Violent video games - need AO's help

[Hamster Huey]

What, in your mind, are the most violent, graphic video games out there currently?

I'm giving a presentation of sorts on video game violence in the near future, and I hope to use some sample gameplay clips to give people a taste of what's out there. So I need AO, with it's immense accumulation of video game experience, to help me choose which select few games to highlight.

I'll probably use CS just because it's so prevalent, but what else should I use. BF 1942? SOF2? Splinter Cell? 007: Nightfire? GTA: Vice City? They can be for PC, PS2, XBox, Gamecube, or whatever.

[Koosh]

The most violent and gory?

Without question the goriest game I've ever played is Doom. I mean, the technology of this game is just unsurpassed its so amazing!

No, but really, Soldier of fortune and SOFII would be your best bet for gorieness, with GTA3 and vice city not far behind. I mean, in SOF you can just take a shotgun and blow off some poor saps leg and watch him hop around for a little while!

Also look into Max Payne, the slow motion could help with the video.

[FactsOfLife]

Yep gotta go with Doom and SOF.

I was always a fan of Rune myself.

gotta love chopping off someone's head and then picking it up and killing others with it.

[Python14]

Mario Cart You throw turtle shells at people and hope they wreck. Then if that isn't bad enough, some of the shells have spikes. And finally, on some levels, you can fall into hot lava. Violence at it's worst.

[-Jôker-]

half life can get pretty gory you can freakin blow ppl up!

[FactsOfLife]

I couldn't remember the other gory one that was on my brother in laws pc for a while...

barbie's fashion factory.

my god the horror....

the horror....:eek:

[gimp]

Vice city is nice just because you can do so much violent stuff. If your lookin for a really pointless violent game, check out 'postal'. That game is older, but it's great. You play a disgruntled postal worker, and you just kill everyone. If you could find the version of doom3 thats been floatin around, that would be nice too. Just because the graphics are so sweet.

[Sooky]

What kind of games are you looking for? War-based?

I don't know much about those, but the survival-horror ones can be gross. Check out the Resident Evil series - Zombies chewing on dead corpses ain't pretty.

Some of the cut-scenes in Metal Gear Solid II are somewhat gory...

:cool:

[Restola]

1. SOF2 in single player mode (multiplayer cuts out a lot of the gore).

2. GTA3

[FooTemps]

Man... sof, sofII, gta3, gtaVC, RE (any of them would do), house of the dead (any of those would do also), hmm... postal was pretty good, halo if you like shooting aliens and spilling about 10 gallons of blood just hitting them when they're dead, HL can get pretty bad too if you try hard enough, I know there are tons more but they aren't in my brain right now...

There's also this one java game where you throw a guy down virtual stairs. You get money based on how badly you hurt the guy. I forgot the url though but it was posted on AO a while ago.

[-=Squid=-]

Doom? :rolleyes: please...I say GTA vice city, not the goriest, but the most un-ethical. Or if you could get your hands on a bootleg copy of Thrill Kill ( I will sell you one ;) ) that game is ULTRA gory!

[Thordic]

He beat me to it. The original version of Thrill Kill was banned it was so gory.

Carmageddon is pretty good too :) You run over pedestrians for points.

[Brak]

i was waiting for someone to mention carmageddon!!! that game is so horrible! you run around with cars that have spikes on them and run of people for extra points

[Hamster Huey]

This is great! Keep 'em coming!

And I want to hear more about this "Thrill Kill". Got screenies?

[dansim]

legacy of kain was gory wasnt it?

[emag_slurpee]

Here ya Go Huey, This page have screenies, vid clips, and more on Thrill Kill.

http://mediaviewer.ign.com/ignMediaPage.jsp?channel_id=60&object_id=3823&adtag=network=ign&site=psx&pagetype=medialist&page_title=Thrill%20Kill

Good Luck With Your Project!

[Jonesie]

My vote goes to the GTA series. I have 3 and have played VC. They're great! :D

Later ~ Jonesie

[Hamster Huey]

:eek:
Man - that is one messed up game...

I want to clarify my request a bit: I'm looking for games that are BOTH very realistic and very violent. One of my goals is to "shock and awe" the audience with the level of realism that can be achieved in modern violent games. So strategy games are probably out, just because they're too impersonal and can't achieve the level of detail that a good FPS can.

Oooh...carmageddon. With a name like that you can't go wrong.

[Rancid Milk]

SOF2 is pretty bad in sp mode. Use the 12-gauge, it's not too pretty.

GTA3 isn't too gory in my book, but it is very talked about, you could show people what all the "hype" is about it.

[Python14]

The Getaway is more violent and gory than any of the GTA series(I have all of them). I think GTA 3 and Vice city are more hype than truth. They aren't violent, more just corrupting. A little kid playing it won't be as much affected by the shooting as much as he/she will be affected by the simple wrong doing in the game.

[gibby]

Question: So you're showing violence in video games to people who might not be aware of what's out there...but what are your motives? Is it to inform people, or push the blame on video games for society's shotcomings?

I hope that if it's for informative reasons, that you give both sides. Society's views, the lack of supervision of parents and not taking the initiative to make sure they kids know what's real and what's not, between right and wrong. Also, ask what the gamers think. Are they influenced by what they're doing? Are they desensitized? Or is it their way of releasing stress? There are pros and cons to both sides.

[Rancid Milk]

good point gibby, I just assumed that it was informative reasons and not blaming video games.

Thanks for bringing that up

[Hamster Huey]

Video games are all evil, corrupting tools of destruction that should be removed from the face of the earth!!! :mad:

Just kidding ;)

I was wondering when someone was going to ask about my motives; I'm glad someone finally did. My goals in this presentation are four-fold:

1) Give epidemiologic data on video game play. How many kids play, for how long, in what kind of environment, etc.

2) Provide a qualitative description of what modern video games can be like. I think a lot of my audience has no clue about what is potentially out there. This is where you guys come in.

3) Present the data and research collected so far on violent video games and their relationship, if any, to violent behavior. Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts.

4) Using the data provided, give appropriate recommendations and provide information about useful tools (eg. ESRB rating system).

I know that I personally was very upset when it seemed that everyone was all too eager to blame Doom, Quake, etc. for the Columbine tragedy. Being an avid gamer myself, and having associated with many avid gamers, I felt very strongly that video games were being scapegoated. But at the same time, I think we can all agree that letting your 8-year-old play GTA: Vice City for 6 hours straight all alone in a windowless room in your basement is probably not a good idea. The idea behind this presentation is to inform and give suggestions, not lay blame. I don't think that many are even aware of this being an issue; I think it is and will only become increasingly so, and I want to bring it into the light. Does that explain things?

[FutureMagOwner]

Originally posted by Thordic
He beat me to it. The original version of Thrill Kill was banned it was so gory.

Carmageddon is pretty good too :) You run over pedestrians for points.



CARMAGEDDON OWNS!!!! that game is awesome i have that and the splat pack i didnt have money to buy the 2nd one a couple years ago then the next time i went to eb it was gone :( that gameis wicked cool!!! if you want some good ole gore i recommend the fallout series its not very graphically super but if you critical hit someone and they die(even if you kick them in the groin) they blow into chunks etc and you can blow up corpses afterwards with dynomite(i recommend using dynomite to blow up doors not people though)

[Warewolf50]

Anyone who thinks Vice City isnt very gory, what are u talking about. That is the only game that i have ever seen where when u kill someone with a chainsaw blood splatters on the screen, but the chainsaw thing is the only really really gory thing that i can remember in VC.

[Rancid Milk]

Hamster Huey, from what you just posted, it sounds like you are giving this presentation to a group of people that may think that "video games are the devil". Another thig that you mght try is to show them some of the other games out there too, like sports games, and some of the simulators out there, that way they can get a brief view of all of gaming and not just the blood and guts.

I don't know what you mean by saying

"I think a lot of my audience has no clue about what is potentially out there"

Do you mean what video games are capable of? or what games can do to "ruin kids minds", or just seem like they have never played/heard about video games ever?

This would help us with giving you things that could be helpful THROUGHOUT your presentation.

[Rancid Milk]

Also, if you want a game with pointless violence and ALOT of it, there's always State Of Emergency

[Hamster Huey]

Originally posted by Rancid Milk
Do you mean what video games are capable of? or what games can do to "ruin kids minds", or just seem like they have never played/heard about video games ever?


I mean what video games are capable of. The group I'm addressing will be a group of predominantly pediatricians. Some will be young, some will be old, but I think there's a gap between the experiences (if any) they may have had and the experiences that modern gamers (esp. kids) have. I intend to close that gap.

I'm choosing to show violent games because a. My presentation is on video game violence, b. The evolution of Mario doesn't particularly interest anyone, and c. I hope for the shock to be a call to attention/action. I plan, however, to make clear that this is not a representative sampling of what's out there.

[Sparq]

SOF/SOF2, Carmageddon 2, and can you say AvP2?

Blake Stone was pretty nasty in it's day too.

As the alien chestburster in AvP2 you begin the level INSIDE someone's ribcage...and must chew your way out through their vital organs.

[FlagCarrier]

definitely SOF II.
maybe unreal tourney 2003 :confused:
not that much blood or anything, i just can't think of much.
all of the GTA games may have "questionable" content, but they aren't as bloody as some of the other games out there.

[Dave]

I've seen Soldier of Fortune played out...yeah, its pretty gory.

I think the most gory game I've ever played has been ROTT, or Rise of the Triad.

This was an old computer game back in the day...around 1997 I think...I know there are demos of it around. That game just blew away anything I ever thought was gory. They had spinning blades in the game, about 6 different types of rocket launchers, baseball bat, you get the picture. And the sounds that went along with it...*shudder*

Yeah, that gets my vote for the most gory.

-Dave

[Hamster Huey]

ROTT...that brings back memories. I think it was the first game where you could use dual handguns, if I'm remembering correctly. It was also the first game to allow 16 player deathmatches, which was a huge step up from DOOM. But my favorite thing of all was the homing missiles. Those things were eeeeevil.

[GreasyPigeon]

come on!!! how can you forget evil dead hail to the king!!!, you shout zombies and cut then up with a chainsaw for a hand, i found it gory. the gta games, are not gory, no body parts fly off but the head is missing. when i first played that game i was hoping that i could beat people with an arm and a leg.... o well i dunno doom duke nuken 3D, and evil dead hail to the king, get my vote. get gory is found in the old school games

[slateman]

SOF series is nasty. Doom (of course). The Postal sereis is gory but more pointless. And let us not forget Seroius Sam.

Jedi Knight 2 had a dismemberment code. No blood, but legs and arms just fell off. It was actually kind of funny. You could even cleave a guy in half.

[Downfall]

OK, so it seems to me that you are doing this to show how bad the game industry is on how games are made violent so that they sell well to kids. You say there is something wrong with leeting our 8 year olds play Vice City, yes there is, but I call that a parent that is not responsible for what their kids play. I may have a biased view on this because I do work in the game industry, but when we make games we make sure that the game is rated properly by the ESRB. Some times we push for the ESRB to give us higher ratings, like Teen or Mature if the game is violent. Retailers try to educate parents on the ESRB rating, but parents don't care to learn, maybe most of you haven't even noticed that when you go to wall mart in the games section there is a sign explaining the ESRB rating system. So don't dump it all on us, parents need to monitor what they are actually buying for their kids.

And Vice City and Soldier of Fortune are the most violent games that come to mind.

[gibby]

Hey there Downfall...I also work in the game industry. I don't think his purpose is to put blame on us. I think it's to inform those who aren't so knowledgeable in today's games. I, myself, push the idea that it is up to the parent to make sure their young child understands what they are playing...that it's make believe and to make sure they realize what's right and wrong.

Also, I think the retailers need to push the rating system as well. Rarely do I find retailers checking for IDs or informing a parent of a young child about what they might be buying for little Johnny be good.

I think if this is presented in the proper way, it could be a good thing. Most of the time, parents are too busy to really look into what they are letting their kids play. But if someone took the time to present it to them, and maybe show the current trend of future games, they can be more attentive to what they buy.

[warpfeedmod]

By far the goriest is postal..

and then of course every good game needs a sequel.

Postal 2.


www.gopostal.com


check it out. I guarantee you'll enjoy the gore!

[Hamster Huey]

Thanks, gibby. Couldn't have said it better.

I understand your concerns, Downfall. You can rest assured that my goal is not to demonize the game publishers and the video game industry. There's plenty of that being done already, and I don't think it's very productive. People constantly seek to blame someone else for their (or their kids') shortcomings. They do it because it's easier than finding fault in themselves, and it does nothing but mask the true problem and prevent its being solved.

Man - my BMI is 35 and my cholesterol is through the roof. I eat at McDonald's all the time so it must be their fault; I'm going to sue.

Man - I'm fat and out of shape and always getting stitched before I make it to the 50. My marker must be at least 6 ounces too heavy - damn that Tom Kaye.

Man - I don't give a damn about my kid and never spend any time with her. Now she's caught up with the wrong crowd, does drugs, gets lousy grades, is always in trouble, and when she's home all she does is play that Final Fantasy VII game. The video game industry is corrupting my kid.

It's been going on since the dawn of time and will continue to go on as long as people are flawed. I don't intend on contributing to it. Thanks for airing your concerns, though. If there's any other questions you might have, I'd be happy to answer them.

[Rancid Milk]

never really gave postal a thought, but now that you mention it, POSTAL 2 is going to be pretty gorry. check out some of the vids at fileplanet or somewhere.

[MAGma 14]

sof2 or silent hill 3

[gibby]

You know...besides the violence...there are other games out there that have adult content in them too. That could be just as influencial than violent games if the young child doesn't know any better.

[Sparq]

I just thought of this one...The Thing. Based on the 1982(?) John Carpenter remake of a stupid 50s movie. Incredibly gory, from the shredded corpses randomly strewn around the game to the severed heads with legs which attempt to kill you to the enormous creatures formed from the bodies of multiple victims. Nasty. Also has some pretty gross puke effects...heh.

Ah yes...and the liberal use of napalm adds to the violence. Good game though.