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Oct 28th, 2010 at 13:38:01 - Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC) |
While first starting this game I figured it would be something fun and enjoyable like the GTA : San Andreas. What i did play however was something far more frustrating as well as disturbing. In the early part of the game i was confused as to why when i entered the school, the mission was ending at certain points. I figured that out, it was those stupid cameras. After i got past that little hiccup, another issue arises, i would go into the cafeteria and couldn’t plant the bomb! This deceivingly easy 2D RPG was getting under my skin with its lack of direction. I finally figured out that you have to grab the bomb from the trunk of the car. So i finally am able to progress through the game after feeling incapable for about 45 min.
When anyone thinks of the columbine school massacre they think of something terrible, sad, and certainly violent. These are the same expectations i had in playing a game with a name like Super Columbine Massacre RPG. Although not as graphic as a game like Dante’s Inferno, due to graphical restrictions in my opinion, the subject matter was enough to make me feel bothered by playing it. After playing the game a bit, and getting past gameplay issues within the game, i felt compelled to read more about the actual event as a refresher on what had actually happened. Reading through the article on Wikipedia the whole thing was quite troublesome and disturbing. The detail in that article is shocking and certainly makes the game hit home. The game is eerily similar to the actual Columbine massacre. From finding your friend in the parking lot and telling him to go home, to the fact that several of the bombs were set to detonate and never did.
The game also makes a point of singling out different stereotypes or clicks of people when you come across them. Each group of people like jocks, nerds, churchy people, and goths are all depicted in a stereotypical manner. For example, when killing a churchy girl she doesn’t fight back, she prays and regains health and a holy blessing. In the article i read it was rumored that Eric and Dylan singled out jocks in particular because those were the main group of people to make fun of and tease the both of them.
Overall this game is surprisingly disturbing and the subject matter and content certainly attribute to that. There is something that makes this game significantly more troublesome than playing GTA:SA and i believe it is due to the real life subject matter and detail.
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Oct 28th, 2010 at 11:32:36 - Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC) |
As i finish this gamelog and play my final session of Super Columbine Massacre RPG i feel like the message that the game was trying to convey is coming through. After beating the main portion of the game and having a shootout with the police, Dylan and Eric end up turning the guns on themselves. They finally decide that they have had enough of this world and everything that is routine and normal within it.
After Dylan and Eric shot themselves within the game, a slideshow of emotional columbine photographs were displayed on the screen. One of them was the actual photo of Dylan and Eric lying dead together, both with suicidal gun wounds to their heads. As the slideshow progresses you see people who went through the whole ordeal and how terrifying it must have been to go through the massacre.
Throughout the game there were several moments in which some speculation as to why the boys had taken their anger and resentment to the level they did. What it seemed to amount to is the fact that the boys weren't popular and they were picked on frequently. There is one occurrence where Dylan has a flashback and he is the light coordinator for a Frankenstein play. He does a good job and the play goes off without a hitch, yet he talks about how there will be a party after the play and he will be treated like an outcast and nobody will talk to him. Whether or not this is true or even occurred i am not sure of.
So that is where i get the overall message and point of the game. I feel the game was created as a tribute to everyone that was involved that day. I also think the game was made to give some sort of an explanation as to why Dylan and Eric decided to do such a horrific thing. Although Super Columbine Massacre RPG turned out to be something different than what i had expected, i feel like that was a good thing. The gameplay in Super Columbine Massacre RPG was not it's strong suit but the overall message and realism turned out to be the focal point in my opinion.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Oct 28th, 2010 at 11:33:41.
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Oct 27th, 2010 at 14:30:06 - Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC) |
In playing through Super Columbine Massacre RPG for a second session, i found many more facts in the game which resembled what had actually happened. Where i started off thinking the game was going to be more arcade like or representing the massacre in a brighter light, it turns out that the content within the game is fairly representative of what happened during the Columbine Massacre.
After reading about the actual occurrence, i found out that most of the damage and the shooting took place in the library where many kids were hiding after hearing the shots fired. Upon entering they call for everyone with white hats to stand up, this is relevant because all if not most of the jocks at that school wore white hats. He then asks for the jocks to stand up. Obviously no one is going to willingly stand up to be killed so they just start killing anyone and everyone.
Besides all the parallels i see between the real event and the game, i also notice that the game isn’t very fun at all. You pretty much have complete domination over anyone you encounter, which leaves you invincible. So you go around killing teachers, janitors, different “groups” of students and you never die or take much damage. Granted this is true of the situation but perhaps something could have been done to make it more challenging. Also, there isn’t much else to do besides walking around and killing just about anyone and everyone. There are some cutscenes which try to indicate certain things which may have set off Dylan and Eric to carry out such a heinous act.
It will be interesting to see how they decide to wrap up this game. At this point it seems like it is a violent game to depict the harshness of the Columbine Massacre.
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Oct 5th, 2010 at 13:25:12 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PC) |
For my third and final gaming session i chose to analyze a different side of the game. Of all things i would never expect to see in a Grand Theft Auto game, there was an attempt at a health system for San Andreas. Although the system in the game is rudimentary and doesn’t really promote specific realistic changes, it does a good job of emphasizing a positive aspect within the game such as the weight lifting activity and not eating too much.
Early in the game i kept hearing fellow homies talking about how skinny i was and while they wondered what had happened to me while i was gone. They told me i needed to get something to eat because i was getting too thin. On the other hand Big Smoke, one of CJ’s homies, is of a larger stature and the game makes a point of putting down Big Smoke for his poor portion size choices from the drive through. I think this further emphasizes the message the game was trying to get across in the health aspect, its a good choice to be healthy even if you’re a gang banger.
Since so many other aspects of the game are tainted, such as stealing, killing, and drug use, it is a nice surprise to see that the developers have actually put a morally positive activity in the game. That activity, of course, is weight lifting. After one of the missions where you get food from a drive through and kill some rival gang members, one of your homies calls you on your phone and tells you that there is a gym that he attends in the city and that CJ should check it out. The weight lifting system is promoted by the fact that it helps you learn some new fighting moves and it makes you look better, which your homies say is necessary for you to gain some respect.
Another health related aspect of the game is eating. If you eat too much you will get fat, and on the other hand if you don’t eat enough you will lose weight. This is a fairly minor system within the game, yet it is a step in the right direction to have some morally positive elements.
You can tell Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas was trying to implement more than just killing, robbery, and other morally poor choices. In a sense i think it was presented to the player and didn’t interfere enough with the core gameplay to the point of where it could become trivial or annoying.
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Waggs has been with GameLog for 14 years, 1 month, and 17 days |
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