Games I have played in the past year that feature shooting as a prominent mechanic:
- Red Dead Redemption
- Metro 2033
- Borderlands
- Perfect Dark Zero
- Gears of War
- Dead Space
- Resident Evil 5
- Alan Wake
- Vanquish
- Dark Sector
- Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
- Singularity
- Darksiders
- Far Cry 2
- Grand Theft Auto IV
- Halo 3
- Halo 3 ODST
- Battlefield: Bad Company
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Modern Warfare 2
- Alpha Protocol
- Fallout 3
- BioShock
- BioShock 2
- Mass Effect
- Mass Effect 2
- Bayonetta
- Crackdown
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
- Left 4 Dead 2
- Half-Life 2
- Half-Life 2: Episode 1
- Half-Life 2: Episode 2
- Portal
Once I’m done with Red Dead Redemption, I’m taking a year off from shooters—in fact, from games that ask me to shoot a gun at all. That means no Portal 2, no Deadly Premonition, no Mass Effect 3, and probably several other games that I was looking forward to. There’s just too much of this shit, and it’s depressing. I’m tired of apologizing for it when I try to make a case for games as a serious medium. I enjoy shooters, but I’m sick of them, and they tend to exemplify the things that I find most upsetting about the state of the market.
Obviously, Portal and Far Cry 2 are not “what’s wrong with video games,” but I need to cleanse my palate. Or detox, take your pick. That means nothing played in the first- or third-person in which centering a target and firing is a main mechanic.
This is The Year of No Guns.
May 5, 2011 at 3:59 pm
An admirable goal–though I'd question whether the Portal Gun's gun-ness is an inherent aspect of it or more incidental: Is it a gun because it needs to be a gun, or because precision in placing the portals precisely needs an aiming mechanic, and that aiming is best handled through a gun mechanic? Is the aim of your project to avoid guns or gun violence?
Also what about items which act as guns but aren't guns per se–like if you're playing Oblivion, are you able to use the crossbow? What about items that are guns that don't use a traditional gun mechanic–like let's say a Front Mission game or an RPG which has a character with a gun (FFVII's Barrett?)
But this does bring up the fact that "attack" is the primary verb in most games–which, as you say, makes it hard for a lot of the medium to be taken seriously. All I know is this is giving me some interesting thoughts on the genres I like to play–a year of no guns might be doable for me (for Mass Effect and survival horror games are the primary gun-focused games I play, as I don't really play many FPS or other shooter games), but a "Year of No Swords" would be very difficult to do. Either way, good luck on your quest!
May 5, 2011 at 5:13 pm
The "aim" of the project, eh?
You're right, leaving out Portal is arbitrary. The short answer is that I'm using a combination of the mechanic and the nature of the action to decide what is and isn't allowed.
FPS games, defined by my wife as "Games where you're a gun," are right out. That's why Portal's a no-go for me: the gun, although not a weapon, is the on-screen protagonist. Third-person games in which I'm aiming and shooting a gun are also prohibited. As for crossbows, I think it would depend on the game and how it was implemented. I generally play swordsmen and mages in RPGs, so hopefully I can skirt the issue.
FFVII would be allowable. I actually left FFXIII off the list above on purpose; there's no direct control of the shooting. It's still a gun, and it's still violence, and it's definitely still a profoundly cynical and uninspired product, but it's outside the bounds of my existential exhaustion with shooting things in the face.
May 5, 2011 at 6:18 pm
I decided to generally stop playing violent games a couple years ago. Aside from casual games (and non-violent casual games are also rare!), that has pretty much eliminated my gaming altogether. I know your scope is much narrower, but still – good luck!
Games will never replace movies (like movies have replaced books) until we move beyond the action flick equivalent. Where is drama, comedy, musical, mystery, romance? And where is the good acting? I have yet to see a single game with good (by MOVIE standards) acting and quality production. Heavy Rain was the biggest disappointment in this regard: A game built around drama and plot, but Ars Technica said they had to play it in French because the stilted voices were so poor. Hire some talented actors and director!
Could you post a list of quality, well-produced games you've played in the past year that are not violent (besides puzzle/casual games: I'm talking >$10)? The only ones that come to my mind are Flower and Pixeljunk Eden, and neither of those have much body or story. They're basically fluff and should almost be excluded because they are basically cheap casual games.
Sports games certainly fulfill these criteria, but I don't like sports (live, TV, movies, or video games).
May 5, 2011 at 7:11 pm
PS I did win Metal Gear Solid 4 on the hardest setting sneaking around without killing a single person. It was hard, but a fun challenge. The Mk II tranquilizer gun is an awesome weapon! And that little robot's stunner is also useful.
May 5, 2011 at 8:46 pm
(Totally did not catch the pun when I wrote that, I swear, but if no one's looking I'll take credit for being clever…)
I like that definition of FPS a lot. There's a pretty interesting essay in Brad Galloway's "Gaming: Essays on Algorithmic Culture" which talks about first person in film vs. in videogames–how in film it's generally used to create an alienating and dehumanizing effect (it's usually used to hide The Killer, or to show a character who's drugged or insane, etc.), but in videogames it helps create empathy with the protagonist. I think I'll reread it in the context of your wife's definition–maybe it works in games because you're embodying something that's effectively not human. I wonder how many people truly do feel a deep personal connection with Gordon Freeman.
Check out Silent Hill: Shattered Memories if you haven't, by the way. While it does a lot wrong, especially in the controls, it's an interesting angle for survival horror to take, given that there isn't a single gun in the game and that it actively avoids violence. (It's also got one of the most fascinating narratives I've played in a while.) I'm looking through my list of games from 2010 that I played to see what games don't feature violence. Other than games like Mario Galaxy 2 and Picross 3D, I'm not seeing much, sadly…Ace Attorney Investigations (and Ghost Trick from earlier this year, which you must check out as well) are murder mysteries, so they initiate with an act of violence, but–especially Ghost Trick–are more concerned with preventing and solving the murders; also there's Nier, which, while it is an incredibly violent game, is largely concerned with condemning the violence in the average fantasy RPG. Other than that, pretty much everything is a genre piece based on attack.
I wonder if my insistence that this is a maturing medium is one based on optimistic faith or on blindness.
May 5, 2011 at 11:11 pm
I loved Nier. It really made an impression on me… dare I say that a game in which the (aesthetically) female protagonist wears a nightie "spoke to me"?
I'll check Shattered Memories. Everything I've heard about it is interesting.
Kayle, let's see… games with no violence at all. I gather you have a PS3 and a PC. Do you like strategy games? I've been enjoying Tropico 3, and while I haven't played the latest Civilization, Civ IV is a certified classic at this point. But even those have some combat in them—I see your problem.
Since it sounds like you want something with a plot, I second the Ace Attorney games. Braid is a puzzle game in a sense, but there's some meat on those bones. Similarly, Limbo, if you have a 360. Super Meat Boy is a great platformer, check out the flash precursor (Meat Boy) to see if you like it—it's difficult. I thought Aquaria was a beautiful game, with lush 2D graphics and a mellow soundtrack. It's a bit like an underwater Super Metroid. But it does have some light combat as well, although you "fight" by singing at things. The Path is interesting, but hardly a game. Digital: A Love Story and "don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story" are two amazing… I don't know what you'd call them, linear interactive adventures… from a young game designer, Christine Love, who should justly be famous by now. Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! is also unorthodox and joyful. Um. Dwarf Fortress is great, if you're insane and a bit obsessive, so that should work out for you.
May 6, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Thanks for the tips, I'll put those games on the top of my list!
May 6, 2011 at 4:40 pm
By the way, yes, I loved Braid. Also Katamari Damacy.
May 6, 2011 at 5:00 pm
I suppose Grenade/Missle launchers count? Sticks of Dynamite? Im interested to see how this works out? What about Solomon? is he going to give up shooting bad guys too? Just curious.
May 7, 2011 at 3:30 pm
there's no shooting in dance central, thank heavens 🙂
also, do fireballs count?
😉 clearly written by a girl.
May 10, 2011 at 2:28 pm
@Z blah blah blah gender normative stereotypes; there are plenty of girls who love/write about/play/make all kinds of games :p
July 14, 2011 at 12:04 am
Ummm, if you enjoy PC games I would recomend Amnesia. Yes it contains gore, but there is no form of fighting.
P.S. yes I do know I'm posting on a old topic in hopes he plays this.