The Enemy At Work (Blasphemous Video Games) (Rant)

[Xalith]

So... I've something to rant about, and if you don't like rants, then I would kindly ask you to click your browser's back button, rather than to fire back at me.

This thread is not meant to start any heated conversations between Christians, it is more just one Christian's lamentations over the state of the minds of people who come up with this stuff.

I am, or perhaps was, a videogamer. I enjoyed videogames on a regular basis, but I'm finally getting bored with some of my usual games. I recently came to Christ back in March earlier this year, and since then I've been trying to cut sin out of my life at a gradual pace, and I've been more picky and choosy about what I feed my mind with.

Well, I live out in the middle of nowheresville, the nearest town of any population is sub-1,000 and it is 10 minutes away. There's a town that's about 5k or so but that's almost a 20 minute drive, and then there's a bigger town about 25 or so minutes away. Suffice it to say, I live along Boredom Drive in Ho-Humsville and there's pretty much nothing to do unless you enjoy killing innocent animals for your entertainment (everybody I know around here hunts), and watching TV.... uh, no thanks. There's nothing interesting on TV nowadays.

So that leaves browsing the internet and video games as I'm really not the physical or social sort. I'm a bit of a loner, an introvert with pretty much no RL friends 'cept for co-workers. That's how I got into videogaming.

I've been noticing something these last 5 years and it is really starting to irk me. I know the Bible warns about this kind of stuff happening, but yet.. I have to wonder, do people really not care anymore?

The amount of blasphemy found in videogames nowadays is just absurdly ridiculous. I'd have to say that the first widely-known blasphemous videogame I've heard of was Darksiders and its sequel, wherein you play as two of the four horsemen (yes, those Horsemen). That in itself isn't really blasphemy, but the two games actually paint angels in a bad light as if they are part of the "bad guys" (the game places War and Death as protagonists, and Angels and Demons are both in the "bad guys, just different sides" lot).

Then came Diablo 3. Diablo and Diablo 2 were rather light on the religious content -- you played as a hero who fought demons, undead, etc trying to save a town or an area, or defeat the titular "arch demon" (like many other games), and the only angel seen in the game is a good guy. Then Diablo 3 came, and they cranked the blasphemy up high, to the point where they had angels and demons mingling and producing a super-human race, and that "Earth" was some dimension between Heaven & Hell. When I got to that part in the game (the game made no actual blasphemous content up until this point), I rolled my eyes and just shook my head. This was before I came to Christ, and I remember thinking at the time: "Really!? They went there!?" Even before coming to Christ, I could see how lame that was.

Well, anyways, that was years ago and over the years, I saw that more blasphemous games have been released since, and it seems occultism is all the rage these days, and it is rather sad.

First, the game developers who come up with this stuff don't seem to realize what they're really doing, and second... it's getting harder to find "cleaner" games (nearly all games have some form of violence in them, though I try to stick to 'cleaner' games as best as I can).

Anyways, this is just a bit of a rant... and it seems like the movie industry isn't far behind on the blasphemy thing either, I saw a few movies during this past year come through the rental kiosk at work that sounded like they had occultist/demonic overtones to them too.

I wouldn't be surprised that if this continued another 5-10 years or so, it'd be nearly impossible to find acceptable/clean entertainment...

 

[SarahsKnight]

Not really. I hear ya.

I myself wouldn't go so far as to say this is all part of "the whole world going Evil so get ready for Rapture" or anything, mainly because moral panics - reasonable or not - have probably been going on for far longer than any of us realize. You can look at just about any part of history and there had to be a few people claiming that this is the end and the world's all going to hell in a handbasket. But I do find your frustrations understandable. It seems to me also that mature themes like graphic violence and swearing (I've also definitely noticed this with sex), as well as religious themes that seem to paint angels, Heaven, Good, or even the Christian faith itself in a bad light, are becoming more and more prevalent these days. But nevertheless, even as far back as the 80's, there were still some lesser-known video games that would make even most of the adult-oriented games today seem sane and inoffensive. (Trust me. I can list some examples, but I'd rather not unless you really want to know.)

But I agree, if it makes you feel any better, that it is getting a bit more difficult to find relatively "clean" games as time goes on, but it is still far from impossible. I wasn't interested in Darksiders myself because the whole story you described seemed personally offensive to my particular sensibilities as well as just lame and not worthy of attention, although I probably wouldn't say that the writers behind it or other games where religion is painted in a scary light are knowingly trying to blaspheme God or anything. But if we find it blasphemous, we just shouldn't bother with it. I personally also despise playing games where I feel that the hero is actually acting not like a hero in any Christian or even secular\human sense, but instead like a petty selfish and bat**** evil maniac that most human beings would definitely disapprove of, because I just don't like to do things like that even in simulation. Like, BioShock 2 is a game I am a fan of because you CAN be an evil protagonist by basically going to incredibly monstrous lengths for self-preservation and personal vendetta, but you don't HAVE to. Instead, I ALWAYS play as a hero I personally would admire by sparing my foes when I can and always rescuing the children from their imprisonment even though it theoretically makes things more difficult for you in the gameplay in the longrun, but I don't care because I am determined to do the obviously good and right thing, even if it is just a video game and not a real-life decision. In fact, I applaud the developers of BioShock 2 because the game actively lets you know what an awful person you are as well as shows you what negative influence you had on the girl you are ultimately trying to rescue in the game, if you take the easy route and make all of the evil choices, so I can't say that the developers when creating this setup are even being irresponsible towards the younger audience by encouraging unethical behavior or anything.

So, yeah, on the overall gist of your post, I hear ya.

 

[Xalith]

Not really. I hear ya.

I myself wouldn't go so far as to say this is all part of "the whole world going Evil so get ready for Rapture" or anything, mainly because moral panics - reasonable or not - have probably been going on for far longer than any of us realize. You can look at just about any part of history and there had to be a few people claiming that this is the end and the world's all going to hell in a handbasket.

Well, each step down the staircase will eventually get you to the bottom, right? It's just we don't know which step will be the last ahead of time.

But I do find your frustrations understandable. It seems to me also that mature themes like graphic violence and swearing (I've also definitely noticed this with sex), as well as religious themes that seem to paint angels, Heaven, Good, or even the Christian faith itself in a bad light, are becoming more and more prevalent these days. But nevertheless, even as far back as the 80's, there were still some lesser-known video games that would make even most of the adult-oriented games today seem sane and inoffensive. (Trust me. I can list some examples, but I'd rather not unless you really want to know.)

Oh yes, I agree these materials have always existed... but yet they are far more popularized and prevalent. More well-known video game developers are getting more brave and delving into it, because they know that Christians have become numb to it. If Blizzard had tried their blasphemy with Diablo3 way back when Blizzard first started making games, Christians might have boycotted them and they might not have been able to get off the ground. Even the Warcraft franchise is laying the demonic stuff on rather thick these days (check out the new and upcoming expansion called "Legion" that focuses solely on demons). Of course if you look into Blizz's early days, Diablo was not blasphemous, and Warcraft Orcs & Humans had absolutely nothing demonic in it, except for a warlock that was able to summon a demon and that was it.

But I agree, if it makes you feel any better, that it is getting a bit more difficult to find relatively "clean" games as time goes on, but it is still far from impossible. I wasn't interested in Darksiders myself because the whole story you described seemed personally offensive to my particular sensibilities as well as just lame and not worthy of attention, although I probably wouldn't say that the writers behind it or other games where religion is painted in a scary light are knowingly trying to blaspheme God or anything.

I dunno if they are doing it knowingly, but the blasphemy is rather obvious when you paint His holy angels in an evil light. I don't know about you, but even before I came to Christ, if I were to sit down and write a story, I'd know that making Angels out to be evil is blasphemous, right? That's rather obvious.

But if we find it blasphemous, we just shouldn't bother with it.

I agree, but yet what I said in my OP still stands: It's getting harder to find stuff that is acceptable.

I personally also despise playing games where I feel that the hero is actually acting not like a hero in any Christian or even secular\human sense, but instead like a petty selfish and bat**** evil maniac that most human beings would definitely disapprove of, because I just don't like to do things like that even in simulation. Like, BioShock 2 is a game I am a fan of because you CAN be an evil protagonist by basically going to incredibly monstrous lengths for self-preservation and personal vendetta, but you don't HAVE to. Instead, I ALWAYS play as a hero I personally would admire by sparing my foes when I can and always rescuing the children from their imprisonment even though it theoretically makes things more difficult for you in the gameplay in the longrun, but I don't care because I am determined to do the obviously good and right thing, even if it is just a video game and not a real-life decision.

You should have seen my Mass Effect save files... almost 100% paragon and very small amounts of renegade, lol. I was one of the few players who, without a guide, saved both Tali's race and the Geth at the same time on my first playthrough (which takes very meticulous set-up and prepwork over three games), and I also found the peaceful resolution to the genophage (which also takes prepwork over three games), etc on my first play-through without looking it up in a guide.

There's also this part in Fallout: New Vegas (the Dead Money expansion) where everybody says it is so hard to save Dean Domino in the end.... really, now? I did that on my first playthrough, no guide. You just gotta treat the guy with some respect regardless of what kind of snide rude remarks he throws at you, you know, kinda like how Christians are supposed to act?

In fact, I applaud the developers of BioShock 2 because the game actively lets you know what an awful person you are as well as shows you what negative influence you had on the girl you are ultimately trying to rescue in the game, if you take the easy route and make all of the evil choices, so I can't say that the developers when creating this setup are even being irresponsible towards the younger audience by encouraging unethical behavior or anything.

I played Bioshock Infinite (was kinda meh at the ending), though BS2 sounds like something on the "wish I had tried" list, but for some odd reason, BI has this crackling sound problem on all of my computers as do many other Unreal Engine games (Life is Strange included).

So, yeah, on the overall gist of your post, I hear ya.

Thankfully there are a few games out there that are mostly clean with only some vague symbolism (usually just enemies you fight against).

For one, I've played a lot of Terraria. Simple $10 game, most people call it "2d Minecraft". Sure there's demons and stuff in it, but they are only enemies that you fight. There's only one minor part in the game I don't like and that's about a third of the way through the game, you are forced to drop a voodoo doll in lava that spawns a boss (which kills one of your NPC friends that will respawn in time), and you can't go further in the game until you defeat it.

 

[BrokenWarrior]

Well,I do agree for the most part.

I do this though...

I figure games are merely meant to explore ones imagination right? So I sorta "make believe" aspects to make me feel more comfortable. Like diablo 3. How they painted some angels as bad. I just instead imagine that they were actually fallen angels(which are real,and are bad). And you can believe I always imagine my character as some saintly peacekeeper who believes in God.

Besides,isn't it what it means to you that actually matters in the end?

Ya,I'd feel guilty too if I was playing a game where I'm slaying angels of God.

I however,don't feel guilty playing a game as a supernatural Believer gifted and tasked by God to hunt down demons who threaten to cause turmoil on earth.

Ever play the "Souls" series?

My favorite series actually...

First game is Demon's Souls,where,you essentially hunt down and kill demons...

Pretty similar concept with its descendants Dark souls 1&2 and Bloodborne.

 

[Near]

I find myself playing videogames less often. I really only have played one videogame in the recent past. StarCraft 2. Its from the same maker as Diablo 3. I havent found any sinful content in it, but I usually just play the multiplayer. For me its been about competition and winning, the stories matter much less. Id rather read fiction or watch a tv show or something if I wanted a story.

But still, there's just a lot of garbage out there, even in tv and books.
Nonfiction is usually best.

 

[FaithfulPilgrim]

I don't play many videogames outside of the PC, Wii, and Nintendo. Even then, I have been playing those games less frequently.

None of the games I have have any blasphemous content that I can recall except in SSBB where one of the assist trophies is the devil, but I believe you can turn off any items.

I do have one game based on Greek mythology, so there are temples dedicated to Poseidon and Hera and such, but I never considered it blasphemous since it is fantasy and I don't think it is actually encouraging it. It's set in ancient Greece and that is what people did and believed back then.

Most of my games are war games usually set in the medieval times or earlier.

I also have Spore. There is violence in it, but there is no blood and is not really the focus of the game.

 

[Xalith]

I also have Spore. There is violence in it, but there is no blood and is not really the focus of the game.

I suppose that depends on your beliefs of evolution. I happen to not believe in evolution, which Spore encourages. However that alone I wouldn't consider "blasphemous".

Also, I'd like to add another game to the list. I know the game's creator has taken a lot of fire over unrelated issues, but FEZ is a cool non-violent game where you're just exploring a vast game world collecting little cubes and solving puzzles (some of which are so difficult, they still have not been solved and the game's a couple years old).

 

[thesunisout]

So... I've something to rant about, and if you don't like rants, then I would kindly ask you to click your browser's back button, rather than to fire back at me.

This thread is not meant to start any heated conversations between Christians, it is more just one Christian's lamentations over the state of the minds of people who come up with this stuff.

Videogames were my life for a long time. I have even worked for video game companies in the past. When I got saved in 2010, the Lord slowly weaned me off of them and now I basically don't play them. I have a twitch game on my android and that is about it.

I see what you're saying about the blasphemy, but to me that is just scratching the surface. What is offensive to me is the godless worldviews of the characters, whether it is on TV or movies or video games, or whatever kind of entertainment you can think of really. It is not the overt sins that they commit, such as blasphemy, it is that they live, and think and do as if God does not exist. The characters are written with no thought of God at all, or if there is, it is either negative or vague. If they do have any Christianity in it, it's usually Catholic.

It's the lost thoughts and feelings, the godless worldview behind them, where people are living and feeling and reasoning without God that I don't like. I spent 34 years of my life being that way, and that isn't who i am anymore. I like to watch entertainment that glorifies God and deals with the spiritual and not the carnal man.