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Article Synopsis
An article from Baranor that presents examples, truths, and opinions, about the Devil in computer video games. | |
Icky little Daemons!
Occasionally, some politician goes off about computer games and violence, and the fact that some people have trouble discerning what’s in a game and what’s reality The line between computer games and realism is clear to me. What’s in the game is in a game, what’s outside the game is outside. Computer games and their violence have been debated often enough. We need something different to whine about. So, let’s take a look at the Daemonic influences in pc games shall we?
First and foremost, lets start with Doom. Yes, I am fully aware of the fact that there were more games before Doom which handled the subject “Hell”, and some of them quite gory too, but Doom got wide acclaim, and is well-known. For those few of you who don’t know, here is the long version of the story-line: Some moron opened a portal to Hell on Mars, and you have to close it, with a pistol, against hordes upon hordes of evil monsters. And, just so that we’re clear on this, here is the short version of the story line: Kill everything that moves. Now, there are several daemonic influences in Doom. You have undead marines, Imps, Cacodemons and obviously the Baron of Hell. There are some more variants of critters, but you get the message. Since you put yourself directly against those forces, there should be no problem as to your allegiance.
Now let’s move on to Diablo. Again, you, the lone hero, takes up arms against the forces of Hell, but now you, the lone hero, end up with a soul stone in your head which contains the essence of Diablo himself. This goes horribly wrong, and in Diablo II you chase down that hero and slay him, or rather the newly formed Diablo. Once you arrive in the expansion pack however you again begin to question your own motives, as Baal forces you to destroy the Worldstone, the separation between Heaven and Hell. On top of that, the soul stones, containing the essence of Diablo and his brethren, are destroyed. Your allegiance may be in doubt here, and who is your employer? Tyrael, defender of Heaven? Or Baal, Hero of Hell and master of disguise and bad Tyrael imitations?
In Baldur’s Gate you play the role of a youngster who turns out to be the spawn of Baal, with accompanying powers and abilities to boot. Want to heal someone on touch? No problem. Want to drain someone’s hp on touch and add them to your own? Here you go, Vampiric Touch. You’re the child of Baal in this game, and whether you follow your heritage is up to you. But it does not end there, far from it. There is Dungeon Keeper, in which you play Horny, and have to destroy, wreck, maul and savage the good guys. Obviously, here you are the very essence of evil, and you can also wreck, mangle, savage, maul and destroy your own minions. Plenty of evil, vile daemonic presence in pc-games if you ask me, and plenty of options to choose from.
So, we have established that there are in fact a lot of Daemonic references in pc-games… (you didn’t really need all the above as examples now did you?) but the question is: should we be worried by the fact that the Daemonic, or rather, references to the Devil and his kin take such a prominent place in our games? When looking at Doom, my first incline would be to say “no”. You are the Hero, and your purpose in the game is it do defeat the forces of hell as they come. Your task is clear. Same goes for Diablo: You are the hero battling the forces of Evil. But not every game is as black and white as that. Indeed, in Diablo II your position and alignment are less clear. In Baldur’s Gate you can perfectly well play the spawn of the devil and simply kill everything in sight if you want. Won’t make you a popular fellow, but you can do it. But the position you take has very little or nothing to do with Baal himself, nor does it have any real relation to the Devil or Hell or whatnot. Role Playing Games allow you as much freedom as they can. In Jedi Knight for example you can either play the goodie-goodie guy, or an evil Sith Lord who is only out on getting his revenge. The choice is up to you.
You see, that ties in perfectly well certain other elements related to the Devil and hell and such. The Devil, as portrayed in the bible, cannot make you evil. Everything you do is out of free will. The fact that the option is open to some, makes it so that the weaker-minded ones will take that option. Of course, in RPG-games it has less to do with being weaker, and more with escaping from reality and doing what you want. I first played through Knights of the Old Republic for example as a good guy, helping everyone I could and always trying to be honest and nice. However, the game is build in such a way that if you are a good guy, different people will offer you different quests. So, the 2nd time around I quickly resorted to violence as an answer, kicked and spat on those needing help, and robbed people in dark alleys, so to speak. This resulted in a very different playing experience. I had run–ins with officials, faced angry people who were not so pleased with me, and constantly faced bickering in my own party. It really shows one what anger management, or lack thereof, can lead too. In a very real sense it has educational value, as you realize what consequences your actions have. So, as far as I can see, having these so called “Daemonic influences” in pc-games are actually a good thing. I’m sure Mr. Devil will be very insulted by this, but that’s just too bad for him.
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