Wednesday 22 February, 2012

My last day playing Super Columbine Massacre! The exclamation mark is part of the title but also suffices for the use of in that sentence. I couldn’t be happier than to end my play of this game. As stated earlier the gameplay is repetitive and boring but I wont go on another rant. In this entry I want to talk about the dialog of the game and the tone. It makes it very interesting to play the bad guy in a situation and this is no exception. Seeing the shooters feelings through dialog and cut scenes really help the overall feel of the game. You feel the overall feeling of no remorse through what the characters say and the dialog associated with the fight scenes. I think it was interesting that when you win a fight it says “another win for the trench coat mafia!” It has a satirical effect in the game. As well as the dialog that says, I think, “for the brave boys,” this makes it seem as if the designer wanted the game to not be taken seriously even if it is a very serious concept. That is one of the things I found tricky with the game, the boundary between what is to be taken seriously and what is not to be. That is why I almost feel like the design is flawed. Like I stated earlier, It made it even harder to distinguish when the boys are in hell fighting demons. That part is not serious at all and almost takes away from the idea. Overall the game was frustrating to critique because its so hard to distinguish what is right and wrong, does the designer want you to sympathize with the shooters, does he want you to take it in a satirical light, does it help bring the topic more into the light or does it push it farther back. It was all very confusing to me. Overall, I didn’t like the game because of the mechanics but it is an interesting idea conceptually.

"That is one of the things I found tricky with the game, the boundary between what is to be taken seriously and what is not to be"

Good point, on the one hand using humor can help get certain points across, but at the same time it can be hard to understand when it's mocking (or supportive!) of the killers.