No More Heroes
We discuss our perception of the game hero and their fallibility through the years
The notion of a hero in any medium, especially games is someone without flaw and almost invincible. The latter not obviously in the physical sense but they are portrayed as beyond human in most cases. Much like movie heroes can go into a situation and not sustain any injuries until the last few minutes. They inevitably get shot but it must, and I repeat MUST be in the leg or someplace that won’t retard their heroics too much.
The same with games, although this is a given, it’s part and parcel of the game world that we buy into. So, while physically they are mostly invulnerable writers can try to make them seem more human and less super-human in other ways.
In most games nowadays the hero can be sometimes be portrayed as a flawed character, elements that remind us that they are after all, human. Look at Max Payne with his family killed by crack-heads and his obvious addiction to painkillers and slowed down time. This can allow the player to empathise with the character and in some parts be hilarious. The part in Max Payne where you follow the babies’ screams seriously freaked me out and I felt I had to be on some kind of hallucinogen to fully appreciate it.
Our perception of a hero is a unique perspective for each player. Like most things people connect with we see a shadow of ourselves in it, or alternatively, what we want to be like. As a kid I used to play dress up as Spiderman, unfortunately when I leapt from the window of my house I didn’t stick to the wall.
When we play games that we get to make decisions a shadow of ourselves is projected onto our avatar but this is also combined with who we want to be perceived as. I usually err on the side of a lawfully good guy with a bad ass streak. Like a loose cannon detective. Basically I’m John Mclane in the middle ages. This especially came to light when playing Mass Effect 2 and I had the chance to pull off some renegade moves. My favourite involved punching a female reporter; even I didn’t see it coming and stood shouting “THAT’S WHAT YOU GET!!” at the TV.
I enjoy having choice in some games but I personally find it more enjoyable to engage with someone company designed because I like to follow their decisions and their choices that make them who they are. If I’m controlling a protagonist that has his own back-story and personality, but find I’m the one making choices for him I feel like a backseat driver. Suffice to say the whole situation jars me.
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