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As a new PS3 owner, I decided to check out the game inFamous. Seeing that a lot a of gamers view this game as a excellent title, I was intrigue to pick it up (and the fact I brought the 320GB inFamous 2 Bundle would help too). I was so excited to enter this world that Sucker Punch had created and this moral RPG mechanic they installed in Cole’s powers. As I got further in the game, I chose to be good and see where it would lead me.
It lead me to this conclusion: Morality never plays a part in video games.
To me, that’s disappointing. Seeing that it really doesn’t define Cole, inFamous loses that comic flare and though its not a bad game (Rockstar can really learn from them to make a real open ended game right), the choices you make in the game doesn’t effect Cole or the player in any logical way.
See, morality cannot only be good and evil. Morality doesn’t even have to be the focus point in games. Morality needs to be one thing and one thing only.
Affecting the player personally.
What I mean is that it needs to affect the player’s logic and sensibility. In the real world, we can say we have morals and ethics but majority of us do not follow them and when others see it and point it out to us, we get emotional and don’t want to be around those who correct us on our moral standards.
No one does that in inFamous. Superman encounters that when he questions himself of why he saves lives and fights for justice. Batman encounters it with Joker and Wolverine deals with it everyday.
Cole doesn’t get called out about it and just because his appearance looks menacing, makes morality a afterthought. It is more of a game play mechanic then actually having Cole emotionally damaging himself. Guilt is different than taking a civilian life because that outcome only has Cole getting stronger when the player is evil or making their good status go down. Just because something happen to Trish sister isn’t enough for me to believe that he’s trying to make things right with the city and Trish. That’s clichéd storytelling.
To the player, you’re attracted to what you can do with Cole’s powers. There isn’t anything in the game that makes your own morals reflect with Cole’s decisions. There’s never a point in the game where Cole himself explains his morals and questions himself when he just jumped off a tall building and destroy a street with cars and the citizens.
Modern Warfare 2 somewhat get it right with the airport level but you can almost treat that as a Grand Theft Auto moment and don’t emotionally damage yourself. Shooting or shocking civilians in a game doesn’t affect your morals but it should affect how you view yourself.
That is why I really want to see where the new Rainbow Six go with its storyline and choices. Fighting the people your suppose to protect has more of a impact on our morality. It effects us psychologically, changes our ethics if we personally had to encounter issues like these, and it not will we emotionally damage ourselves in a good way, it would be the first game that really open our eyes and reflect what our true morals are. No comic book fluff but the real definition of realism.
Fable, The Sims, and other so called CARs (Choice and Reward) games need to find a way to incorporate a better moral system instead of trying to make your character(s) make choices just to get a power. If I can drain stuff in Secret Of Mana, what difference is it in inFamous?
Have any of you felt that moral choices in games have a purpose or is it just a another RPG mechanic dressed up?