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Mortal Kombat (1992)

Mortal Kombat is the reason why ESRB (Entertainment Software Review Board) exists. When Mortal Kombat surfaced in 1992, all of the sudden, violence and video games were inseparable entities. Although, portrayals of grisly violence were novel in pop culture especially in horror films like The Thing (1982) or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974.  On the onset of video game consumption, consumers were shocked that Mortal Kombat was able to condense a gratuitous amount of blood and guts inside a single video game. As the game starts up, the screen splashes and an image of an actual man with clenched fists greets the player. In a fighting stance, Kano is the most recent character used to achieve “the longest winning streak.” The realistic representation of Kano was a technique rehashed during the nineties. Game production companies hired actors and actresses to embody playable characters. Attached below the portraiture is a little blurb summarizing the personality and background of Kano, usually the description boasts how the fictional martial artist is viewed within the fighting community. Once the introduction finishes, the screen moves along to the character selection page. Then the anticipated battle to the death begins.

The main distinguishing factor separating Mortal Kombat from the prior fighting games in the eighties are the memorable, gory fatality scenes. Another trademark is the phrase “Finish Him” or “Finish Her”, a popularized quote within the video game culture, which references the final killing move of the winning player. These two variables alone emphasize the focal point of the game: violence. There are fighting games that came out before Mortal Kombat like Street Fighter, which parallel the same mechanics and concept: a timed versus match against a computer or another human player, but these titles do not consist of gushing blood or spines being ripped out of backs. These graphic visuals invading the mental map were new to the players. No one expected that they could associate having fun with that volume of physical violence. Mortal Kombat brought to life violence as a byproduct of entertainment, which unfortunately leads to the question whether video games contribute to deviant behaviors in children and young adults who are exposed to such fervent interactions. Growing up, I played these games, but I can still isolate fiction from reality—I am not Liu Kang. Maybe the more appropriate question to ask is how we contextualize violence, and not how violence contextualizes us.

Video Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScRpyxEMLoM

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DOOM (1993)

The following year after the release of Mortal Kombat, another video game took the spot for widespread controversy, DOOM. Available to the public in 1993, DOOM was received well within the gaming community as a refreshing sight. In just under two years, around fifteen to twenty million people had already played DOOM. A contributing factor to such large numbers was the decision from id Software—the game development company—to distribute the first nine levels of DOOM as free-to-play shareware, which removed the financial barrier for target audiences like teenagers and preteens. With a significant number of players, DOOM laid down the foundation for the current gaming subculture we have today. DOOM also carved the path for first person shooters. Although some may argue that Wolfenstein 3D ignited the spark for utilizing a first-person camera, DOOM was by far better in graphics and in augmenting the gaming experience by integrating multiplayer match-making networks.

The image above is a screenshot, to the back, there appears to be a naked man, but that is no human, that is a demon. Also note the gut spillage on the floor, and blood splatters filling up the whole screen. The actor, in this instance, whomever is playing DOOM, has the choice to stop the game at any given time. Despite immersing in the grotesque, the majority would continue until they arrive at the ending. Important to note that violence is now 3D, which manifests realism to a genre that was formerly pixelated. Blood is more real. Killing is more real. The identity of the main character is also vague because the “Doomguy” is supposed to be a proxy for the actual player. Therefore, an ambiguous character is key to keeping the player engrossed within the world where they can digitally embody the “Doomguy.” Ironically, violence is used to draw people into playing DOOM.

Video Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP2jI0BVG0w

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Pokémon (1996)

Pokémon was released twenty-one years ago, and that is more than two decades of children pitting these pokémons against each other for sport. Satoshi Tajiri’s idea of fictional creatures turned out to be Nintendo’s second most selling franchise next to Mario. Upon the video game’s release for the original GameBoy, television shows and trading card games followed suit, accompanying these video games till today. Without a doubt, I was immersed within this Pokémon culture. I still remember when the game was released—the enthusiasm scrawled all over my siblings and friends, the hype we relished before hype was a cultural norm, and this led to a communal experience, a shared foundation that transcended past the fickle quarrels and differences was Pokémon. 

The art of Pokémon is whimsical and childlike, loads of pastel colors and rounded figures. Pokémons that are drawn with sharper lines are often depicted as rabble-rousers and fighters. Relatively, the game feel is straightforward because the design drives the overall narrative. However, on a deeper level, the concept behind Pokémon is questionable for two reasons: the audience and the message. In a 1991 interview with Time, Satori Tajri responded to a comment involving children’s exposure to violence via Pokémon: “I was really careful in making monsters faint rather than die… [Kids] start to lose and say, ‘I’m dying.’ It’s not right for kids to think about a concept of death that way. They need to treat death with more respect.” On that note, Tajiri did water down the violence. His design did not implement actual death per se instead Pokémon creatures fainted once defeated because Tajiri was aware of how some children loosely associated death with losing in a video game. Though I commend his effort, the sole principle of Pokémon is still rooted in violence. Players battle these creatures against each other. Violence is inescapable regardless of direct death or indirect death.  Since the video game feels so amicable, the message loses traction and players are immersed in a world where knocking-down a pokémon is common. I am not writing down Pokémon as a vehicle for violence nor a gateway for abusive behavior, but I am also not disregarding that Pokémon is founded on a violent machination.

Satoshi Tajiri Interview with Time: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2040095,00.html

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Resident Evil (1996)

Biohazard or more commonly known as Resident Evil is the highest grossing survival horror video game franchise. Similar to Pokémon, Resident Evil has extended the franchise through partnerships with Constantin Film to produce a series of tacky Hollywood action films, as well as other medias such as novels, comics, animated series, and fan merchandise. The first of many, Resident Evil is the progenitor for the survival horror genre. Before then, most horror video games were movie-adaptations like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1982), Halloween (1983), and Alien (1984), or lukewarm horror that did not push the genre beyond jump scares. A genius move, Shinji Mikiami took advantage of the typical zombie-invasion plot, which usually centers on the interaction between the dead and the living, thus requiring a diverse set of characters to widen the projected fictional world. With a variety of characters, a game designer could easily churn out a video game per character plot. Expanding the universe this way removes the anxiety of building on a single narrative for every sequel, which could be a slippery slope if done poorly. Resident Evil has persisted for so long because they were able to maintain a sense of novelty.  

I am biased—I love Resident Evil. Naturally, I gravitate towards horror and Resident Evil was “that game” my parents did not want me to play, so I headed over to video game cafes and spent my lunch money on an hour worth of frustrating and fear-inducing experience. Unlike Doom, Resident Evil restricts ammunition and there are limited save points, promoting feelings of vulnerability within the gameplay. On contrary to video games deaths where players can choose to continue playing, Resident Evil veers away from technical features that accentuate options for numerous retries. Violence is a force that guides the player to play smarter rather than brutally decimating through each level.  

Resident Evil Introduction:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWo0Hhx07Pc

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Silent Hill (1999)

Silent Hill is a town and those who enter are shown the physical manifestations of their repressed anxieties and guilt. The first installment tells the story of Harry Mason. Harry and his daughter, Cheryl head out to a vacation. On the way, as they are driving through Silent Hill, Harry swerves his car to avoid hitting a girl on the road. He wakes up in a restaurant only to see that his daughter is not with him, and is questioned by a police officer about the car accident.  In short, the officer warns Harry that the town is dangerous, she offers a gun, and he takes the weapon to continue searching for his daughter. Silent Hill is crawling with monsters, and some seem to take on human-like reactions, such as writhing in pain or groaning, as if there is still a soul trapped within the fiend. In a way, this would make sense because Silent Hill is an allegory to a purgatory.

Harry is still grieving over his wife’s death three years ago and losing his daughter is the last straw. Fear is then encapsulated around abandonment. Throughout the game, Harry mercilessly destroys these wretched creatures. The vast majority of melee weapons ranging from wooden four-by-fours to lead pipes allow the players to directly experience the impact of their kill. Violence is a necessary evil to overcome the face of greater evils. Similar with exposure therapy, Harry is immersed in a world where the worst-case scenario has happened to him, and he has no option but to survive. He is thrown in a landscape where violence is a tool to maim his fear. There are options to avoid and dodge, but eventually a boss needs to be defeated. Regardless of how a player approaches the game, violence becomes the non-negotiable outcome.

Silent Hill Cutscenes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSuQ_gjpW4s

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Grand Theft Auto III (2001)

Grand Theft Auto III is a keystone piece in video game history. Prior to Grand Theft Auto III, the series is played through a 2D top-down or bird’s eye perspective, exaggerating detachment between the playable character and player. On the onset of Grand Theft Auto III, the player now has the ability to roam the actual streets and interact with people and objects within a 3D environment. The camera angle is switched to a third-person angle, allowing the player to have a direct investment on the protagonist on the screen. With that said, this graphical switch not only augments the visual aesthetics but also the gaming experience. Non-playable characters, vehicles, and landscapes all of the sudden bloom to life, as Grand Theft Auto III further extrapolates the realistic capacity of video games. The general theme of Grand Theft Auto becomes more obvious as well: violence.

The title “Grand Theft Auto” infers that the game will involve theft, however in Grand Theft Auto III, the crimes committed by the player go beyond grand theft auto. In fact, robbing a car evolves as an inconsequential and normalized crime, and the focus shifts to murder and prostitution. Due to the graphics modification from 2D to 3D, the game mechanics are intentionally rearranged as well. Watching the streets from a 2D top down perspective is similar to seeing an animated map, which complements the objective of the game, which is to commit grand theft auto. However, the 3D environment dissolves this singular objective because there are more moving pieces integrated into the game, as such, solely stealing vehicles undermines the shiny new technology that can push the game to develop more methods for inducing violence. Weapons are no longer limited and are expanded, so there are more ways to destroy property and kill people.

Grand Theft Auto Reference Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoQStKto_n4

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Bloody Roar (1998)

There is an unsettling feeling behind anthropomorphized animals. Specific animals are associated with symbols for human tenets. The Russian Bear is a common symbol for Russia as early as the 16th century. However, British took advantage of this image and caricatured Russians as big, brutal, and clumsy. This western propaganda was later used in the United States. I think the feeling is unsettling because I am aware that as humans, we have the conscious power to dictate and propagate our own symbols for what is right and wrong. Hence, when I first played Bloody Roar, I could not help but feel the violence I was directly inflicting on the television screen. Every button smash resonated. Before Bloody Roar was ported to the PlayStation in 1998, the game was released in 1997 as Beastorizer. Though there is a narrative for each playable character, the gist of the game consists of fighting. With a lack of focus on story building, the characters become less relatable, rather they are turned into fighting beasts known as Zoanthropes, half-human, half-animal.

I find their beast forms uncanny. They seem more human when they are animals, rather than when they are humans. For example, Alice Nonomura is a rabbit zoanthrope. Larger mammals easily prey on rabbits. These fuzzy white bouncing fluffs are vulnerable. Their jittery and twitchy tendency marks at how much anxiety they are constantly undergoing. As such, I do not find the story of Alice surprising when I found out that she was kidnapped as a child and was subjected to physical experimentation. After Alice escaped the laboratory, she hid for a period of time until she felt resilient enough to take on the outside world again. The violence in this video game then does not stem from blood and guts, rather the exploitation of animals as placeholders for human narratives. Bloody Roar reinforces the human tendency to identify animals as non-individuals, which primarily uses them for entertainment and portrayal of violence.

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Outlast (2013)

In the early 2010s, we were provided with films like Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity, and V/H/S. There was a brief resurrection of found footage, a fictional film subgenre that presents the movie as discovered video recordings. The technique was around since the 1980s but not until in 1999 did The Blair Witch Project popularized found footage. Outlast is a first-person survival horror video game that uses the same film technique but has adapted the layout into an interactive experience. Instead of merely participating as a viewer to review events that had transpired, the user now becomes the active filmmaker. Video games have slowly been making their way to match, if not usurp the experience of watching movies. When Outlast was released in 2013, I was intrigued at the thought that the player could now take the lead role of the “survivor” in typical horror movie plots, but in retrospect, playing Outlast was disturbing for that sole reason.

Similar to the scenes from Saw and Human Centipede, the developers of Outlast do not spare their audience from the gratuitous content of violence. I think the representation of violence in this game is shallow when centered around the narrative. Granted, the game takes place in an abandoned mental institution where a journalist is digging for dirt, which could lead to a social commentary based on the exploitation of mental illness, but this plot is pale in comparison to the novel application of the found footage technique, which accentuates the vulnerability of the player as he or she is constantly immersed in violent acts. Outlast frames the cinematic violence as an insular situation, despite words of encouragement from nearby friends or bystanders, there would not be a moment where the player feels like they have stepped outside of the character. The violent machinations of Outlast stems from the ingenious integration of found footage.

Outlast Video Reference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPWRkfg6-EA

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Until Dawn (2015)

Outlast took a film technique into a video game, while Until Dawn literally turned a video game into a film. Hands down, Until Dawn is probably on my top go-to video games list. There is nothing more engaging than watching a solid horror movie, and better yet, choosing the right decisions for these characters to keep them alive. All those anxiety-driven nonsense that forces audience to yell at the screen like “No, don’t open that door!” or “Why are you so stupid?” is irrelevant in Until Dawn because the viewers are now responsible for all actions each survivor chooses. When I see a character die, I feel more responsible for their death, which ironically, concerns me more than my playing in first-person and dying as the main actor. Also, I noticed that Outlast and Until Dawn are different in every way, even though both their narratives hone in on mental disability.

What Outlast skimps on is creating a more provocative and complex relationship between the psychopaths and the main player. Everyone in the game was insane and I am an expendable piece of garbage flesh for their loony experiments. There was little reasoning why violence was happening except for the sake of implementing found footage as a novel game mechanic. Contrast this with Until Dawn, the real violence comes from the story. Throughout the game, Josh was seemingly portrayed as the serial killer. His twin sisters went missing from a previous camping trip. Long story short, Hannah was bullied by their friends and ran away as winter storm barreled down. Her twin sister, Beth chased after her. Their brother, Josh, was passed out and was not aware of the situation. The twins were never found, and Josh internalized his anger towards his “friends.” A year later, everyone received an invitation from Josh to commemorate the death of Beth and Hannah. They all went back to the cabin, only to find out that Josh had setup an elaborate and sadistic prank to scare them all. Easily, he was to blamed when a few folks started disappearing. Though Josh never killed anyone, he was the “villain”, but paying close attention to medical records along with several notes scattered across the game would provide a more nuanced explanation of his mental disorder. Never mentioned formally, Josh did suffer from schizophrenia. All the characters in the game did not seem to sympathize with Josh, which parallels the cliquish harassment they inflicted on his sisters a year ago. In the end, I guess I did not care if everyone survived or not, because the real victim of violence here is the only individual that the game did not give an option to save, Josh. Until Dawn Video Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcLTYcr4Iek

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Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is a third-person action adventure game released during the PlayStation 2 and Xbox era. The video game takes place in 1964, thirty years before the events of the first Metal Gear. Mainly focusing on quasi-political events, the narrative dramatizes the complicated relationship between powerhouse countries, specifically China, Russia, and the United States as they all vie for experimental superweapon, such as the “metal gear.” At first, when I played the game, I did not know what to make of the title until I realized that “metal gear” is an advanced weapon in the form of giant metal animal. Like a transformer (i.e. Optimus Prime) except humans control them and not an alien lifeform. I have so much analysis for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater that this entry alone may not cover, so I will focus on the boss fights the main protagonist, Naked Snake encounters in his mission to save a Russian rocket scientist by the name of Nikolai Stepanovich.

Again, the universe of this video game combines reality with fiction. Naked Snake eliminates all members of The Cobra Unit, which was formed during the Battle of Stalingrad. This unit consists of The Joy (abilities: super solider), The Fear (abilities: flexibility and agility), The Fury (abilities: former cosmonaut, flamethrower, and jetpack), The Pain (abilities: controls hornets), The Sorrow (abilities: ghost), and The End (abilities: ancient sniper). Each boss represents a human emotion, and as he kills each one of them, he also manages to destroy his own humanity. What becomes of Naked Snake afterwards is horrendous. He starts his own militia that is free of law and government. His vision for a new world comprises of no regulation for soldiers—an anarchy. The sequel to Metal Gear Solid 3 further reveals that Naked Snake has also recruited adolescents in his army. Reflective of the Nietzsche quote, "He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee." Violence consumed the protagonist where he became what he had destroyed in the first place.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Video Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRmmlqqejGI

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Fallout 3 (2008)

Fallout 3 is lovely. I have never fell in love with a video game like I did with Fallout 3. Maybe I was primarily depressed when I played this video game, which provided sufficient amounts of escapism. Fallout 3 will forever be associated with that rough patch in my life, and as cheesy as this sounds, that was the kindred light in the darkness. Given the endless amount of gore in the game, I am surprised that I find comfort in exploring the unknown wastelands, even with knowing that for each decision I make in the game, there will be an unexpected consequence. There is a comical factor about the violence in Fallout 3, which I still feel is a good pick-me-up whenever I feel a bit off. One minute I am exchanging goods with the town’s shopkeeper, the next minute we are spraying bullets all over each other. Quite possibly, the game is so therapeutic because my actions regardless of the consequence do not ever feel detrimental to my character. I was immersed in a world where violence is an integral part of survival. When people, zombies, or mutated creatures are not trying to kill me, I still must worry about booby traps, radiation poisoning, or breaking all my limbs from a fall. The endless permutations of how my character can die in Fallout 3 is absurd. So absurd, that the game does not feel real anymore.

I think Fallout 3 is so far removed from reality. The universe is detailed up to the types of food brands available, from soda to cereal, I still remember their names: “Nuke Cola” soda and “Sugar Bomb” cereal. At least for me, I found the violence in Fallout 3 nonsensical and whimsical, which complimented my need to draw out from the violence I was unfortunately experiencing in real life at the given time.

Fallout 3 Video Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHr3Y8ZIhGM

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Alien: Isolation (2014)

Following the disappearance of Nostromo spacecraft in Alien, Amanda Ripley is desperate to locate her mother, Ellen Ripley. Fifteen years later, Weyland-Yutani corporation contacts Amanda about retrieving a flight recorder of the Nostromo in an abandoned ship named Anesidora, which is aboard Sevastopol, a remote space station in orbit around the planet KG-348. Without hesitation, Amanda agrees to the mission and heads to Sevastopol. Soon enough she discovers that the station still has survivors but they keep vanishing as malfunctioned androids and “monsters” run amok. Purposeful stealth and vigilance keeps Amanda alive. The gist could be reduced to an ornate hide-and-seek game. Around every corner is the possibility of death. With the lack of appropriate weapons, Amanda is left to scour the whole station while hiding in lockers, crates, under metal furniture, and crouching from room to room. Violence is quiet. I could say that the humans are also violent, but they are merely walking body bags in the presence of the true killer, the Alien.

The Alien embodies violence. Their true logic is to kill all species except their own. What I realize with the theme of violence is the endless cycle of the Ouroboros. A serpent biting its own tail. From the recent film installations of this series, Ridley Scott reveals that an android who has defected from his masters is the reason why such killing machines exist. Forced to question his own faith towards humanity due to constant subjugation of his creative expression and free will, David the android finally unshackles his ties to his human bosses. His surplus of artificial intelligence has behooved him to potentialize his existence and consciousness. Ultimately, David emulates his creators and paves a path of destruction with his twisted biological experiment, the xenomorph. At the heart of it all, the main antagonist of the video game is essentially the product of human violence.  

Alien: Isolation Video Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URG11U69KS8&t=16s

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Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014)

What would happen if the Nazis had won the Second World War? Wolfenstein: The New Order provides a window into this hypothetical scenario through the eyes of the main protagonist, William Blazkowicz. The Nazis obsessed over pushing the unethical boundaries of science experimentation. In Wolfenstein: The New Order, they center their fictional plot around this tension revolving around the Nazis developing advanced weaponry that eventually usurps the Allies. Captain William Blazkowicz or B.J. for short is a U.S. special forces operative that leads a raid against a crucial weapons laboratory run by Nazis, specifically by his archenemy, Deathshead. There is barely any breathing time in between levels. Wolfenstein: The New Order places me in a binary world where I am either doing the shooting or somebody else is shooting me. In my first play though, there were moments when I had to literally pause the game because the intensity of violence becomes unbearable, which made the game feel impossible to beat.

Wave after wave of Nazis come rushing through like swarms of iron hornets. The game made me think about the Holocaust, Rwanda, American Slavery, and other forms of genocide that have been committed, except the role is reversed. One by one, the Nazis drop like flies before me. For some reason, I am the Captain William Blazkowicz, which somehow miraculously grants me the unrealistic superpower to survive armies of men that had taken armies of men to slaughter these armies of men. I sincerely enjoyed playing Wolfenstein: The New Order because I felt like I was rightfully exercising my power to execute fictional vengeance against a faction that had committed an insidious and evil travesty on human kind. Yet, there is an unsettling tingle in the back of my head that tells me that this is not justice, but merely a vicarious participation to unabashed violence.

Wolfenstein: The New Order Video Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlvfqfGTar4