This Guest Writer article is is an edited version of a personal blog. This is a great way to get into video games writing and if TSA member C_S15 keeps writing stuff like this he’ll go far. In this piece he looks at how the choices we make inside games can be reflective of us as human beings. I thought this was a really interesting one, can’t wait to see the comments.
Being a gamer, I was always going to make sure I at least saw what was at Gamescom despite a lack of a stream. After seeing all the delights Sony had to offer at their conference, one in particular showing attracted my attention the most and that was Heavy Rain. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, my handy copy and pas… I mean awesome embedding skills will easily showcase this for you:
Providing that shizz worked. You should be all “holy sh*t” about now.
The main character of the trailer, Ethan Mars, is a happy family man with 2 children and a lovely wife. However one day, during a family day out, one of his children goes missing and runs out into the road in front of the car. Ethan, controlled by the player, must choose whether to jump out in front of the car and save his child, sacrificing himself. Or not too, and letting his child die.
David Cage, the mastermind behind this brilliant piece of gaming entertainment, asked the people of the Gamescom floor; “How far would you go for love?”.
So, how far would I go for love? Well, to tell you the truth, I don’t know. I’m a single man of 19, living with his parents, no girlfriend, no children, no house, unable to work (currently). I have no real passions that would put me in a situation such as Ethan experienced. Sure, I love my parents and my younger brother, however I know that they have the sense and understanding to not run out in the road or get themselves into any such situation.
One of the things I do have, is an imagination. It’s given me great things, like the ability to control my dreams and so leads me to the whole reason I write this. I dreamt that I was walking down a street in Bath with the some of my gaming clan, an old memory that I have. Absolutely nothing happened in that memory apart from us all walking down a path in the town. So I altered that. What if, taking Cage’s example, do I see a small child starting to run towards my side of the road? What do I do?
Initial reaction is obviously to save that child, it’s whats expected of any decent human being, right?
Could I live with the implications, though? Paralysis, extreme body deformation or worse, death, could happen. Easy to say here, agreed. But thats how I feel I would react. I would jump for that child. I think I could, and would. I love that child, but not as my own flesh and blood, like Ethan does. It’s a mutual respect, and that I value the life of another human that causes me to jump out for that child. But not love like the love of your own child.
Cage said that it’s a horrible situation that no-one should ever have to experience. The panic, the fear all of the emotions combined with an intense amount of adrenaline aren’t going to make for a pleasent experience. But I want to know. Where do I stand amongst the crowd? Some fathers I have spoke to, including my own, have said that when you 1st hold that child, that you just “know”. You know that you would give your life and more to do anything for that small bundle you hold in your arms.
I want to know the answer to the question. And I will one day, but just now, I’m not ready.
This is a personal post, but I want to ask you in the comments what you would do for love? Which choice will you be making in Heavy Rain?