gaming Are player character deaths in video games too realistic and necessary?

[Koori 156]

I thought about this recently after watching a video about player deaths in Brutal Doom mod.

 

Video games are very detailed nowadays. So much so that they resemble more like movies than games. Such feat also brings in realistic looking deaths and bleeding that usually have the game earn its R (or K18) rating. When talking about gruesome deaths, one immediately thinks about Dead Space trilogy, and yes those games have one of the most if not THE most gruesome ways to die in video game history (I haven't played the infamous Manhunt, BTW).

 

I myself don't really have a problem with this, but it strikes me as odd that for example in Dead Space when the player dies at the... "spikes" of necromorphs, it is shown to the player in full plain view and in all its gory. I've found myself asking "Is that really necessary? Showing a player death like that?"

 

In first-person shooters, this problem doesn't really exist... mostly, because the only deaths you see are the deaths of your enemies. However even those can be gruesome and realistic looking. As I mentioned I recently saw a video about Brutal Doom (a mod for Doom) and man it was way bloodier than normal and like in Dead Space, some deaths are shown in 3rd person.

 

So is it really necessary to show players their own character's death in such realistic way in video games? I do understand the necessity of showing it on the enemies, but for the player characters... not so much.

 

Your thoughts, please?

[DaReaper 1,945]

I grew up on the Controversial video games, Mortal Kombat even though now it's nothing was the first popular game to feature over the top deaths and i owned it, then tjere was this PC game i didnt own but a friend did you were basical trying to survive in a haunted house while a demon possesed husband tracked you down and would kill you or the demon ripped you in half, was done in live action pretty hruesome for the time. No ot's not Necessary to have these over the top deaths but it is what sells the game, if MK didn't have fatalites it wouldn't even be close to as good as street fighter. It's up to the parents to decide what is apporite for their children.

[Floris 287]

A death in a videogame, movie and even books are all the same for me..

 

It is not about how it looks or even how it sounds.

 

But how it is build-up and executed, this is what matters.. I mean, do you feel any sorrow for the few soldiers who get killed fighting together with you with the name "Soldier" floating above their heads?

 

Perhaps a little or a few seconds.. But that's it, you don't really care about them.

 

 

There usually are certain characters in a (good) videogame were you can get attached to and you don't want them to die because you went through certain hardships with them and this makes a death more powerful for me.. When it actually impacts me.

 

(I'm personally very fund of sudden deaths who come as a surprise.)

 

 

Don't get me wrong though, great art and voice-acting massively improves these moments, but if the very core of the death is meaningless.. It doesn't matter how good the graphics or the sound is.. You will most likely not care.

 

 

 

Now, there are games just for the visual experience and they show you those gruesome over-the-top-deaths..

They aren't my thing but if it is yours.. Enjoy yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for the player character, this is most likely done to suck you into the game and perhaps stimulate the player on not dying.. They want to make you feel sorry for not winning or something like that.

Edited June 18, 2013 by Floris

[Righteous Fury 344]

Lots of people enjoy seeing those, in fact with Dead Space there are a few particularly gruesome kills that are almost impossible to get if the player doesn't intentionally let themselves die.

 

And it's not like this is showing up in Animal Crossing. If you're playing Dead Space you should be a fan of jumpscares and gore. Likewise if you're playing Mass Effect, you should anticipate dramatic death scenes for characters you've taken the time to know and love.

 

As long as game devs know their audience there shouldn't be any problem.