Murder Simulators

My obsession with roguelikes (head on over to Wikipedia now if you aren't familiar with roguelikes) is pretty well known among my friends at Full Sail. In fact, my first post in this blog was about them, and I'll probably have another post singing their praises later (I still haven't played Shiren the Wanderer on the Wii, but it's on my list).

Given this, one of my friends (Hi, Josh!) sent me a link to an article about a roguelike in which you play a serial killer. After reading the article and watching the video, I had mixed feelings.

First and foremost, I reacted as a fan of roguelikes and as a designer. I was absolutely blown away by the demo! It looks like it's got a lot of depth, the tiles are minimalistic but readable, and the concept is interesting. I assume the psychological backgrounds and any status conditions will affect gameplay, the inventory system was robust but not complicated, and the ability to leave (and, again, I assume) remove evidence could create a lot of interesting gameplay situations.

However, this is a game that is impossible to analyze purely in a cold, dispassionate way. There's a lot going on here. The way it's presented in the demo and article, it's disturbing at best. "Offensive" or "disgusting" are probably more likely adjectives.

My second reaction to the game was that of worry. I was worried it was being specifically made to be controversial. A few elements in particular seemed needlessly inflammatory. The choice of Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy" for the theme song seems odd as it sets an unfortunate tone for the game. Also, the preset characters using names of infamous serial killers is a bit baffling. There are those that will interpret this inclusion as a glorification of serial killers.

In the original thread in which the game was presented, the designer claims this is not his intention. He was inspired to create the game by the Dexter, the TV show about a serial killer with a heart of gold. He also mentions other possible directions to take the game, many of which are quite interesting. For example, the player could be cast as a mob hitman, or a vigilante cop, or a nonviolent cat-burglar. Unfortunately, the demo does not highlight these possibilities and portrays the player as a mere psychopath.

It's easy to make a game that's offensive and disgusting if that's your goal. It's easy to make ridiculous violence just for the sake of shock value. Making a game offensive and disgusting in order to create controversy and using that controversy as a marketing tool seems lazy. It's uninspired.

Making a game that is disturbing because it challenges the players' rationalizations of their actions is much more difficult. It will probably still be controversial, sure, but that's often a side effect of a good design that makes the player think.

This game toes the fine line between being ridiculously shocking and being merely disturbing. I am cautiously optimistic after reading the designer's original post that he's on the right track. I hope the creator of this game agrees with me that following in Postal 2's footsteps would be a waste of its potential.