Do you play murder simulators? (Poll)

And how! My fave for some time has been Borderlands, but I play also games like Skyrim and all that. I think my original murder simulator was Wolfenstein. I also played Quake, Doom, and Unreal. Also loved Diablo.

I loved Populous - one of the first video games I played, back in the DOS days. I guess it is technically a murder simulator, on a bigger scale - basically a genocide simulator. I played the long game and used to wait patiently until I’d built enough of an empire for the progress bar to reach Armageddon, and then watch it all play out, mwahahaha.

I don’t think any of the games I play these days could be strictly classed as murder sims. Unless Counterspy on the PS4 counts? It’s a stealth game and more about taking out strings of generic security bods to get to the target, so probably not.

I would link to it but the button doesn’t appear on mobile and I can never remember the html, grr.

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sorry, what is a murder simulator? googling does not help, strangely.

Normally it’s a derogatory term for violent games, particularly first-person shooters. But if one wants to be a bit more literal about it, a murder simulator would be any game that allows you to kill initially non-hostile entities in the game. A prime example is any game that allows you to run over pedestrians.

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I think the concept or term is associated with a general overreaction to video game violence. I think the origin can be traced back to the game Death Race in 1976.

http://www.usgamer.net/articles/a-brief-history-of-video-game-violence-part-1-death-race-to-mortal-kombat

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I find it a little bit concerning, how many video games revolve around violence, or only offer violent solutions to a given task. But then, violence is a theme in many books and movies too.

I’m not playing any shooters, but plenty of RPGs or strategy titles. I’m quite fond of the nuclear arsenal in any given Civ title. These are first-rate genocide simulators, if you think about them that way. I guess at that point you just have to accept that those are games and what you do in the game has no ramifications in real life. Else you also better stop playing chess.

The one thing that I am a little tired of, especially in a lot of RPGs is how NPCs kill or be killed for things that do not call for such drastic measures. “You knocked that plate off my table!? DIE FIEND, DIE!” I mean, come on …

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Wait…only at that point? :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Spend a longer time at these forums here and that soon will seem like a natural reaction.

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The question is, can reducing a number from 14 to 7 by dropping some pixels labelled “ballistic missile” on a blob that represents a city be called genocide?

I think somewhere on these forums there had been some discussion about games banned in Germany. Being German, I always wondered why they’d ban stuff for killing a few virtual persons in graphic detail, but not even raise an eyebrow on games like Civilization.

Seems if something is more abstract, it can get away with things that are way more objectionable than when it is depicted in realistic fashion. Though in both cases, it’s only bits and bytes inside a computer. Guess sometimes a cigar isn’t just a cigar :slight_smile: .

Well back in the 80s pretty much all war games were banned in germany no matter how bad the graphics were. Stuff like River Raid or Battlezone where you don´t even see people. Back then everyone was afraid that this made children conditioned for going back into war again, which was funny because you still had no option but serving for a year when you turned 18. Getting trained with a real rifle was okay I guess.
But with the advent of better graphics and more blood and gore in graphic detail the attention shifted a bit, though the Command And Conquer games always had a hard time with the approval board, too.

Anyway I think the important factor is the main intent. You can play simulations and build up civilisations and the main attention or even main objective isn´t neccesarily destroying. If that is the only solution we have a problem because there is always this “can´t they just talk it over”? attitude.

But talk about double standards John Wayne could always shoot indians left and right and nobody batted an eyebrow but when Dustin Hoffman takes revenge on the homeinvaders who raped his wife suddenly it was a problem.

I know almost nothing about this kind of games. Does murdering occur in them?

I fear that I enjoyed exactly the same activity, multiple times. Peter Molyneux knew how to stimulate the darkest side of the players. Giving them god-like powers was a thought-provoking decision… but nobody noticed because everyone was busy killing little simulated creatures. :smiley:

Unless I have misinterpreted what you wanted to do, you don’t need to manually create a link, just paste the URL of any web page and Discourse will make it a link/box:

(beautiful art in this CounterSpy, by the way. The cover art is clearly inspired by the old soviet propaganda posters with a touch of Saul Bass minimalism)

Is The Cave a murder simulator? You murder quite a few people there!

Doh, I forgot it did that…

Yeah, I love the style of it. It suits the object of the game perfectly. The music is also very sleek and spy-like.

Oh really? This is next on my list after Obduction. Didn’t realise that one involves murder too. Maybe I should play some different games! At least Obduction should just be puzzles…

I loved Populous too. The GDC post mortem for that is worth checking out.

Personally have not been a fan of FPS games, but I did play Doom & Wolfenstein back when they were all the rage.

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As I don’t know if this was meant ironically, I will answer seriously: Yes. :slight_smile: You have to kill people, especially in real time strategy games like Command and Conquer. Most RPGs are “murder simulators” too.

Wait. “Murder” is defined as the “unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.” As such, I do not think that war qualifies as murder, for it is not “unlawful premeditated killing.”

That’s not to say that war games are any better, but a strategy war game in which the death of your enemy is abstracted in game-play is definitely different than a first-person shooter in which your motivation is to go around and shoot individuals.

Also, switch that individual with a de-humanized monster and it is again not “murder.”

dZ.

There are a lot of strategy games where you don’t have to “play war”. For example “Hard West”, “Sattelite Reign”, “Invisible, Inc”, “Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun”, “The Curious Expedition”, …

For example in “Shadow Tactics” you have to shoot individuals.

Ok, then: @LowLevel can you briefly explain which kind of “murder” you mean? :slight_smile:

I think the issue is with using the word “murder” instead of “killing”. Because in the proper context not even a game like Manhunt would feature murder because it´s set in a dystopian society that doesn´t have any laws against killing anymore.

I’ve never played the game myself, but based on the plot synopsis I read, it doesn’t sound like murder is legal in the game. Otherwise, what crimes could be considered heinous enough to justify executing the main character? Also, why would anyone care about exposing a snuff film director’s operation and associated police complicity if it’s all legal? That should really be no different that having police present for traffic control and security at any ordinary on-location TV or film set.

I don´t know what Carcer City is supposed to be, but there is cameras all over the place and absolutly everyone is out to kill you with no law encforcement anywhere, it doesn´t in the least feel like the real world to me.

Fair enough. However, note that self-defense and military actions also rule out “lawlessness” and “premeditation.”

I do not know that game, but judging by the name, it sounds as some sort of military or government-sanctioned operation, again ruling out unlawfulness.

There is a reason why these games usually follow these sort of military or vengeance/self-defense tropes: as a society, we do not condone the wanton disregard of human life, so there is always an attempt to justify it or frame it outside of the context of murder. Witness, for example, the open mainstream criticism of Grand Theft Auto: Vice-City a few years back for allowing you to just walk over to a random prostitute or police officer, unprovoked, and shoot them dead. Even in that game such murderous acts were not really part of the game-play, although the mechanics did allow it.

dZ.