Monday 6 October, 2008

My third and final time playing GTA was interesting. I found myself driving through an underground railroad and ending up in the "country". I didn't know this game had that environment. Everyone in this area talked with a southern accent, listen to country music, and drove tractors. I came across a white man in a suit. When I bumped into him, I heard something different for the first time playing the game. He told me to get a job. I thought about it, and the purpose of the game. There are no "real" jobs in GTA. The only options you have are killing people and taking money. I must of missed the part where you can work at a fast food restaurant to make your "paper".

I had a moment in the game that clearly was against utilitarianism. I saw a specific car that I wanted to "jack", so I ran out in the middle of the road to get it. For some reason, I couldn't get to the car door as easily as I had been with other cars. It took me a while to get the other person out of their car. By doing this I caused a 10 car pile up at the intersection. According to utilitarianism, I caused unhappiness to others just so I can get the car I wanted. Ethically that was wrong knowing what I was going to cause in the process. In real life, many people would have died during the car accidents.
I'm happy that I was forced to play GTA. I don't think I would have sat down on my own, purchased it, and played it, not to mention enjoy it. I am interested to see if other games of this nature are created and how they do.

Another game similar to this would be Assassin's Creed. Its similar in that the player has free movement throughout the world, but as the player kills innocent people the game gets harder and the player actually its explicitly punished in the form of lost life points and harder mission difficulty.