. The characters, including 2 out of the 3 protagonists, are intentionally unlikable. GTA V has much better worldbuilding and somewhat better writing, but its also a lot less concerned with making sure the player is having fun at all times.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |