Martha is Dead, a new psychological thriller from LKA studios, has sparked debates about video game censorship. For the occasion, let’s return to these controversial games of history.
hate
The Hatred game was scrutinized for its content at the height of incredible violence: a murderer committing mass murder out of sheer contempt for society. “It’s time for revenge and not a life worth saving‘ he begins before erupting into acts of violence. Misanthropic and ultra-cynical, the protagonist was at times #1 in sales on Steam, but access to it has been banned in both Germany and Australia. Its designer, Jaroslaw Zielinski, has also been accused of sympathizing with a Polish neo-Nazi group, Polska Liga Obrony, to which he subscribes via Facebook. The guard also pointed out Destructive Creations’ willingness to exploit a culture war”between established “hardcore” players and liberal critics“Referring to their press release:”Nowadays, when many games claim to be polished, colorful, politically correct and try to be some kind of higher art instead of just entertainment, we wanted to create something that bucked the trend. Something different, something that can give the player pure gaming pleasure.”
Spec Ops: The Line
In 2012, Spec Ops: The Line chronicled the tragedies of war through the eyes of Captain Martin Walker, the Delta Force chief in charge of tracking down a US Army colonel. It was an adaptation of the short novel by Joseph Conrad. Players were literally amazed when they were tricked into raining white phosphorus on a building, only to find it was actually filled with civilians. And here they are then forced to circulate among the corpses and discover the lifeless corpses of children and adults. Cory Davis, lead designer, told Polygon in 2012 that he wanted Walker to be an ordinary man that ordinary mortals could easily identify with: “So basically we wanted to shred the average person… and right up to the end we really wanted to express as strongly as possible what can happen to the mental state of someone going through these horrific events.“
agony
Agony is a first-person horror game and challenges you to escape from hell, and it had raised expectations with some lovely, mind-blowing trailers. This literal immersion in the middle of the underworld, with no filter and no limits, lets you embody a character who wakes up in a world of blood, flesh and terror with no memory of his past life. Finally, apart from its very gory illustrations, the game was reviewed mainly for its poor qualities and will receive a rating of 6/20 in our columns: “We can say that the label fits the product: Agony is indeed an apt name. Archaic and chaotic gameplay, confusing mechanics, nonexistent AI, repetitive puzzles, and substandard technical flaws are all flaws that should convince you to avoid this game like the plague. And it’s not just the lack of good artistic ideas (at least on PC) that will save the boat from sinking.”
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
A controversial level called No Russian from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was the subject of media furor even before its release. Recalling the context: Players embody a secret agent of the CIA on an infiltration mission into a group of Russian terrorists led by one Vladimir Makarov. One of their operations is to execute the innocents of a local airport only to have the Americans blamed for the attack. Players have the option not to engage in the attack, although they cannot prevent it. But many mechanically began to discharge their bullets. Game designer Mohammad Alavi spoke about this mission a few years later: “In the endless sea of bullets that you fire off at countless enemies without hesitation or thought, the fact that I managed to make the player hesitate for even a split second and actually think about their actions before pulling the trigger – it makes me feel fulfilled“. But not everyone likes the idea. In Japan, as in Germany, the level is modified: if the players decide to shoot at the civilians, it’s a sure failure. In Russia it just doesn’t exist anymore.
GTA V
In Grand Theft Auto V, notorious criminal Trevor Phillips is assigned by the FBI to torture a suspected terrorist in order to extract information from him. The player is therefore presented with a range of instruments including masses and electric cables. Many people feel offended by the scene, which is often considered baseless. Rights group Freedom from Torture joined Amnesty, teachers union ATU and MP Keith Vaz in condemning the footage just two days after the game’s release.”Much like Modern Warfare 2’s infamous “No Russian” mission, where you shoot innocent people in an airport, this sequence’s lack of context does a disservice. The series is best known to those who don’t play it as the one where you sleep with a prostitute and murder her to get her money back.” wrote about this Eurogamer.
sanatorium
Awarded multiple times for its screenplay and staging, but also withdrawn from sale in several stores a week after its release in France, Sanitarium unleashed passions and established itself as one of the iconic points of the 90’s Asylum, seeking its identity through murky and disturbing worlds . So it was all about confronting the demons of the past and escaping the spiritual prison that awaits you. All of this unfolds in 9 fantastic episodes. In our columns, the game had collected the very nice score of 17/20: “Sanitarium certainly isn’t perfect, but its gritty atmosphere and unique storyline make it a flagship title, ranking it among the best in the genre. Sanatorium is not played, it is experienced.“
manhunt
Released in 2003, Manhunt invites you to follow the character of Earl Cash in a game of extreme violence. The character is a death row inmate and the player must live up to the expectations of Starkweather, the director of a snuff movie called Manhunt, in which our inmate and various gang members are the main characters. In this title focused on infiltration, the goal is to find a way to approach opponents without warning them, executing them in a gruesome way. The more shocking it is, the more the director likes it, the more points the player earns. Despite the scandal surrounding the release, Rockstar’s game will have a sequel in 2007. The game will achieve the average score of 13/20: “A hyper violent infiltration game, Manhnunt suffers from serious shortcomings to cope with its gameplay model. Placed alongside Io Interactive’s baby, the difference is obvious, relegating Manhunt to the ranks of average game to do for lack of better.“
Six days in Fallujah
In 2009, Atomic Games announced Six Days in Fallujah, a first-person tactical military shooter based on the events of the Second Battle of Fallujah between Iraqi guerrillas and US forces in 2004. An event that is controversial, the use of white phosphorus bombs on the American side. Konami, editor of the project, reiterated the will to propose above all “an entertaining experienceBut in the face of virulent reactions, the Japanese finally dropped the matter and the project was abandoned. In 2021, the title resurfaces and gets a facelift with a new developer, Highwire Games, and Victura, a publishing and production company founded in 2016 by former Atomic Games CEO Peter Tamte. Joining Highwire are Jaime Griesemer, Principal Designer of the original Halo and Destiny games, Marty O’Donnell, former Audio Director and Destiny, and Jared Noftle, the co-founder of Airtight Games. At the moment, the project has not given any further news.
phantasmagoria
The game Phantasmagoria, released in 1995, caused controversy due to its extreme violence. Newly married couple Adrianne and Don have just purchased a mansion that is unfortunately completely haunted. Your mission: escape from the various monsters occupying this house. René André, RPR deputy of La Manche, then called for a control on the sale of violent video games and insisted on this game that ” follows the story of a man possessed by a mad sorcerer who murders his five wives in a particularly gruesome manner before ending up after several scenes of rape and torture by impaling himself » (Last July, 2018).
Marta is dead
On February 14, 2022, developers at Italian studio LKA announced that their new psychological thriller Martha is Dead experience would be cut for PlayStation players and spared on other media: “After more than four years of passion and hard work, LKA needs extra time to make these unplanned changes“. Martha is Dead tells the journey of Giulia, the daughter of a high-ranking Nazi, who discovers the body of her twin sister Martha in a lake. We quickly guess the tone given to the game during a metaphorical performance when the heroine cuts up her sister’s face to make a mask. Martha is Dead forces you into dismemberment, disembowelment and child abuse. Of course, the decision revived the censorship debate: “If the pictures shock you: don’t play them,” for example, one of our readers shouted in response to the news.
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