|
Monday 29 February, 2016
Right off the bat Prison Architect hits you with an interesting delema: is execution moral?
The first mission of the campaign is just teaching you the ropes: how to build basic rooms, how to hook up utilities.
From the art the game looks tongue in cheek hilarious - simple graphics, with music reminiscent of the Tycoon games (Roller Coaster Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, etc) and Theme Hospital.
I spent the first few minutes, while the workers were building the new foundation, looking through the prisoners list of crimes, looking for differences in sentences based on skin color.
I was wondering if the game played to the general trend of people of color getting longer sentences for lesser crimes.
So far it seems fair, but that is only from the first chapter of the campaign.
I was calmly watching the workers scurry around while they completed the foundation when the CEO calls.
He had me build an Execution Area, with an imminent room and electric chair.
The game still presented the same art style, up until the Polaroid picture giving you the backstory of the man scheduled for execution.
The photos are similar to a comic book, and are much more serious than the game appears.
The backstory of the man scheduled for execution was not what I expected. Instead of it being something fantastical, which would have matched my expectations given the art style,
the story was dark. The man's wife was cheating so he followed her and killed her and her lover. Legally everything is in order and the man is to be executed. Then the priest
enters. He briefly questions the chief about the morality of the action. The chief responded that we are not to decide whether the action is moral or amoral, the law already decided his sentence.
To advance the story, the only option is to carry out the execution. This plays another cutscene where you see the priest comfort the man on his way to the chair. Then the guard throws the switch, the screen goes white, and the next chapter loads.
This related to a story in Oklahoma a few weeks ago. A prisoner was sentenced to death for her role as mastermind in her husband's murder. By the time of the execution she was reformed, held a Master's degree,
and was a model prisoner. Yet her sentence was carried out. I had to question, is this the best practice? I am generally for capital punishment. There are people who should not be part of this world. But if the reform is successful, which is the goal
of the prison institution in the first place, should the sentence still be carried out or reconsidered in light of new evidence?
|
