Thursday, June 5, 2008

Sadism- Condemned 2

Over time, I've come to accept that I am somewhat of a sadist when it comes to videogames. Although I'm not so good at being evil, when given the chance to be a "good" sadist I try to milk it for what it's worth. For example, Jedi Knight 2 gave great chances to pick a guy up, throw your lightsaber at him, and then drop him into a smelter, something Luke would look down on for sure, but Luke's a fucking pussy.
Still there are those moments when I realize I am nothing to other sadists. In God of War 2, when timed button presses destroyed King Thesus, laying him down on a doorway where he again tried to stop Kratos only to have his head violently smashed into a door frame, JohFu and I flipped out. It was such a collective shock I cannot remember who was actually playing. It left a deep impression on both of us.
In Condemned 2, you often slam people head's into doors. In Condemned 2, when you make a headshot, you are rewarded with your enemies' exploding head, not to mention the fact that if you drink alcohol before taking the shot, your character's delirium tremors subside and he's much more able to take such gory headshots. In Condemned 2, the ultimate special attack has you throw a man to the floor, hit him twice and then break his neck, and, most recently, I put a boss' head (a ballerina who used a large lollipop saw as a weapon) into a printing press and held it there until it burst under pressure.
It makes sense. In this world where everything is falling apart and everyone gives in to their base violent desires, your character, the most fucked up one, must be the most violent, debased man in order to survive.
Condemned 2 is not Hostel or Wrong Turn or some other gore-porn videogame. Condemned 2 is a frightening experience that for whatever reason feels real, feels believable. Maybe this is just because I like playing it late at night or when I wake up and am dazed, but when forensically investigating a decapitated woman still kneeling or going over the coroner's report on a man whose vocal chords and ribcage have been completely removed, my feeling of horror is not weakened by an inability to suspend my disbelief, I am shocked by what life could be and sickened by what should be on the inside of a human turned out. In a movie, the camera wouldn't be allowed to remain on the body that long. Video games be different. I'm curious about Manhunt 2 now...but I found the first games sadism out of my league as well. Also, I hate stealth.

More on Condemned 2 later as I disagree with some of Zero Punctuation's assessments.

My'S ali(g)nment is neutral good, But i like to play chaotic

1 comment:

b_o_x said...

I should mention that even staring at a sharp knife in real life makes me nervous.