Webimpulse
11 February 2013, 06:20 PM
Namaste all,
I know that video games generally have nothing to do with Hindu principles, especially the violent games; I don't find this to necessarily be a bad or a good thing, it just...is. However, there is one game that I've played recently that even though it is violent, it at least comes close (or closer than any other video game, anyway) to recreating the Hindu concept of karma, and the negative repercussions of violence in it.
That game is Dishonored, a game published by Bethesda (I forgot who developed it :o ). In Dishonored, you play an elite bodyguard who becomes, well, dishonored by being framed for the murder of the royalty he was assigned to protect. You then hook up with a resistance organization to clear your name and take out the usurper who's claimed the throne.
When you come across most enemies in Dishonored, you have two options for taking them out - lethally, or non-lethally (through sleep darts, knocking them out, etc.). In most games of this nature, admittedly it's easier to kill enemies than not kill them; if a non-lethally subdued enemy wakes up later and sounds the alarm, it can be a source of frustration. However, in Dishonored, even though in the short run killing enemies may be the safest way to proceed, in the long run it can make things quite difficult for the player.
There's a brilliant play mechanic that assures this: the rat plague.
The rat plague is quite literal in this case - it's no bubonic plague, it's quite worse. Instead of rats merely being the spreaders of germs, they actually have acquired a taste for human flesh, and are working in groups to eat people...even those who are still alive! In Dishonored, the rat plague gains strength every time you kill someone, because the rats eat the corpse. Kill enough people in this game, and the rats eventually come after you.
This to me is symbolic of karmic buildup. It's not a perfect analogy, but it has parallels to the concept of karma in Hinduism - not just "what goes around comes around," but the accumulation of negative energies, and how a sin for short-term gain can result in misery later down the line.
What do you people think of this? Am I onto something, or am I just seeing things that aren't there?
I know that video games generally have nothing to do with Hindu principles, especially the violent games; I don't find this to necessarily be a bad or a good thing, it just...is. However, there is one game that I've played recently that even though it is violent, it at least comes close (or closer than any other video game, anyway) to recreating the Hindu concept of karma, and the negative repercussions of violence in it.
That game is Dishonored, a game published by Bethesda (I forgot who developed it :o ). In Dishonored, you play an elite bodyguard who becomes, well, dishonored by being framed for the murder of the royalty he was assigned to protect. You then hook up with a resistance organization to clear your name and take out the usurper who's claimed the throne.
When you come across most enemies in Dishonored, you have two options for taking them out - lethally, or non-lethally (through sleep darts, knocking them out, etc.). In most games of this nature, admittedly it's easier to kill enemies than not kill them; if a non-lethally subdued enemy wakes up later and sounds the alarm, it can be a source of frustration. However, in Dishonored, even though in the short run killing enemies may be the safest way to proceed, in the long run it can make things quite difficult for the player.
There's a brilliant play mechanic that assures this: the rat plague.
The rat plague is quite literal in this case - it's no bubonic plague, it's quite worse. Instead of rats merely being the spreaders of germs, they actually have acquired a taste for human flesh, and are working in groups to eat people...even those who are still alive! In Dishonored, the rat plague gains strength every time you kill someone, because the rats eat the corpse. Kill enough people in this game, and the rats eventually come after you.
This to me is symbolic of karmic buildup. It's not a perfect analogy, but it has parallels to the concept of karma in Hinduism - not just "what goes around comes around," but the accumulation of negative energies, and how a sin for short-term gain can result in misery later down the line.
What do you people think of this? Am I onto something, or am I just seeing things that aren't there?