The Social Satire of Dead Rising 2

Note: This essay will contain spoilers for Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, Dead Rising 2, and Dead Rising: Case West.

    Video games have often been accused of not having nearly the same level of artistic value as movies or literature. It's a charge similarly levied at comic books, genre fiction, and other mediums over the years. Certainly, video games have a couple of strikes against them that other genres don't. For one, they're an interactive medium as opposed to a static one.

     You really can't make a video game about documenting a genocide, at least if you want anyone to buy it. I've always felt that video games can, however, serve as a viable look into the world of society. Both my Arkham City (here) and Deus Ex: Human Revolutions (here and here) reviews go into my feelings on the subject in depth. However, today I'm going to talk about a somewhat more controversial entry into this field: Dead Rising 2.

The scary thing about Terror is Reality is, if zombies were real, someone would make a similar show.

    I, honestly, feel this is one of the most scathing bits of satire to come out of video games in over a decade. Dead Rising 2, despite its occasionally surreal even goofy atmosphere, has a surprisingly sharp understanding of the problems currently afflicting modern America. I'll even argue the game manages to resurrect the overused and cliche "Evil Megacorporation" trope in a manner that works wonders for the game's biting commentary.

    The premise of Dead Rising 2 to those who haven't read my previous entries is personal as well as global. Chuck Greene, a motorcross star, has escaped the zombie outbreak of Las Vegas with his daughter Katey. Unfortunately, Katey has become infected with the mutated larvae that turns people into zombies and requires an expensive injection every 24 hours or she'll die. Chuck Greene is forced to compete in a bloody American Gladiators-esque pay-per-view event based around killing zombies in order to make enough money for his daughter's treatments.

    Not long after competing in the sick competition, Chuck Greene finds himself at ground zero for a second zombie outbreak. Discovering he's been blamed for the outbreak due to circumstantial evidence, Chuck investigates the true cause while working to acquire enough of the medicine to get his daughter through the next few days.

     After spending much of his time saving the survivors of the outbreak, he eventually discovers the true culprits are the pharmaceutical corporation Phenotrans. Phenotrans has caused the outbreak to create new larvae so they can continue marketing Zombrex as well as supply their existing (and influential) customers. Chuck Greene, eventually, manages to find evidence enough to clear his name but not enough to indict the corporation.

While Katey isn't as awesome as Clementine. I found her to be a suitable motivation for Chuck to do anything to protect her.

    Taken at face value, it's not really all that deep of a story. Chuck Greene is an innocent man wronged, he has to get a Maguffin, there's a cute little girl involved, and a corporation is ultimately the bad guy. Really, corporations have been a steady source of science fiction villains since Alien and are a 'safe' target. People might object to the government being the bad buys but a corporation is the perfect foe for most gamers. Even Ayn Rand had corrupt corporations in her works.

    However, it is the atmosphere of Dead Rising 2 that makes all of these elements shine. To quote the angry peasant from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "Now you see the injustice inherent in the system!" The desperate circumstances our hero is forced to endure are the consequences not only of a cartoonishly evil megacorporation but a culture of consumption and greed laid out for gamers to explore.

    This brought home by the setting of Dead Rising 2, the aptly named Fortune City. Fortune City is a transparent stand-in for Las Vegas, America's adult playground and one of the great symbols of consumerism in America. Like a mall, casinos represent something specific to the American psyche. They are representations of an unthinking devotion to wealth and the need to acquire.

Fortune City looked more fun in the brochure.

     In the four or five casinos present in the game, Chuck Greene wanders past thousands of shambling zombies mindlessly shuffling about blinking lights and chiming noises that entrance the undead like children at a carnival. George Romero made use of the mall for the iconic Dawn of the Dead, invoking images of undead shoppers simply wandering around simply because they had no place better to go. It's the same sort of cruel joke as in Dawn of the Dead that the flesh-hungry patrons aren't that different from the way they were while alive.

    Dead Rising 2 doesn't limit its social commentary to regurgitating George Romero's observations on the human condition, however. It extends its social commentary to the hand full of survivors Chuck Green is able to rescue throughout the three-to-four days of game time he has to explore. Almost universally, the survivors of the Fortune City zombie outbreak are selfish egotistical twits.

    They aren't evil and certainly don't deserve to die at the hands of the ravening undead but in the short time Chuck gets to know them, he's exposed to a massive number of individuals more interested in trivialities than their own survival. Chuck encounters people who are embarrassed about being in their underwear, want food, intend to rob ATMs while the death toll rises, and even have completely missed there's a zombie apocalypse going on.

    Those rare few individuals whose primary concern is another human being's life shine like diamonds in the rough, even when it is a close personal relative. The Texas millionaire stereotype may be a cartoon but at least he wants to make sure his wife is safe before going off with Chuck. Otherwise, selfishness is all pervasive in the game with one of the earliest cut-scenes being a man abandoning his girlfriend during an attack to get himself to safety. The game brings home the self-destructive nature of these acts as he immediately regrets it but she's already dead.

    Chuck Greene, by contrast, is an exemplar of selflessness who is not unbelievable in his heroism either. His primary concern is to protect his daughter, a motivation most parents can understand but he's not unwilling to help others if it didn't conflict with this overall mission. His Good Samaritan status isn't preachy but simply relies on him being willing to extend basic human kindness to those around him. The fact he's virtually the only person in the game willing to do so makes it all the more tragic.

    The role of greed and self-indulgence as the enemy of Chuck's selflessness is brought home on numerous occasions. On a very fundamental level, Chuck's primary enemy isn't the zombie hordes around him but the fact the medicine his daughter needs is extremely expensive. Even during the worst part of the outbreak, Chuck Greene finds individuals willing to horde all of the medicine supply for themselves. Not because they fear being infected by the zombies, which would be selfish but rational, but out of a desire to sell it to the desperate people outside.

    If ever there was an argument against treating medicine as a 'for profit' industry, it is the fact that Chuck Greene is willing to sell his dignity for the purposes of caring for his terminally ill daughter. Replace Katey's zombie infection with any number of real-life conditions and poor Chuck is an all-too real example of many father's beggared by rising medical costs.

Fortune City is largely unchanged by Z-Day. It's still filled with mindless hungry consumers.

    The villainous megacorporation Phenotrans has been accused of being a transparent knock-off of Resident Evil's Umbrella Corporation but I'd argue it's a more realistic example of how a corporation might profit off an outbreak. Well, semi-realistic. I doubt any real-life corporation would destroy a major American city (let alone two) when there are so many easier ways of making a fortune.

    Phenotrans, however, is motivated not just by a persistent need to drive up the need for its zombie-treatment but also please its political sponsors. Somehow, a substantial number of Senators and other important politicians have become infected with the zombie larvae and need Phenotrans to care for them. Phenotrans and the government are working side-by-side in terms of causal corruption, both making the other worse for the experience. Yet, because Phenotrans claims its working for the "good of the nation" it has employees who wrap themselves in the flag and justify their nightmarish actions.

    Yet, the game doesn't allow the blame to be squarely rested on the shoulders of Phenotrans or the government. In fact, it resoundingly condemns the whole of society for creating the kind of environment where the megacorporation's corruption can survive. The game's opening mission is to compete on a disgusting game-show called Terror is Reality. You literally slice through zombies using chainsaws attached to a motorcycle in a disgusting pool-like arena where cash is rewarded for however many you kill.

    What makes the spectacle so loathsome is that it's also implied to be a naked appeal to revenge for the audience. Like TV shows which exploit the War on Terror, zombies have become a public enemy to the public at large and there are people who smell money in utilizing it for a cheap ratings gimmick. The host T.K. and his two identical co-hosts combine sex and violence in a gloriously over-the-top spectacle which is only slightly removed from reality.

    Even the Psychos have an important role to play in the narrative as they illustrate human beings unable to cope with an emergency.  Rather than try and save themselves, the majority of them retreat into fantasy worlds where they are living out their previous meaningless lives. People who try and interrupt their fantasies are reacted to violently because these people cannot cope with a disruption to their routine. They have no inner self and are just cardboard cutouts imitating life. In short, they're philosophical zombies.

    Dead Rising 2 is a story about the importance of remembering what is really valuable in our all-too-brief existences. It's not wealth, fame, cheap sex, fast food, or mindless entertainment. Though all of these things are okay in small amounts, at least in my opinion, we shouldn't allow them to dominate our lives. Our lives, the lives of others, and our families are the most important things in this world, so we should guard them jealously. Maybe it's a self-obvious bit of satire but it somehow feels fresh in today's climate.

Skyrim: Dawnguard review

    My last review for August will be of Bethesda's new DLC, Dawnguard. This is an expansion for Skyrim, adding two new factions to the game and a whole new questline for your characters. In addition, the game adds a Perk Tree for Werewolves and Vampire Lords, making your characters vastly more powerful if they're willing to become monsters. In order to talk about some of the appeal for the DLC, there will be mild spoilers so proceed at your own risk.

    The premise for Dawnguard is a group of ultra-powerful vampires have started making attacks all over Skyrim. The player character is then recruited by a member of the Dawnguard, a group of vampire hunters, to go deal with the threat. Over the course of your adventures, you'll have the opportunity to switch sides and join the vampires or stick with the Dawnguard in order to wipe out the undead menace.

    There's already some problems with this premise. The first is why would your character join the Dawnguard if he's naturally a bad person and later inclined to become a friend to the vampires? There's no way, at least as far as I can tell, for you to join the vampires unless you start as a member of the Dawnguard. The problem actually gets worse in a way that verges on spoiler territory where you will also be forced to ally with a vampire even if you stick with the Dawnguard, hampering roleplaying as a anti-vampire zealot if your character is so inclined.

    I'm all for understanding that roleplaying can and will always be limited in video games. After all, there's no way to account for every possible choice. Still, this is something that hurts the narrative as allying with vampires and being devoted to their annihilation are two very logical extremes for most characters to lean toward. The game, instead, assumes your character will be somewhat ambivalent to both sides and persuadable.

    I'm not sure what to make of that.

    Assuming one can get over that particular hurdle, the DLC has much to offer. The main questline is as large as any of the other Guild quests in the game, taking you on a lengthy series of dungeon crawls and adventures that include a journey to a new section of a place not seen since Oblivion. The DLC has no less than three epic boss battles, two of which exceeded the final confrontation of the main game in enjoyment factor.

    Seriously, any game which can more or less replicate the final level of Castlevania where you are against Dracula's bat-form is one I have nothing but praise for. I played the Dawnguard version of the questline and kept expecting Lord Harkon, the main baddie, to shout, "What is a man but a miserable little pile of secrets!" The confrontation was epic and intense, leading to a climax I quite enjoyed.

    The locations introduced in this DLC include some truly beautiful locals. It's a tossup between the two Faction headquarters, Fort Dawnguard and Castle Volkihar but I have to say I lean towards the former. Fort Dawnguard is a huge castle, easily dwarfing any of the others in the game, giving the PC access to most everything he might need from shops to Arcane enchantment in one easy area. I admit, I do wonder why the Legion or Stormcloaks haven't occupied this massive fortress versus all the ruins they inhabit but it was a small issue of lore compared to admiring its beauty.

Isn't Fort Dawnguard lovely this time of year?

    Gameplay-wise, the biggest addition is the crossbow. It kind of goes without saying amongst Skyrim fans the standard bow sucks. It's big, awkward, obscures your vision and doesn't deal much damage. Archery is almost, universally, ignored in favor of magic or swordsmanship. The crossbow has the potential for changing that, being accurate and powerful while also possessing the potential to be upgraded. I think fans will definitely love the addition of the crossbow and I hope it makes it into the main game of whatever next Elder Scrolls title is released.

    Character-wise, I have no complaints about those introduced. The ones on the Dawnguard side are entertaining, if not terribly in-depth with Lord Harkon being delightfully over-the-top as a villain. Seriously, the guy chooses the scenery like there's no tomorrow.

     The Dawnguard, itself, is composed of quirky characters like a mad tinkerer, a schizophrenic priest of Arkay who my or may not have regular conversations with his god (who I swear is doing a Tim Curry impression), and a blacksmith who thinks they should put armor on trolls while keeping them as pets.

     Even the leader of the Dawnguard is a hoot, constantly harassing his subordinates with how they need to be more extreme while acting ridiculously liberal towards monsters compared to most vampire hunters of fiction.

    I suspect most players, however, will remember Serana best. Serana is an available vampire Follower for both Dawnguard and Vampire player characters. At the risk of showing my fanboyism, I'm fairly sure she's deliberately modeled on Kate Beckinsale. Don't believe me? Judge for yourself.

Combine Van Helsing's girl with Underworld's Selene and you get her. Oh and make her a vampire teenager.

    Serana is a subversion of virtually every female vampire stereotype in the history of fiction. Contrary to being sultry or a seductress, she's a meek and good-natured girl who acts a lot like my female friends in high school. She just happens to also be an incredibly powerful necromancer who can fill the area with animate corpses and ice blasts.

    She's a very well-designed character whose comments are usually funny and has an entertaining conversation tree where she more or less explains how her life sucks due to her cruddy parents. Really, she's like the vampire version of early Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Willow Rosenburg. Only, she looks like adult Kate Beckinsale. Really, I can't think of a character better designed to appeal to fanboys. Amusingly, she's also unmarriagable, something I know which has caused all manner of fanboy outrage.

    It's okay, my Dragonborn and her can hook up in a few centuries.

    The additions Dawnguard makes for vampires are incredible, though including a option of becoming a man-bat monster capable of tearing through most enemies without difficulty. You'll be attacked in towns if you go into them wearing this demonic form but I don't think people expected anything less. Vampirism has always been more curse than blessing in the Elder Scrolls series so it's nice to see some serious perks to it.

    There's one final flaw I should mention to gamers who are intent on picking this up. As soon as you begin the main quest, the towns of Skyrim start suffering vampire attacks. Until you deal with the main quest, these attacks will occur on a regular basis. The vampires won't just attack you but the locals, frequently killing characters you may or may not have come to like such as the female blacksmith in Whiterun.

    Even if you're quick on the draw, you may not be able to prevent this from occurring. Some towns have been almost completely wiped out in playthroughs due to players missing the vampires were slaughtering the inhabitants.

     In conclusion, Dawnguard is a flawed but enjoyable DLC. It's not as awesome as The Shivering Isles or Point Lookout but it has an epic quest and many entertaining new locations. I heartily recommend it to fans of the game but caution people to purchase it for later games as opposed to new ones, given the difficulty spike.

    Also, watch for vampire attacks.

8/10

I just discovered the Slenderman Mythos

Hey guys,

                I just thought I'd recommend what I think is the best amateur horror currently on the web today and nicely blows away a lot of the current fair out there. I'd say more but I think it's best actually entered in "cold" as opposed to something people should really research ahead of time.

                For those who want something slightly more substantial the whole thing sort of works like The Blair Witch Project. The Blair Witch "phenomenon" was always a bit more hyped up than it should be but it and Paranormal Activity successfully tried to make themselves authentic. A lot of people can't put on their suspension of disbelief blinders long enough to enjoy them, which may or may not be the case with this story, but I suggest you give it a try.

                It certainly appeals to my Lovecraftian sensibilities for the fact that I have NO idea what's going on yet.

                The first 'series' with Slenderman starts with the Marble Hornets series here.