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Monday 23 February, 2009
Upon completing a game with question content like this, one can’t help but ask the question of why. You begin performing the Columbine Massacre and your characters ultimately kill themselves. This is unnerving and acts as a means of commentary on the youth’s actions. After the credits roll, however, you find yourself in the depths of Hell. Dyllan and Eric’s titles change from Trench Coat Mafia to Demon God. Everything you see and fight is something pulled straight from the first person shooting game, Doom. This was most certainly in poor taste, without a doubt. Doing something of this nature shows little respect to the parties involved in such a painful event. It is an insult in a manner of speaking.
Now, I did a little bit of research on this particular game after subjecting myself to its content. The whole point of the artist in creating this title was to produce a game that was more thought-provoking on such a sensitive subject. He more than overshoots his original intent and beelines off on some wild tangent once you arrive in Hell. Furthermore, you eventually reach an island containing numerous culture, media, and video game icons, such as Bart Simpson or Mega Man. However, in one instance, you speak to a little girl who introduces herself as Jon Bonnet Ramsey. This game effectively breaches yet another sensitive subject by doing this. However, this is not the only insult to injury.
Ultimately, when all of the ‘fun’ is said and done, you find yourself fighting against Satan himself. Upon beating him, he asks you to join him in Hell as friends. The game then cuts from Hell and proceeds to show a public conference where numerous officials, both government and local, speak on behalf of the events that had transpired in Columbine. Easy access to guns, poor parenting, and even sodomy are blamed for Dyllan and Eric’s massacre, and it is even stated that bullying wasn’t really a factor. This is contrary to the reflections of the main characters themselves as they eradicated their school. Finally, you see the final screen of the game, the Times Magazine cover that was released just after the incident reading, “The Monsters Next Door: What Made Them Do It?”
This is clear commentary on mass media warping the events of something so heavily that the very cause of such a travesty is lost to us, even if it was somewhat apparent. However, his sociopolitical commentary is drowned in the content of the Hell area of his game. It turns a serious reflection and commentary into a joke, a mockery. It is highly insensitive and uncalled for. Ultimately, in the creation of his game, the designer lost sight of his original goals. The artist clearly had a positive intent in store for this game, but just grew careless.
There was also a fair amount of controversy that surrounded this game during its inception. This game was initially made for and submitted to Guerilla Gamemaker Competition. During this competition, the game was eventually disqualified on its heavily controversial grounds. Along with it, numerous games were withdrawn from the competition, including games as notable as Castle Crashers. This disqualification was undoubtedly a violation of the creator’s freedom of speech to some extent. However, there still lies the problem of his abuse of this right to the extreme of, even if by accident, he made a mockery of everything the Columbine Massacre represented. This game most certainly forces us to recall those events and pushes us to accept that there may have been circumstances that caused these two youths to snap that could have been prevented through compassion and acknowledgment. This does not change his sloppy execution.
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