Area 51 To Deal With Tense Political Issues

[Shinobi]

Since the days of the arcades, the Area 51 games have been brainless bughunts: find the aliens, shoot the aliens. When game designer Harvey Smith was hired a few years ago to work on the next iteration of the franchise, he began to despair at the lackluster story elements in the game. As he put it: "Area 51 just bored the sh-- out of me, and I was like, 'How can we make this interesting?'" As MTV News reports, frustrations with politics both in the United States and abroad led to a solution that required months of convincing executives to see implemented. Blacksite: Area 51 will feature a new and more poignant story, as the aliens become poor American citizens put in harm's way.

"Wait, what if they are terrorists we helped create? What if the people supporting us in our fight against the terrorists aren't completely clean either? What if they're sending us after them now, but what if 10 years ago it was safe for them to create them?' ... So what we have in 'BlackSite' is a delta-force assassination squad hunting down and killing members of an Army training program. So on American soil, Americans are fighting Americans, basically."

The game is intended to be enjoyed regardless of subject matter, but Smith hopes that gamers will accept a title that even touches on some of the issues that popular television shows deal with on a regular basis. What do you think about this? Is there room for politics in gaming, or do you just want to shoot stuff?

Source

[Thirtyseven]

All I ever do in GTA is kill cops, but I think that's a politcal and artistic statement.

That's also the entire extent of my video game career, so I guess I'm not really qualified to speak on this.

[Cycle of Eternity]

Quote:Since the days of the arcades, the Area 51 games have been brainless bughunts: find the aliens, shoot the aliens. When game designer Harvey Smith was hired a few years ago to work on the next iteration of the franchise, he began to despair at the lackluster story elements in the game. As he put it: "Area 51 just bored the sh-- out of me, and I was like, 'How can we make this interesting?'" As MTV News reports, frustrations with politics both in the United States and abroad led to a solution that required months of convincing executives to see implemented. Blacksite: Area 51 will feature a new and more poignant story, as the aliens become poor American citizens put in harm's way.

"Wait, what if they are terrorists we helped create? What if the people supporting us in our fight against the terrorists aren't completely clean either? What if they're sending us after them now, but what if 10 years ago it was safe for them to create them?' ... So what we have in 'BlackSite' is a delta-force assassination squad hunting down and killing members of an Army training program. So on American soil, Americans are fighting Americans, basically."

The game is intended to be enjoyed regardless of subject matter, but Smith hopes that gamers will accept a title that even touches on some of the issues that popular television shows deal with on a regular basis. What do you think about this? Is there room for politics in gaming, or do you just want to shoot stuff?

Source

i absolutely love the Area 51 game for PS2. I Love the politics in there.
a first person shooter NEEDS a great story line to make it interesting.
to those that just want to shoot shit need to get psychiatric treatment imo.
i do like to shoot shit no doubt, that's why i play CSS, but that has an objective.

i really need a PS3 or to upgrade my comp a bit to play these next-gen games.
there's lots of dope shit out right now i'm so eager to play...i need a fucking job lol.

[Shinobi]

Quote:to those that just want to shoot shit need to get psychiatric treatment imo.

Yes, this goes for Zionists, US Military UK Army and just about every police force around the world.

I wouldnt mind a PS3 but the bloody prices are ridiculous, I also own that Area51 game bro
theres a new one out now I think or soon to be released on PS3.
Shoot em up's as they are called are great games but if people are easily influenced by them
and think they are whats in their games then they really do have weak tendencies in the mind
people who fall victim to games and actually copy whats in a game in to real life are pretty sad
I think most of those people are in the armies now or being recruited to the cop shops :biggrin:

Do you know of any other type of games which have a heavy involvement of conspiracy
or government in them Intellekt ?

Quote:All I ever do in GTA is kill cops, but I think that's a politcal and artistic statement.

lol Thirtyseven bro, I agree:)

[PSX]

I'm sure you know of Deus Ex, madizm? from wiki:

"Deus Ex (abbreviated DX) is a science fiction first-person shooter/computer role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive on June 22, 2000. Receiving almost universally positive reviews from critics and general industry acclaim, the game was a frequent candidate for, and winner of Game of the Year awards.

Set in a dystopian world during the 2050s, the main storyline follows rookie "United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition" (UNATCO) agent JC Denton as he sets out to combat terrorist forces which have become increasingly prevalent in a world slipping ever closer to chaos. As the plot unfolds, he becomes increasingly immersed in a deep and ancient conspiracy, encountering fictional versions of groups such as Majestic 12, the Illuminati, and Hong Kong Triad gangs along the way. Ultimately, Denton comes to discover the truth about this conspiracy, and its ultimate goal of world domination."



The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion also has a bit of this in its storyline (as did previous installments), with one group, as an example, the Dark Brotherhood, attempts to recruit you at a certain stage after you kill an innocent person, showing up in a hooded veil, in the middle of the night when you next sleep, to carry out assassinations of key people to advance an agenda. One member (haven't played since summer so it'll be paraphrased) says something like "we've paid off the king, don't bother trying to speak to him or anyone else about our secret organization"

from wiki:

"The Dark Brotherhood is a group of assassins and dark wizards who split off from the Morag Tong. They do not follow the customs of the Morag Tong and are illegal throughout the empire.

The Morag Tong was founded in Morrowind by the Chimer in the First Era. Initially it was a semi-religious means to prevent, with selectively calculated killings, massive internal bloodshed which the Chimer could ill-afford, having been a small faction at the time. Although they were a society of murder, they utilized strict internal laws and an extensive system of checks and balances to ensure that they stayed true to their original intent. Early on in the history of the order, however, a splinter group broke away, composed primarily of sociopaths and sadists who had been wrongfully inducted into the Tong; they would later take to calling themselves the Dark Brotherhood. Abandoning the values and stringent conservatism of their parent organization, they turned completely from their semi-virtuous past and quickly devolved into a death cult. Turning from the original worship of their patron Mephala, in to the worship of Sithis, the Serpent God of Death, who represents the worst of Daedric aspects. Their patron became Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedra Prince of unmitigated destruction and chaos. Their murders were no longer always motivated by altruism or even by money, and they frequently abducted innocents whose souls would be sacrificed in Daedric and Necromantic ceremonies.

As the order began to expand, its expenses began to increase, and soon the Dark Brothers took a page from their almost unrecognizable past; they turned to enterprise. Instead of randomly selected victims, the Brotherhood began to conduct secret interviews and make its services available to those with money; before long, a thriving business had sprung up, and the profits allowed the order to afford more manpower and to employ more elaborate schemes. In modern nights, the Brotherhood is one of the most feared organizations in Tamriel, and rightfully so; even other sinister or deadly groups avoid contact with them if at all possible. The Necromancers fear their volatility, preferring a slow and methodical approach to the Dark side of magic. Lawful organizations and even criminal cartels shun them, at least officially, as there are few who would willingly risk association with such practices. Unofficially, however, such high-profile organizations as the Fighters' Guild and even the Imperial Legion make frequent use of the timely and often indispensable commodity they deal. If there is one contemporarily extant group which does not outright loathe the very mention of their name, it is likely the Dunmeri House Telvanni.

The Morag Tong, on the other hand, is now limited to operations within Morrowind Province, as this is the only part of the Empire that recognizes it as a legal guild. As the Dark Brotherhood doesn't trouble itself with legalities, it has spread across the continent. They now have a monopoly across the empire, and often abduct and eliminate Morag Tong members and informants when found outside of Morrowind.

A member of the Dark Brotherhood must follow 5 rules known as 'the five tenets' if they break one they will need to defeat 'The Wrath of Sithis' to may return to the Dark Brotherhood. The five tenets are:

1. Never dishonour the Night Mother. To do so is to invoke the wrath of Sithis.

2. Never betray the Dark Brotherhood or its secrets. To do so is to invoke the wrath of Sithis.

3. Never disobey or refuse to carry out an order from a Dark Brotherhood superior. To do so is to invoke the wrath of Sithis.

4. Never steal the possession of a Dark Brother or Dark Sister. To do so is to invoke the wrath of Sithis.

5. Never kill a Dark Brother or a Dark Sister. To do so is to invoke the wrath of Sithis.

A member undertaking the Ritual of Purification is not beholden to any of the Five Tenets, and may violate any of the Tenets without invoking the Wrath of Sithis. This may apply to members holding the ranks of Silencer or above.

Ranks within the Brotherhood:

The Night Mother

At the real "head" of the Dark Brotherhood hierarchy is the Night Mother, an immortal spirit who is revered and worshipped by the Brotherhood. She is only ever met face-to-face in very exceptional circumstances. When a person prays for the death of another, the Night Mother hears, and passes on the details of the prayer to her Listener. At this point, the Listener informs a Speaker, who then goes to meet the hiring party in order to draw up a contract. It is said that the Night Mother and her children were the first sacrifices to Sithis many years ago, and that she now guides her Listener through the Statue of the Lucky Old Lady in Bravil.

In the book Fire and Darkness: The Brotherhoods of Death, the Night Mother is identified with the Daedra Lord Mephala. This seems unlikely, however, as the in-game voices of Mephala and the Night Mother do not sound the same.

The Black Hand

Beneath the Night Mother are five elite members of the Brotherhood, known as the Black Hand. The Black Hand is made up of four Speakers and one Listener, representing the four fingers and the thumb of the Black Hand. Each of the Speakers gets his/her personal assassin, known as 'Silencers'.

Listener

The Listener is the highest ranked member of the Dark Brotherhood, second only to the Night Mother herself. The Night Mother speaks directly to the Listener, informing him/her of the names and locations of those who have prayed to the Night Mother for a killing to be carried out. The Listener then gives these names to a Speaker.

Speaker

When a Speaker has received a name from the Listener, the Speaker must then seek out that individual to work out the details of the assassination. It is also the responsibility of the Speakers to recruit new members into the Dark Brotherhood.

Silencer

Outside of the Black Hand itself, the rank of Silencer is virtually unknown. Each Speaker has his or her Silencer, a personal elite assassin employed to carry out the Speaker's personal 'business'. The Silencers represent the talon/nail of each finger of the Black Hand.

Other ranks

There are five known ranks outside of the Black Hand. Upon entering the Dark Brotherhood, the new recruit has the rank of "Murderer", the lowest of the Brotherhood ranks.

* Murderer
* Slayer
* Eliminator
* Assassin
* Executioner

Recruitment:

Two of the Dark Brotherhood's recruitment methods are revealed in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. When a person commits murder in cold blood it is likely that the Dark Brotherhood have been watching from the shadows. The next time the murderer sleeps in a location deemed to be secure, a Speaker will approach the murderer and ask him/her to join the Brotherhood. Secondly, when an Argonian from Black Marsh is born under the sign of the Shadow, he/she is trained by an order known as the Shadow Scales, and pending the end of their training, recruited by the Dark Brotherhood.

Additionally, the Dark Brotherhood has been known to recruit through proxy. In The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, when a spate of murders is committed in cold blood and without an arrest, the Brotherhood instigates an investigation. Usually the serial killings must only go on so long as it takes the Brotherhood to discover the identity of the killer, at which point they dispatch a courier with a letter requesting the murder of a specific person. Once this murder has been carried out, another letter is dispatched requesting the secret murder (i.e. a murder which is untraceable) of another specific person. If this is accomplished to satisfaction, the Brotherhood dispatches a third courier to provide contact information.

The Brotherhood in Morrowind:

The Brotherhood is also represented in the province of Morrowind. On the island of Vvardenfell, several operatives were scattered around some of the major towns; the local sanctuary was situated in an abandoned Daedric ruin, an appropriate hideout, considering the Brotherhood's sinister character. The headquarters for Morrowind was situated in the ruins of subterranean Old Mournhold, beneath the City of Mournhold, on the mainland.

In the Morrowind expansion Tribunal, Dunmer assassins attempt to kill the player in their sleep, which eventually allows the player to gain access to the city of Mournhold. The attacks continue randomly until the player completes the Tribunal questline.

An example of how dangerous the Brotherhood can be is presented by the reaction of others when the player voices their suspicions that they have been targeted by the Brotherhood. The player is simply advised to contact a guard and write their will."

[Shinobi]

What better person to answer than the man who has 'PSX' as his name:)
Thanks bro I will jump on the case and check these titles out
some of the above mentioned is pretty mind blowing man.

Have you come across the game titled Headhunter ?
I found this to be an excellent game and was very suprised
of how much this game reflects to a lot of things happening in the world.

Cheers!

[PSX]

I've heard of it, never played, from wiki:

"The game takes place in the near future in a city similar to Los Angeles. Criminals are punished for their crimes not only by serving time in prison but by having their internal organs surgically removed (if they lost to another prisoner in an underwater arena) and transplanted to benefit the wealthier members of society. Officially responsible for law enforcement are the Anti-Crime Network (ACN) organisation and their employees, the bounty hunter-like Headhunters. In order to prevent damage occurring to the criminals' organs as they are apprehended, conventional firearms have been banned, replaced by Electric Neural Projectile (ENP) guns that fire special bullets which do not damage flesh but instead emit an electrical charge that causes severe pain in victims, paralyses muscles and eventually kills the brain. According to the game, ENP technology was developed by Biotech and the main manufacturer of ENP handguns is Smith & Easton (a reference to the firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson), although the technology can also be used with grenades, proximity mines, rocket launchers and other explosives."

ouch, sounds like a high-tech China, hope I never get to see that...

I tell you, it's very easy to become immersed in games with deep and intriguing storylines, I always feel I need a break from that type and load up a standard shoot 'em up and just switch off for a while, it gets heavy

When the hooded dude woke me up from my bed in Oblivion, I thought to myself "WTF are you doing in my shack man, get the f outa here, I'm trying to sleep!"

...and that's about the time I felt it was time for CSS, lol