Monday 6 October, 2008

Play 3:

During this play, I didn't concentrate too much on the missions, but instead just wandered around to see what I could and couldn't do.

I was wondering if it was possible to play the game while following moral guidelines. I realized pretty fast that this was not possible. You can't really do much in the game aside from running, jumping, stealing cars, and attacking. So much for morality.

There were a couple of things that I think were worth noting. First of all, it is possible to take a 'job' as a taxi driver, and earn some 'honest' money. While the job consists of picking up passengers and dropping them off at their requested destination, you have to steal a taxi in order to do this.
Another thing I noticed is that it is impossible to communicate with other characters (save the 'family' during missions) by talking to them. CJ can't begin conversation with passerbys. He can punch anyone, but he can't talk to them. Seems a bit strange, doesn't it?

In conclusion, I don't think its possible to play this game in a moral manner because you are not given the option to be moral. While you can play the game being less villianous than others, you are still forced to be a villian nonetheless. Despite this, the story provides a reason for this behavior, and it is then up to the player to decide if the required actions are just.

A lot people seem to have the same problem with the game series as you do. That there is no alternative to being "evil". The sad fact that is upon reading the games title you know that you as the player are going to have to bend the rules of moral actions. Good points. Maybe in future reflections you can discuss ways to fix this problem.