A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste: Impressions of Dead Island

No matter how weary I become of trendy references to zombies in culture, I have to admit that I'm still entertained by games and movies that feature them. Another thing I like, and this may surprise some, is melee-based first person combat, a la Condemned: Criminal Origins. I don't know why, but I've always been a fan of brawling in general as opposed to gunplay. So, of course I'm somewhat interested in the upcoming title Dead Island. Though, I'm far from being stoked, and I don't expect much from the game besides enjoyable game play... though the promise of realistic and dynamic wounds on the zombies does seem like something I've been waiting for since I was an adolescent.

But, I'm not here to talk about all that... nope, I'm here to talk about the trailers, which have earned some notoriety in their own right. Oh, before clicky and watchy, I warn you, these are as graphic as any reasonable person would expect them to be.

Okay... well let's break that down... a bit...

Basically, the people who put this together used the depiction of the death of a child and the destruction of a family to force the viewer to be emotionally invested in the product. Since we don't see any actual gameplay, I gotta say, I find this a bit exploitative and vaguely unethical. If this was a short film, I would evaluate the animators intentions before making the above statements... but since this is essentially a commercial, and the obvious intention is to move a product, then yeah... but I'm not really complaining, just making an observation. It remains a very unique and risky approach, which I can appreciate.

I gotta say, I like this one a bit more. It still utilizes emotional pandering, and shows very little of the gameplay, but I like how subtle it is. It's interesting how it goes into additional details about the environment, but I really like how it's really calm and peaceful even while showing scenes with the zombies. It rounds out nicely with the several dissonant notes at the end accompanying scenes of survivors being chased before ultimately resolving with the title and what I assume to be the theme music (which, I gotta admit I really enjoy, as it's very reminiscent of the music from the 28 series).

Now here's what's interesting. This trailer is definitely a sudden 180 from the two previous, thankfully it finally shows gameplay, and the mood is so much more violent then before. I can't say I like this trailer more than the others (in fact, I don't care for it much at all), but I do imagine this one to encompass more of the actual experience that this game will most likely offer. The game looks like it will be cinematic and quick, which are elements that I like to see, though (and this is more of a taste issue) I'm not very satisfied by the implication that the majority of the combat seems to now be firearm based... which is very underwhelming. If the game doesn't turn out to be more than a fps with zombies, a Left 4 Dead on an island instead of an urban area, then I probably won't bother picking it up.


But, aside from all that, what really excites me is the possibility of thoughtful social statements actually being made by Deep Silver. Zombies have frequently been used as a stand-in for the antagonizing "other", and have been used as vehicles for the discussion of themes such as apathy, violence, sickness, racism, nationalism/xenophobia, consumerism, oppression, and so on... That, and I can't help but wonder if the use of a tropical island resort as the location is a deliberate attempt at a statement. Typically, such resorts have been symbolic of class distinction, in that mostly it is the very rich who can afford to vacation while the workers are largely locals of "exotic ethnicity" who also essentially serve as part of the atmosphere and attraction. There are quite clearly individuals in grass skirts in those trailers, so it definitely seems like the issue will be presented in some form or another.

For some further insight, there are some related articles here, here, and here by Sociological Images. Hopefully the links will provide a much more eloquent and educated point-of-view to those who may be interested.

I'm not trying to make accusations or even assumptions, but I think there is an opportunity to address societal issues here, and it could be a stepping stone for the progression of the medium. The trailers proved Deep Silver's willingness to take risks with their product, and I for one, am interested to see if they'll go more Romero or more Resident Evil.

Blackwater: Virtual civilian-killers based on the real ones...

I'm re-blogging this from overly analytical ally MovieBob aka the Game Overthinker.

Check out what Bob has to say about this shit.

Now, here is where we need to tread lightly and examine this situation. This game will most likely be made, and 505 Games has every right to develop it. My message isn't to censor anyone, even when crap like this is far from what I would consider art.

My message, is that if you care about the medium of video games, and believe as I do that they deserve to be more than tools of those who would like to propagate violence as proper politics, then you gotta voice your opinion on this. Chances are, the more hate this game receives, the more advertising will be provided; and from where I'm sitting, it seems inevitable. But as gamers who want more for our culture than exploitation, if you want to shake the label as a generation trained from childhood to be virtual soldiers, then we have to be the first to voice our opinions against games like this. If we fail to express our disgust and our rejection of this level of pandering, then our medium is at risk of further backsliding.

And yes, this is exploitation, this is marketed controversy. We've seen it again and again, and it's something that is inescapable for video games, due to their nature and the adolescent stage of existence. If you enjoy violence, that's fine, so do I. But it's our responsibility, not the government's or the ESRB, to tell us what should be acceptable. We know the difference between fiction and reality, we know the difference between art and commercial, and we know the difference between soldiers and thugs. Regardless of our varying opinions on the Iraq war, we as consumers can't support these murderers with our consumer choice. The government may have paid them, but we can draw the line here.