Wednesday 12 May, 2010

Day one of playing Super Columbine Massacre RPG! I found the game to be quite different from what I expected. Before I started playing the game, I read about it on its Web site. SCMRPG! Wasn’t exactly what I expected it to be: just based on the title, I figured it would be walk into Columbine High School and shoot the students and that would be it. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold would commit suicide and the game would be over. Starting up as Eric, I was supposed to call Dylan and gather-up the bombs in the basement. I thought the game gave some interesting background on the two growing up in suburban Denver. For example, the basement has a Marilyn Manson CD. When the player picks it up, the game dialogue says, “The lyrics are sure to inspire rage and killing,” or something along those lines. I thought that was a terrific piece of satire on the part of the game designer because Manson as well as the videogame DOOM were two early influences blamed by the American news media for the killings. I thought this was a great way to point out to the player how ridiculous or unfair this type of blaming was.

The game also has some interesting flashbacks, such as when the player presses the action key by the pizza box, which shows Harris and Klebold detonating their first bomb and planning the eventual Columbine murders. The video camera staged the real-life video message left by the two. Personally, I had not seen the actual video before, so it was good to see it in the game because it gave some important background information on the two’s mental state and motivation for the killings. I actually found this to be a somewhat sympathetic depiction of the two that changed my perspective on them. On the one hand, what they did was definitely wrong. There is no excuse for their cold-blooded killing. Nor should they be given any praise. But on the other hand, I thought the game did a good job of opening up to the other perspective by simply using real evidence. Harris and Klebold, according to the video message they left, had regrets about what they were about to do and apologized to their family and friends, asking the police not to arrest nor blame them for Harris’ and Klebold’s actions.

I decided to play through the game and collect as many items as I could, while trying to avoid killing as much as I could. Sneaking into the school to plant the bombs was not difficult, just took a little while to get used to the movements of the hall monitors. After I planted the bombs, I was supposed to sneak back out and go to the car to grab the gear. While gearing up, the game gave more insight into the Harris’ and Klebold’s mind: they were tired of being mocked and bullied growing in a predominately white, upper-middle class suburb. When the bombs failed to explode, the two’s plan had to change, so they decided to go into the school and start shooting, following their “animal instincts.”

I had the option to kill students in the parking lot. I chose not to. To me, the Columbine shootings are such a terrible event that I really didn’t feel up to “killing” anyone. The game, in its attempts to show Harris’ and Klebold’s motivations, could not convince me to kill anyone. I ducked and dodged everyone in the parking lot. I for one would not do the killings. In my mind, I thought, “Am I avoiding killing because it’s Columbine or because I don’t play any kind of violent games and am not used to the task.” I think this is an interesting conflict for someone who does play violent videogames. Does the fact that the game relives Columbine change how people play it? I haven’t finished the game yet, but this is one aspect of it that makes SCMRPG! interesting. After I got through the parking lot without any kills, I entered the school and entered the first door on the right. It was at this point the game froze …

"Does the fact that the game relives Columbine change how people play it?"

Good question. Also, doesn't the context in which you play it also change things? So, if we had played it in class, it would have been received very differently as well. No?