I’d say I’m an 8.8; mostly because I like the number 8 and I have no real scale to gage myself on.

I thought the child scene in Prey was a little overt for my taste, but then, I didn’t care too much for the Silent Hill series or Res. Evil either. GTA can stay on the shelf as well. In gaming, violence is nearly always the solution- destory the enemy, here’s your weapon. So, accept it on most levels but I don’t need excessive gore, and I know it wouldn’t last long in my house anyway.

The severed arm is interesting: is it like the guy on the beach in Saving Private Ryan or is it Monte Python’s “It’s only a flesh wound!”? Is it Ahhnold in Commando when he cuts off that guy’s arm with a machete (dude that was sweet!) or is it Hotel Rwanda with all the villagers getting hacked up?

I can stomach it all, but only accept some. In the same sense, I wouldn’t mind seeing more detail like this in Halo 3, but only if it happens to lil’ grunts or what not after an explosion, but would prefer not to have it in Prey as an attack option, even though I know it happens in real life. Still, I guess that’s why I’m an 8.8. and not a 9 or 10.

The last FPS I really got into was Medal of Honor, and like most games of its genre it has story mode and multiplayer mode. Most of the people I know hate the 1P game and only play multiplayer, but I was always the opposite… multiplayer shoot’em ups just bore me after a few days. Last week I discovered a free(as in beer) online FPS called Gunz (gunzonline.com). The graphics are not bad, and it plays like a character from the Matrix… you can run up or along walls, dodge, jump, backflip etc. Same thing… it enthralled me for about 3 days, then got older than last month’s fish, because it had no story, no plot, nothing to do but kill as many other people as you can. All to the taunts of “n00b” and “ch34t3r” and “pwn3d!!!!1″

So yeah, I guess I agree that the violence should be seen as a means to a righteous end… the good guys win and the bad guys meet a gratuitously violent death. Or I could just sick my Pokémon on theirs…

It is for this reason that I defend violence in War/Historical movies. There is reason behind it, it is retelling an important part of history. It is essential that the full impact of those times is achieved in order to properly instruct and move the audience who never experienced those things. More often than not, violence in other genres is the end of the means - not the function of the story thread.

My standards are pretty much the same for video games. I won’t bat an eyelash at playing a Tom Clancy game or other military shooter (for the same reasons mentioned above). But most of the time I’ll squirm when playing something else violent (I sold ‘Hitman’ after one too many caloused assinations). Half-Life and Prey probably fall into the gray category between pulp violence and complex violence. The deciding factor will always be the quality of the story. If I am rationally, emotionally, and morally convinced that destroying my enemies is the right thing to do and moves the story into deeper territory then I find no qualms in quickly, efficiently, and mercilessly erradicating all obstacles.

In the case of Prey - there better be a convincing plot, there better be believable and deep characters, and there better be some moral ground to stand on. All of these things were in Half Life 2 and Halo 2 and that’s what made these games fun to play and morally acceptable.

The bottom line: Not all ickiness is created equal.

I haven’t heard so much as a peep out of any of you about your comfort levels, and now I’m curious, as (again), obviously, you all (Well, Sharpie at least) seem to not have a “icky” problem with the violence in HL2. Pipe up - what seems to be too icky for you?

Ergo the reason I stated : “T’is a shame when Sandstone starts making assertions about ‘who has played what game’ and trying to one-up the crowd because of it. Sharpie will deal with this accordingly.” Because I knew that Sharpie had played HL2, and that accordingly, Sandy’s soap box would be quickly kicked out from under him, and his “icky” argument would come tumbling down as well.

I am surprised Sandy didn’t remember back in late winter the arguments over which was better; HL2 or H2. Sharpie had words back then as well, since he had played both games.

Anyway, not that this changes too much- Sharpie will buy the game, I may buy the game, and Sandstone will not. Not sure about MM as we all know he is certifiably crazy.

And to elaborate on Sharpie’s comments about our wives: yeah, I can’t even really play Halo 2 around without having her recite some scriptures about whatever. Seriously, all I hear are “covenants”, “prophets”, “temples”… hmm, maybe we are on the same wavelength… SP:CT is a serious no-no though, unless I promise to non-lethal hurt people. Boring.

I think I got my feathers ruffled when you declared Half Life 2 wasn’t very “icky” or wasn’t “dark”. Now true, true we all have our own opinions of what’s dark or not. And personally, I can’t make any real judgments on Prey yet because we haven’t seen it in its entirety. But in my opinion, HL2 is very much a dark, icky game. Much more than say Halo 2. And since I have actually played most of the game , I think I am qualified to say this. Here’s a few examples of what I’m talking about:

- Watching Combine troops terrorize and violently abuse men and women in their homes and on the street.

- Hearing the screams of civilians in Combine interrogation rooms then walking into one and seeing blood/gore spilled all over a metal chair.

- Wading through waist deep sewer water with very detailed charred human corpses floating all around you.

- Watching a parasitic alien life form attach to the face of a woman and then making a conscious decision to shoot her in the head because in a few moments she will turn against you.

- Using your gravity gun to launch a buzz saw blade at advancing head-crab zombies (who used to be human) - successfully slicing in half, not one, not two, but three of the “icky” monstrosities.

- Tagging along with an insane shotgun-wielding Priest who blows away alien zombies that scurry along the ground like chimpanzees from hell - all while he’s citing apocalyptic Biblical verse. (I admit this can be kind of humerous but the undertones are a little disturbing)

- Later in the game, observing captured Combine experiments. Human subjects that have been tortured, starved, and mutilated to be nearly unrecognizable.

- Many, many more.

Now if Sandstone wants to rationalize these occurances away by saying that it’s not that “dark” because HL2 has “daylight” environments and “grassy fields” then fine, whatever, I can accept his idea of sick and twisted. But let’s get something clear: If any of our wives got a good look at HL2 or Prey they would be concerned for our souls. Seriously guys, we play some pretty “icky” games when you stop and think about it.

/all I’m saying

Of course I beat Half-Life.