Jack Lothian, via Multiplayer: I'd love GTA games to
genuinely introduce moral quandaries, just as I'd love to them to
actively pursue a more open approach where mass slaughter isn't the
usual answer to any problem. GTAIV isn't that game though--"Kill Mr A
or Kill Mr B" ends up being more of a game choice than a moral one
(which death will benefit my playing experience). A third option (kill
neither, face the personal consequences) would have at least given some
deeper scope.
Stephen Totilo responds: Jack just blew my mind. I've long
complained of the binary choices games that are designed with morality
systems provide players. That's why I'm happy that Spore will give
players at least three ways to cultivate their in-game species, instead
of just "good" or "bad," "Light Side" or "Dark Side," "kill the Little
Sister" or "don't kill the Little Sister." What would I have done if I
could have chosen to ignore Playboy X and Dwayne and killed neither?
Some would say that offering three choices rather than two is no real
improvement. But recalling that specific scenario, I'd have found it
even more extraordinary and morally complex if I could have chosen that
third path Jack described. Agree?
hage, via Level Up: I also
found the story to be a fraudulent bill of goods, between the laughable
artifice in some of the NPCs (Michelle after 10 seconds in the car:
"I'd really like to get to know you better, Niko...") and every time
the writers build up a little good will in terms of your emotional
investment in Niko they squander it on something completely out of
character in the name of a violent filler mission.
N'Gai Croal responds:
I'm wondering whether the fault lies not with inconsistencies in the
work of Rockstar's writing team, but with the credulity of all of us.
Liberty City is filled with self-deluded characters like Playboy X,
Manny and Brucie, who present themselves one way only to be exposed by
their behavior. Why do we take Niko at face value? Is it just because
he's our avatar? Remember, we never hear Niko's inner thoughts, we just
listen to his dialogue and see his actions as we carry them out...Maybe
possible that the lady the gentleman doth protest too much. Maybe Niko
is deceiving himself as much as do the rest of the lowlifes he runs
with. Maybe as much as he believes he's fatigued with death and
killing, he's actually drawn to it? Maybe we have all misunderstood
Niko Bellic. What do you think, Stephen?
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