Game Violence’s Absurdity Appeal

Recently I began playing the God of War series for the first time (yes, yes, I know, years behind and all that) thanks to the God of War Collection game released for the PS3. I have to say, the game’s got a kind of charm that keeps me playing, even though I’m not typically the action or hack-and-slash type gamer.

Playing as Kratos and doing the things he does to keep going in the game got me thinking about the whole violence and video games argument that you see floating around the Internet every so often. Typically this tends to surface when you see some incident related to someone taking a game just a bit too seriously and carrying it over into their real lives. It’s certainly a debate that gamers like myself might sometimes tire of having with those who believe that there is some kind of correlation between the depiction of video game violence and real acts of a similar vein in reality.

Aside from the normal arguments that apply against any notion that violence in video games translates over into real violence, I think that the mere fact that violence is presented, at times, in a completely crazy and absurd manner helps the gamers’ side of the argument. When you watch Kratos, for example, as he rips bodies in half, yanks enemies off of rope ladders after slamming them, and uses heads for weaponry, you can’t help but feel the sense that this is just a bit absurd. No real person actually has the strength to impale giant sea monsters or slice a person to bits just by swinging. No person actually would come to work as Kratos either (though I suppose I wouldn’t put it past some people in the right circumstances). The point is, Kratos and what he does, while ultra-violent, is also ultra-unrealistic and sensationalist as well. Knowing that, it’s difficult to really take it seriously enough to say it influences people it shouldn’t.

As if to prove my point, I seem to recall that last year at E3 we were treated to some gameplay footage for God of War III, which was what actually piqued my interest in the series as a whole. In it, among other things,  I believe I recall one particular monster, the Chimera, suffering an unfortunate fate by getting dismembered and stabbed in the eye with its own ripped off horn. I honestly had to laugh and cringe at the same time at the insanity of that violent act – and I think others had a similar reaction to watching the footage. None of us, I think, felt the need to go out of our way to do the same to a fellow human. Instead, I might have gotten more popcorn. The point is – if violence in video games can actually have value as absurd entertainment and crazy visuals, then I have a feeling most gamers wouldn’t have a problem understanding that it stays exactly like that after they turn off the console. It’s probably one of, if not the, only good things about seeing (virtual) violence done at all.