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In case you missed Brett Bates' take on Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned, be sure to read it, as I share the same sentiment and excitement as him about the overall game.
I take issue, however, with the racial dynamics on display in the demo we saw. Armada of the Damned unfortunately revisits the colonial story line of a white European male who comes in to save helpless brown "natives" (as the game's designer referred to them), and that's not cool.
In the level we observed, the player assumes the role of a young European pirate who seeks to make a name for himself. While visiting a volcanic island, our hero meets the indigenous people, who happen to find bowl cuts and loincloths fashionable and who speak in broken English. Apparently, they also suffer from a curse that causes them to move erratically and leaves them with bone blades/armor protruding from their bodies.
This is the point when I became a bit uncomfortable, as I couldn't help but feel the game dehumanized brown-skinned people to an extreme.
The pirate goes on to traverse the length of the island while fighting through waves of identical indigenous people. I noticed that these ones had light armor and the symptoms of a bad rash, which really doesn't seem all that monstrously cursed to me. That aside, we're left with a level where, visually, the graceful European protagonist slaughters the clumsy, lurching indigenous people.
When the hero finally meets and defeats the fully transformed boss (who looks more crustacean than human due to the curse, which I'm fine with), he then has a choice: return a golden idol to its proper home and break the curse, or keep it to sell later for a hefty sum.
During this session, our guide through the demo chose the more altruistic path. When he returned to the village with the idol, all of the brown natives were on their knees and bowed before their benevolent European savior.
Yeah, I don't know about that.
Although it wouldn't completely fix the problem, I can't help but wonder why we can't change the skin tone of the character? When I play a game like this, it's hard for me to get into the role of a white male who plows through digital dehumanized stereotypes of people who more closely resemble myself. At least with control of a brown-skinned character, I could pretend that I'm playing a game that doesn't reinforce a romanticized fantasy of European colonization and indigenous savagery.
I asked the designer about the different enemies in the game, and he told me that we can expect to see those of Spanish, French, and supernatural influence. I realize I should have asked a couple follow-up questions, though, namely 1) whether our hero saves these other enemy types from curses that they can't save themselves from, and 2) whether these groups of people bow before the hero and embrace him as a savior as well. I doubt it. And that sucks.
I want to play this amazing new take on the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise that appeals to my inner hardcore gamer, but imagery like this leaves me conflicted. Maybe if Armada of the Damned is an open-ended game, I'll try to sail past that island.