Fate of the World

When discussing the possibility or necessity of world unification, one is constantly reminded of the aphorism that each and every human being on the planet has an opinion, and that these opinions are often irreconcilable with each other. Those among us of the multicultural persuasion would have us all believe that these differences are necessary for the preservation of ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity. It is forwarded that we must “tolerate” differences so that we don't lose an essential nugget of our humanity. However, with difference of opinion comes its symbiote conflict, whether the spur to it be religious, political, racial, economic, or what have you.

The continuance of human conflict is your nemesis in Fate of the World, the efforts of Red Redemption studios expanding their flash title Climate Challenge, produced for the BBC's science and nature channel. This title has some very good points to make about the world at large, as well as some truly baffling quandaries to present. Prepare yourself for confusion sprinkled with a thimbleful of enlightenment.

Driving the gears of Fate of the World is a vast collection of data derived from the work of Dr. Myles Allen, who previously worked for the United Nations Environment Program in Kenya, and whose research has produced some of the condemning evidence linking human activity to the slow, gradual, warming of our atmosphere. Said data is used to simulate a projection of how continuing to pollute will affect the life of the entire planet, and there is a LOT of data. Statistics representing every facet of human existence are available, and from this miasma you are supposed to produce a balance capable of satisfying seven billion-, no, eight bil-, no ni-, well, an ever-increasing population.

In various scenarios as the head of a globe-spanning humanitarian organization, you'll be tasked with cleaning up the planet in various fashions; A daunting task to say the least. Every five years of simulated time, you play cards representing policies and projects from several categories: political, social, environmental, scientific, and energy-related, as well as long-term sustainability challenges. Goals will vary by scenario, but in general you want to reduce pollution, increase the human development index, discover new ways of combating temperature increase and make the world more stable. Across dozens of turns, the situation will constantly shift, requiring new tactics each iteration. When the global temperature rises, storms will begin to plough through Asian forests, firestorms will begin to ravage crops in Africa, endangered species will likely die out, and the populace will begin to distrust your action or inaction depending on their outlook. A more observant and knowledgeable person than I would be able to see the impending collapse of the world economy and to prepare for it, but I was unable to, and this was the primary source of frustration during my efforts.

On that note, the difficulty of the various challenges on offer are very intentionally curved to closely match their real-world counterparts, so that you have to juggle economy, environment, food supply, energy supply, political stability and more while attempting to please anybody and everybody's regional complaints. To do so, do you allow certain regions to languish while focusing on the prosperity of a select few? Do you allow yourself risky measures such as draconian government for the increased efficiency of production and research? Do you attempt to convert all of humanity into a giant tree-hugging vegetarian commune and lose the benefit of a large economy? The eventual realization that there are no loopholes in this system adds to the consternation. As a statement on reality, this is unequivocal in its challenge: “Do you want the world to be better?” the game asks. “Well, if so, you'd better knuckle up, concentrate, and make some tough choices.”

I claim no expertise on world affairs, and the environment in particular, but the predictions that Dr. Allen's data makes are unsettlingly haunting, a tone that matches the visual and auditory elements. World's soundtrack consists primarily of variations on a single theme that reflect regional styles. The tune itself gets tedious after a few hours, but the changes help keep it from grating too hard. The presentation of devastating world events through a simulated TV news broadcast is cold and uncaring in exactly the way that actual newscasters recounting disasters are. This once again raises the question of how far it is possible to stretch humanity without becoming numbed to the hardships of our fellows.

While certainly not as satisfying as more traditional card strategy games, Fate leaves a conviction that the challenges it presents are surmountable. Even though the scenarios are difficult, it is at least possible to get a little bit into each before you begin to fail. Thus, progress is almost certain, and any factors you overlooked in a previous attempt you're more likely to notice the next time. It certainly is engaging, but unfortunately carries a great deal of frustration alongside. Fate of the World illicits strong reactions that ultimately culminate in either frustration and abandonment or perseverance and triumph. What you take away will largely depend on your patience and commitment to success. Can you lead humanity to the zenith of existence? Can you defeat society at its own game? Prepare your policies and step up to the podium to accept responsibility if you dare.

Trauma

If there's one emotion that games seem entirely lacking in, it would have to be melancholy. And not the faux melancholy that prevails in the trailers for Gears of War et al. What I mean is a prolonged, pensive sadness that infects your soul and lingers well after you've stopped playing. The sensation that Keats evoked thus:

But when the melancholy fit shall fall
Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,
That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,
And hides the green hill in an April shroud;
-Keats, John--Ode to Melancholy

The challenge with trying to inspire this feeling in a game is the obstacle of merging it with matching gameplay, which Trauma manages. The gameplay is styled after a point-and-click adventure game, and the challenge of each of the four levels is to find specific dream images to interact with, and photographs to point the way and learn new gestures to perform. As a challenge, it wears thin to the point that after a while one is tempted to close the game due to the tedium of finding every one of each level's endings, having to repeat one's actions ad infinitum. As an evocation of the games framing, (a young woman recovering from a car crash in the hospitable) this neatly conveys the depression that naturally accompanies the daunting task of returning to the repetitive schedule of normal life after a traumatic event. Similarly, the brevity and abruptness of the whole experience further resonate: one or two hours before a complete and utter stop evoke a sense of true ending, enhancing the melancholy.

Trauma's visuals are fittingly ethereal, with bright, blurring lights used both as object and as tool. The dream-inspired visuals are haunting--providing simultaneous sensations of unease and curiosity, while maintaining a deep nostalgia that permeates everything. Screen transitions are all swivels between static photographs, reminiscent of trips through a family photo album, but with a more linear backbone supporting the journey.

Theming of this nature is the kind of artistic cohesion that seems so lacking in the games industry as a whole, and it's the few genuinely artistic endeavors such as this that deserve our attention. Trauma, if approached with an open mind, will lead you to a new appreciation for what games are capable of expressing.

Memorable

Soul Bubbles

One thing that the video games industry lacks is concentrated development combined with healthy publicity. For a counter-example, look at Portal; The development of that game was done by a small team of developers at Valve that were recruited directly from game design school because of a very solid student project. They released it alongside Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life 2 episode 2 only to realize that they had an instant hit on their hands. The tight development of this small, short, but innovative, colorful game produced an award-winning bestseller when exposed to a mass market. Imagine what would have happened had that team just gone indie, made Portal, and released it for the Xbox 360 and PS3. They would be in almost exactly the same position that Mekensleep is in, with their first title Soul Bubbles. The tight development of this small, short, but innovative, colorful, and award-nominated game has produced a very limited run, and likely because it didn't get enough mass market exposure.

This vastly underexposed DS game is a perfect counter-example to the AAA first-person fireworks and NRA-loving franchises, in that it is a tranquil, colorful, fun, and rewarding puzzle game with entirely original gameplay. The story is somewhat negligible, but the simplicity of it matches the simplicity of the game mechanics perfectly. You control a young shaman apprentice, tasked with escorting souls to the afterlife. You do so by encasing them in bubbles that you draw with the stylus and then blow them around using your lungs. You also have different masks that allow you to cut and combine bubbles, and shrink them. In addition, you can draw more bubbles to move around gasses and water to get past obstacles that your souls would either get stuck in or die to. There are eight different worlds that are themed around various shamanic traditions, each with its own unique look, feel, and gameplay tweaks, and is perfectly paced so that you have a small adjustment period to new mechanics before applying them in subsequent levels.

Soul Bubbles was released in 2008 through Eidos Interactive and sold exclusively at Toys 'R' Us--A publishing decision that could only be matched by Napoleon's invasion of Russia. Okay, so Mekensleep is a small team with limited resources and options, so I sympathize. More than anything, I'm disappointed at the total lack of publicity that this game received. Had it gotten more exposure, it could have taken off. The game itself hardly disappoints at all, and I would rate it an incredible if it incorporated a little more story into the gameplay. As is, Soul Bubbles is very memorable, so if you have a few spare dollars knocking around, try to find a copy of this sleeper hit.

Memorable

Deus Ex Human Revolution

DX:HR has a great deal to offer, particularly to cover-based shooter enthusiasts, but I digress. Human revolution has the player time leap to 2027 to assume the role of the dark and brooding Adam Jensen, a former SWAT officer and chief of security for Sarif Industries, a biotech company developing human augmentations. After a long day at the office, Adam's day is shook up in a surprise attack by mercenaries on the labs and the kidnapping of several top scientists including his girlfriend Megan. Severely wounded and on the brink of death, Adam is saved by his boss via augmentation, and brought back for work a half a year later. Still dealing with the trauma of having his limbs replaced, Adam is asked to uncover exactly what happened six months previously by tracking down the hired guns that attacked him.

The stage thus set, Adam is let loose on Detroit (yes, a reference to Robocop is made at one point) and Hengsha Island on the Yangtze River, serving as the two major hubs in which he can explore, engage in side missions, and shop for weapons and augmentations. The gameplay is familiar to anyone who has played Mass Effect, Gears of War, or any other cover-based shooter if you throw in a heavy emphasis on stealth, dialogue, and hacking. While in Mass effect, you'd be asked to play Frogger for 10 seconds, Human Revolution prefers a more original minigame in which you capture network nodes while trying to evade antivirus software. Oh, and lest I forget, several scenes ask you to try to convince another character to do something for you. These are interesting in that they provide a tension-filled insight into the characters, which do have a fair amount of depth, and also give a noticeable contrast to the run-gunning or ninja-sneaking.

With all of this in mind, I can't say that DX:HR is anything other than enjoyable. It handles well, looks and sounds good, and has a variety that I don't see often in big-budget games. However, what holds it back is a lack of thematic consistency. If Adam were to have a significant arc then he'd be more interesting as a role to adopt, but the fact that you get to decide how he feels moment to moment doesn't add anything to either the story or his definition as a character. The supporting cast is much more interesting and varied, with definite personalities that you can uncover more about through side missions. Though this helps keep the story from slogging, the lack of investment that I felt as a player really didn't help my opinion. If you haven't played DX:HR and you want to, I suggest that you do since there's plenty to enjoy, but realize that it will not set your dramatic world alight.

Enjoyable