Tuesday 23 August, 2011

Drake is in some sense an endearing character. He spends most of the game huffing, puffing, moaning, and groaning as you subject him to a physical workout that would have left an Olympic athlete begging for mercy. Drake's vocalization of his effort humanizes him, it makes him more real. And this is a good thing. Drake isn't indestructible or superhuman...

Once I finished the game, I went into the "extras" and discovered that it's possible to purchase extras with the money you've earned by getting trophies. There are different kinds of unlockables including variant "character skins". Most of these looked like costume changes, so I was intrigued by the one called "Doughnut Drake". It's an expensive one ($50K in addition to requiring two earlier purchases for $20K each). Surely it must be special.

And it is.

Doughnut Drake is an overweight version of Drake. Drake looks bloated and fat (go on, look for "Doughnut Drake" images on Google). It's a neat gag. But, as I played through the first mission again...it's a little bit more than that. This time the grunts and groans take on an entirely new meaning. Now Drake was grunting and moaning because he (in my mind) was fat and out of shape. Rather than feel sorry for him, I almost felt angry at him for not being fit. THAT was a weird experience, was I angry because he was overweight and might not be able to do the job? Was it ok that, at least for a while, I chuckled a bit at how he looked? Was his voice different? (I'm not sure) Why was I making all these new assumptions and interpretations ONLY because the character looked fat. As far as I know, controlling Drake is essentially unchanged.

For me, the experience of playing Doughnut Drake (after having just finished the main storyline) was a surprisingly eye-opening experience. And one of ethical reflection as well...



BTW, a little Googling shows that I'm not the first to have this reaction:
http://www.destructoid.com/teh-bias-big-heroes-181186.phtml

This is a really interesting purchase, and I wouldn't expect to have that response to an out-of-shape main character either. The only time I ever remember controlling an overweight character was in GTA:San Andreas where I made CJ fat by eating fast food. I also put him in heart-patterned boxers, no shirt, and wearing socks with his sandals. I didn't take him seriously at all so it was just amusing, but I guess with Doughnut Drake, it's harder to make a joke out of him since he's the same Drake, but fat? And he doesn't have the potential to slim down? And it's really interesting all the things you reinterpreted about him with his change.

Yes. it was weird. I think mostly it was due to the contrast with "regular" Drake AND the fact that I had been playing with that character for a while. I guess it also helps to know that "weight" isn't a part of the game. In the case of GTA: San Andreas there is an explicit gameplay system for that (fit CJ can run for longer without getting tired). :-)