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This is the Police, a perfect illustration of systematic racism. (self.truegaming)

Atimo3 が 投稿

This is the Police is a game in which you play a police chief. You will occasionally take decisions on the field, interrogate suspects and solve mysteries. But most of the gameplay in This is the Police consists in choosing what police officers send to what assignment. It’s pretty awesome.

And since killscreen essentially trashed the beautiful thing in this review, I will come in its defense. This is the Police illustrates systematic racism in a better way than any other game, because unlike most games that talk about racism, it shows it exclusively through its mechanics.

Very early on the game you are shown that there are a lot of racist groups putting pressure on the government, soon you get a call from the mayor, he wants the problem solved. You first instinct is “Cool, I have to catch the racist gangs and put them in jail”. Nope, you must fire all black cops. No further justification, no negotiation; you fire all black cops you get a happy mayor and a reward, you ignore the order and you get an angry mayor and are punished.

It’s as simple as that. Killscreen describes it as this:

For the ultimate failure of This Is the Police is that it makes everyone culpable but the police. When you fire all the black cops on day four, it’s not really your fault: the racist gangs and evil mayor made you do it. When you order the assaults on protesters, you’re just following orders. If this game is any indication, the worst thing a cop ever did was drink too much on the job: all the true evil originates with the higher-ups and lower-downs.

Which makes me reach a simple conclusion: The author of this review fired those black cops. He blindly followed a racist order because it came from a figure of authority and he reached the conclusion “well, it’s not my fault, they made me take those decisions”. And somehow he didn’t realize the problem with that Nuremberg defense.

But the game didn’t force him. This is the Police punish you for taking those decisions, but you don’t get a game over. It’s perfectly possible to play the game ignoring those requests, you just need to work extra hard (I personally ignored any request from the mayor that I found morally repugnant every time I had the chance).

This is why I found the game to be beautiful, and why I feel like the Killscreen review is full of it. Systematic racism is not caused by the KKK lynching people they don’t like, it’s caused by institutions unwilling to take decisions that could solve the problems.

You have a racist society that put pressure on the government, a mayor willing to take racist policies not because he has anything against black people but because he wants to please his voters, and you, the people at the bottom of the chain who will be punished for doing the right thing.

Latter in the game you will a have a group of black people protesting and the mayor ask you to use force to stop them. They game doesn’t give you any additional context, it doesn’t need to. You know why they are angry, you know what the problem is, and you are potentially part of that exact problem.

This is, in my opinion a more meaningful illustration of systematic racism than a million Deux Ex with a million #AugsLivesMatter.

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[–]just_a_pyro [スコア非表示]  (27子コメント)

There is a breed of critics that thinks if a game doesn't explicitly tell you what you did was bad then it supports those bad things.

I remember Tropico 5 review, where reviewer complained it made him feel like a powerful dictator but lacked compassion to citizens he chose to oppress, because it was easier or more profitable than trying to make everyone happy.

[–]Atimo3[S] [スコア非表示]  (24子コメント)

Really, if you need the game to explicitly tell you “Don’t be a complete monster” in order to have any motivation to not being a monster, I feel like the problem is not with the game.

[–]DAngelo_Vickers [スコア非表示]  (23子コメント)

No, it is kind of is the games job to make you question your decisions. Games that do this well make you, ask yourself 'is this worth it?' Killing Whisper in Fable, the whole party slaughtering dark side climax of Kotor, those things gave you pause. If the game doesn't give you a reason to hesitate before taking the easy reward then it's poorly written.

That's the thing about video games. They aren't real so if the game makes no effort to make you feel the weight of moral decisons then they have no weight.

[–]Atimo3[S] [スコア非表示]  (16子コメント)

Fire all black cops because they are black

Look at that sentence. Do I need to tell you why this is a bad thing?

For any normal person that sentence would be answered with indignation, I don’t think the game need to waste any more time showing you a picture of Martin Luther King crying to hammer the point home.

I actually like that the game gives you no incentive to take the moral choice and all the incentive to take the bad one. Very frequently games will act like moral and idealistic choices are the same or superior as immoral and self-serving ones (looking at you Bioware).

When doing the right thing doesn’t give you a reward or a pat in the back and is actually punishable, that’s when I think that doing the right thing becomes a meaningful choice.

[–]toddgak [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Amen man. Glad to know there are people out there willing to explore the nuance of choice within linear game mechanics. Players have been conditioned to follow reward schemes as a means of funneling themselves through a linear narrative; it's either the only way to move the game forward or it's the only way to win.

Games like The Stanley Parable, or my favourite VR experience, Accounting like to make fun of the idea that players will do anything they are told if it means they can progress.

[–]slapdashbr [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

I had the same issue with FNV, especially with the amount of Legion ("bad guys") cut content, it was less rewarding to play a bad guy, even in a game where obstensibly you should be getting ahead if you just pillage and murder your way across the wasteland.

[–]letg06 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Hey, you can still pillage and murder the legion camps!

[–]BSRussell [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Depends on the player and degree of immersion. Do you know how many people I've killed in video games? I don't, I've been playing them for around 25 years. I can't imagine killing anyone in real life, but hand me an FPS and point me in a direction and I'm a walking avatar of death.

I've never played the game being discussed so I can't speak to how well it accomplishes this, but generally speaking it's the game's job to immerse the player in its world such that they feel compelled to roleplay and consider the off-screen consequences of their actions, rather than just choosing the optimum path to "win."

I never once felt badly about raiding and slaughtering enemy villagers in Age of Empires because the game obviously never had any interest in making me feel that way, they were just visual representations of enemy resources. Some games succeed in drawing you in, some don't.

[–]hardolaf [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

I run D&D campaigns where the moral choice is almost never the easiest choice let alone even rewarding. I remember that my players were confronted with a lich's library. They could destroy the library and the vile knowledge within it. Destroy only the vilest knowledge. Or they could use it for themselves.

That was the only time I ever had player on player combat actually occur. The wizard teleported the paladin away and began raising an army of undead to protect himself while convincing the other characters that the paladin betrayed them all and was going to kill them and use the knowledge to destroy them (the characters rolled absolute crap on their will saves). By the time the paladin had returned with reinforcements, the wizard had made himself into a lich and commanded an army of undead. The campaign ended with the wizard leading an assault on the capital city of the local human lands. Evil had won.

[–]valuequest [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

They're also a whole lot less instructive about real world dilemmas.

I haven't played this game yet, but from the sound of it, a lot of the artistic/political commentary comes from precisely how easy it is to meander down the path of racism without feeling like a bad guy. That's the lesson itself.

Real world problems for the most part aren't about black and white Sith murdering loyal companions for selfish gain.

[–]sord_n_bored [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

I'm on the other side of the fence. I find that games that tell you "this is bad, this is good" is exactly the opposite way you want to go. Because you can't explore the morally gray areas that cause modern day ethical problems. This results in games like Fable/KotOR/Bioshock where the "moral choices" are so obviously black and white, and consequentially, unrealistic and useless in what they're trying to do.

[–]Hollacaine [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Ok, but look at it from this point of view. Take slavery, the slave owners didn't suffer at all for having slaves. They got the benefit of the slaves labour and it didn't really cost them much of anything.

I havent played the game but it seems the question the game is asking you is: Will you do the right thing even if it's harder?

Will you do whats right despite the fact that the wrong choice is easier?

Are you willing to do bad things to innocent people if it benefits you?

But then I get bored in GTA and go on killing sprees so maybe Im not the guy to talk about morals and video games.

[–]NYstate [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

No it's a games job to provide you with the means to do something or not. A game is player controlled. It is up to the individual to feel remorse. That's how art works, it's up to interpretation.

Is the Mona Lisa pretty?

Having a game forcing you into a decision while also clearly giving you the means to do another is not always a good game design. One example are games that give you a light or dark path but punish you for going dark. MGSV for example.

[–]Champigne [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

complained it made him feel like a powerful dictator

That's literally the premise of the game..

[–]Wiffernubbin [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Some reviewers are straight up sociopaths or lack self awareness.

[–]darksier [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Haven't played but i do like games that use mechanics over narrative to tempt the evil decisions out of a player. Part of my problem with a lot of moral choice games is that good and evil both lead to the same equally advantaged outcomes (mechanically) when in reality typically taking the high road means making sacrifices, taking on disadvantages for just the chance to reach some moral high ground. But that usually doesn't translate into a fun time for gamers who typically are seeking power fantasy fulfillment and just escapism in general.

[–]acepincter [スコア非表示]  (3子コメント)

I think you have made a great counter-argument, and a superior one.

The only thing I can think of as a retort is that we've grown up in a gaming culture where punishment is the consequence of making a mistake. Jump too slow? Lose one life. Stepped into the light? Aggro the gaurds / reload the map. Have bad aim? Run out of ammo and can't finish the map. Choose the wrong dialog? Lose reputation points, and it'll take hours to earn them back.

I truly see the argument you make. You aren't forced to make morally repugnant choices. But we've all been trained that a game upping the difficulty or shaming us or calling us out is an indication we made a mistake, and almost every game ever reinforces this. I can't fault Killscreen for thinking the way he was trained to think by decades of games, but I can hope that he somehow reads this important point you've made, and considers it slowly, carefully, with introspection... before simply rushing to his own defense. It'd be all to easy to go the un-analyzed route and stick to his first opinion, without giving it another go at the game as a different player.

[–]rmphys [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

You should try This War of Mine as well. It's another game that will brutally not reward you for good decisions and give you bonuses for bad ones. The whole point is to help you better understand the survival mentality of citizens in a war torn nation. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this concept isn't too unusual if you get outside of AAA games.

[–]acepincter [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

I was too heartbroken to make it more than 18 days. We were so hungry and desperate and I knew I was going to have to kill people more worthy of survival than myself and just... chose not to, knowing I was dying.

[–]Katamariguy [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Looking at a lot of RPGs, I think there's a general reluctance to directly hurt the player mechanically. Your choice can have negative narrative consequences, but it's less common for money, stats, items to be forcibly taken away for a decision. I wonder if that has an effect on how people perceive game morality.

Interesting survey on the matter. Likely biased sample, yadda yadda

[–]Katamariguy [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

The exact degree of historical accuracy of Paradox Interactive Grand Strategies can be debated, but the perspective they give the player is unique. I think you can gain a bit of insight as to how a nominally well-intentioned person in a place of power can be driven to do horrendous things - simply because the structures of power are slanted towards those options. Eventually, you think less and less about the millions of people you are killing, and more about your nation's interests.

Likewise goes with business simulation games and issues of controversial business practices.

[–]Gray-Sand [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

Fascinating, if not somewhat horrifying in its own concept.

Is this a steam game? Or a flash game? Although I probably won't be able to play it, the fact that someone tried to express this controversial topic through a game-medium is what's truly impressive. Mad respect, but I get the feeling this game might not garner as much attention as it should, given the current circumstances nowadays...

[–]hDrj58k4ZtfFXQju [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

It's on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/443810/

[–]Atimo3[S] [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

You can get it here if you are interested:

Steam

GOG

It has being out for a couple of months so if it hasn’t become a great hit by now… However I don’t think it actually flopped or anything.

[–]-Wes [スコア非表示]  (9子コメント)

I remember watching Northernlion's Let's Look At for this game as well Idiotech's review. While I do agree with you that this game mechanic is very fascinating and definitely a really great starting point, one of the criticisms that both of these guys had about the game is that you legitimately could not only be a good cop and only be a bad cop.

The game would make you lose eventually if you only picked to do one of the two. (Not just very difficult but actually impossible). As in if you were only being a good cop the mafia would eventually kill you. This makes the concept a lot less effective in theory because you would not be able to really "pick" which route you want to take but rather it's really more of a balancing game disguised as a "morale" choices.

I do applaus and appreciate the idea that the devs were after by representing the systematic racism we have into our society into the game. It takes a lot of courage to do something like that but I don't think the implementation was as good as it could have been.

[–]Ghost33313 [スコア非表示]  (4子コメント)

I personally like that though it is much more realistic that you need to balance your moral choices to survive while trying to improve the well being of everyone else.

[–]snoharm [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

A system that would make more sense is to just remove resources and add pressures until it's almost impossible to successfully keep crime down. Just adding a fail screen for not choosing the "right" thing removes player agency, which defeats the purpose.

[–]ziggl [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

you need to balance your moral choices to survive

Game of Thrones, the video game!

while trying to improve the well being of everyone else.

Oh... nevermind, example ruined :p

[–]Shimmen [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

Papers Please

FTFY

[–]ziggl [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Yeahhh! That's what I was thinking of when OP was talking about moral choices giving you penalties but still letting you play the game. You could get the top score every level even when the game hints that you should let someone through (for the revolutionary group, forget what they're called).

Good times!

[–]Foffle [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

but rather it's really more of a balancing game disguised as a "morale" choices.

What if that's the point? You can't always make the most moral choice and keep your job and/or life, you have to make concessions and do the best you can. That sounds pretty realistic to me.

[–]percykins [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

I dunno - watch the movie Serpico sometime. Being a good cop means being harassed, ignored, and finally being set up to be murdered.

[–]rtlrp [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

Because a movie tells exactly how things are across every one of thousands of police departments consisting often of smaller divisions and stations.

[–]zecharin [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

No, but it does offer a dramatic look at something that actually happened and is a systemic issue. The Blue Wall of Silence isn't a common phrase in the US for absolutely no reason.

[–]Cheimon [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

It might be a good illustration, I'm not sure, but it's a bad choice system.

The problem with this segment in This is the Police is that it has no lasting impact. You fire them? You have a slightly reduced force and the mayor stays happy. You don't? If you piss off the mayor enough, you get a slight reduction in your force (or a salary cut, which is so small the change is meaningless). If you fired them illegally, you'll almost certainly get a salary cut (but again: the salary isn't how you make money in the game, so that doesn't matter).

What's really missing is long-term ramifications of the choice. The choice matters for the few days that it's active, and after that, it's never referenced again. What happened to the gang of people threatening to attack black cops? There's no mention. Does your decision to fire or keep cops have an impact on the blacks rights protest (which you're asked to suppress) that happens later? Nope. Most importantly, does it have a long term impact on your relationship with the mayor? The answer to that is a firm no, because the biggest impact on your standing with city hall is how many callouts you respond to correctly, so if you upset the mayor here it won't matter the next day if you're doing okay at the main minigame.

Race comes up several times, but none of the choices you make have any impact on each other. They give you the illusion of decision making while not having any real consequences (with the exception of a few mafia-related ones where if you pick the 'good' option you get a Game Over). This is what the kill screen review gets to, at the heart of it: the game starts you off thinking what you do matters, and by the end of it the illusion has totally broken. You can do whatever the fuck you want, but the game won't end until its long-winded story is fully done. You mention that you can refuse to fire them, but you'll have to work extra hard. You will in the early game, but at some point you'll realise that if you disobey the mayor every time, it won't ultimately do anything severe to you.

[–]Atimo3[S] [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

I can see your point, but that’s definitely not what the Kill Screen review gets to. The crux of their argument is that the game has “sympathy for the corrupt”, your argument is that the choices don’t matter.

To me the choices matter as long as they have an effect in the game, even is just only the immediate one; you disagree and that’s fine.

[–]LukaCola [スコア非表示]  (7子コメント)

This is the police had some nice moments, being demanded to fire all black officers and then having a diverse roster later was an interesting thing to do, it did ultimately reward my decision. I didn't follow that order when I heard it, thought it was absurd when I had good black officers and didn't want to remove them for rookies anyway. City Hall could jog off.

There were however some really strange parts, like my best lieutenant who is clearly Asian squaring off against, what she referred to as "the Jap," in a boxing match. It's like... A little bit forced when even my Asian officers are using racial slurs against, well, Asians, even if they're otherwise extremely professional and have no other tendencies towards racism (that I can tell).

Ultimately the force I ran was one that valued merit, if city hall wanted better diversity I had no problem with that, there was usually a slacker or two I could let off for being drunk/failing assignments. But I sure as hell wasn't gonna lay off my best people for some racist agenda.

My biggest problem was accepting not-so-kosher deals with the mafia/corporations... I also sent some poor people to their death out of fear of a serial killer. But otherwise, my force was top-notch and kept the city more than adequately protected. I really should get around to finishing the game some time, but boy is it long.

[–]dotmatrixhero [スコア非表示]  (3子コメント)

As a Korean, i can tell you that racism and hostility towards other nationalities (even especially other Asians) is very common. Lots of Korean people despise the Japanese. Kind of makes sense, too, given the history between them.

[–]LukaCola [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

I can absolutely believe that, and I know it too, but "Jap" not only doesn't really fit as an Asian-American to another Asian-American pejorative it just demonstrated that the game wrote the dialogue regardless of the actual background or circumstances the exchange took place in. Especially if they're trying to make the case that this casual racism is normalized, someone who would certainly be subjected to it turning around and using it in the same sense in all seriousness?

It's a bit ham-fisted, the game does keep track of each officer's ethnicity. They should have accounted for that in that dialogue, minor slip up, but it does come off as somewhat forced when it seems so much less likely.

[–]idkmybffyossarian [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Also - the developers are from Belarus. I'm not sure what the demographic is, but it may just be that they're not accustomed to the way folks actually use slurs like that? (I could be totally wrong, of course, but that's what I chalked up some of the phrasing/situations to.)

[–]dotmatrixhero [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

Okay, I see what you're saying. That makes sense. I do imagine that it'd take a lot of effort to work out those small details - perhaps its more important to have for a game that attempts to take on these complex social issues.

[–]L4ctor [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

Not to bash on your comment, but a comment on the asian office using a racial slur: Prejudice can happen among all races. I've met people who will act very prejudiced and discriminatory against their own race, even. Racism is hardly ever a rational thing that makes sense, even otherwise decent people can have some messed up beliefs under the surface. And yeah, it can feel weird or forced when you experience that.

I don't know if that sort of nuance is what This is the Police was going for, but if so, that's pretty cool.

[–]LukaCola [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

Oh I can absolutely see that, no doubt. But it's a significant tonal change and made me think far more likely "they just didn't put in a flag to account for the background of the person saying it" which makes it far more ham-fisted rather than personal than the alternative.

Because honestly, how likely is it that the term used by nativists in America against Asians would be used against an Asian-American likely subjected to it against another, even one they respect? It's just a bit out of tune, you know?

[–]L4ctor [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

If they were raised in america by immigrant parents who were racist against the japanese, and never had any other influence telling them not to talk/act that way, and they just happened to pick up on that word along the way, then that's definitely a thing that happens.

I know speaking from personal experience isn't the most useful to real discourse, but I knew a few chinese-americans who were very racist against japanese, including using the racial slur. I knew a few japanese americans who'd talk shit about koreans.

I think it might be that the game just didn't hint towards that sort of dialogue or idea existing in it's world, and so it felt jarring. Or it was a weird dialogue thing and I'm thinking too much about it, that's the more likely explanation.

[–]Jaereth [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

"Fire all black cops" is in no way representative of any real world issues or systems. This is not what "systemic racism" is. I would go Wikipedia a few of the terms you threw out here then re-read your post.

[–]Anon_Amous [スコア非表示]  (17子コメント)

This simplifies real, very many angled subjects into simple 2 dimensional ones (based on your description). Needless to say I don't agree with your assessment but I haven't played the game for myself either, I might feel differently if and when I do. From your description it sounds like a pathetic attempt to try and enforce a false narrative that doesn't have a strong resemblance to reality.

[–]TheVetrinarian [スコア非表示]  (16子コメント)

I see where you are coming from.

I haven't played this game at ALL, but it sounds like the mayor is just inexplicably a racist? Seems like an over-simplification of racial issues that DO exist in reality.

If we continue to just tell ourselves that race issues exists because some people are just racist then we have failed to try to comprehend the complexities of race relations.

[–]Atimo3[S] [スコア非表示]  (15子コメント)

The mayor is acting racist because his constituency is racist. That’s it, he is a politician and not a very moral one, so every interaction you have with him amounts to the worst face of government.

[–]TheVetrinarian [スコア非表示]  (14子コメント)

Seems like that's just the next level up from how I interpreted it initially, no?

From the sounds of it, the game makes sense from the perspective of the police chief, but I think it's dangerous and over simplified social commentary to simply say that racism/race issues arise from outright not liking black people (or whatever kinds of people) simply because of the color of their skin (or whatever trait).

[–]Atimo3[S] [スコア非表示]  (13子コメント)

The game focuses in the institutional side of things, it’s a game about institutions (government, police, organized crime) interacting with each other. That why I called it a perfect illustration of systematic racism.

The more personal question of “why people hate blacks folks?” just gets the answer “because the game takes place in the 80s”; that side of the matter is not the focus of the game.

[–]rather_be_a_hobbit [スコア非表示]  (11子コメント)

I suppose for educational purposes this might be useful for like an intro to soc class, but in terms of applying systematic racism, something which you feel this game does very well, it comes across as very very basic. "The political system is racist because the mayor is racist, and it shows how law enforcement is racist because the mayor directly reports to the chief". Except that's not how things work, and that's not really a solid example of systematic racism.

[–]Atimo3[S] [スコア非表示]  (10子コメント)

I don’t see how it is a bad example. The government takes a populist racist approach because this pleases a racist constituency allowing them to remain in power. Subsequently the police sustain this racist practices because they are put in a system that rewards racist behavior.

Unless your argument is that the police in real life do racist things because they are just racist hicks.

[–]rather_be_a_hobbit [スコア非表示]  (9子コメント)

Because you are believing what the news tells you and you are playing a game that supports this? Local and state government and police do not operate this way. National government doesn't operate that way either. What you are forgetting is intent, with systematic racism intent drives a lot of these factors. A good example would be the drug cocaine and how the mandatory minimums are different for crack vs powder cocaine - those laws were made knowing the population that uses and abuses both, and the intent was to screw over poorer, mainly black people vs. richer white people.

Subsequently the police sustain this racist practices because they are put in a system that rewards racist behavior.

This is particularly hilarious.

[–]Atimo3[S] [スコア非表示]  (6子コメント)

Mate, what are you even arguing? That there is not racism in the police? That the police racism is unrelated to the government? That the liberal media/Koch Brothers are brain washing us?

[–]H1bbe [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

Your comment makes no sense, it has almost nothing to do with what you were talking about before.

[–]rather_be_a_hobbit [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

His ideas of systematic racism are flawed at the least and completely skewed at the worst.

[–]ThalmorInquisitor [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

This reminds me of the Jack Thompson "GTA involves you killing prostitutes" talk.

Heh.

A game in which at no point does it tell you to do anything with a prostitute, good or bad, simply has them as flavour to the world and a comedic way of getting bonus health... And the critic decided the game was about shooting whores.

It's not just the Nuremburg defence, it's also a lack of... Drive, I guess, to see beyond what the game tells you to do.

It's like if there was a person who played Undertale purely as Genocide and never even concieved that the Pacifist playthrough was possible and even at all viable to play.

There's something else here, an investigative inertia that some players get.

[–]Kinglink [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

Have you played the game, because most solid reviewers seem to notice that this is NOT a good illustration, binary decisions and set consequences don't help illustrate much because it's a single storyline not a diverse multifaceted world.

Binary linear decisions tell a single story, but this is the police doesn't even do that well.

This is heavy handed "Social commentary" that is just baiting THIS post, but actually doesn't deserve it.

From the destructoid review.

Whatever their intentions, at its core the human essence that the game demands from itself -- the ability to make moral decisions based on what’s presented -- is missing.

Kotaku didn't seem to like it.

I’m not saying the game has a black heart, or that any of this is evidence of some sinister intent from the developers. It feels like their heart is in the right place here, as they try to make you think your way through some uncomfortable situations. It’s just that the way it’s all handled is so clumsy that the game often stops you dead in your tracks.

I can't find the article but Eurogamer also took it to task.

Sorry no, This is the police isn't a perfect illustration of systematic racist, it's a small dev using police brutality to try to push controversy and sell games, but the problem is they don't do it that well.

[–]Atimo3[S] [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

The destructoid review seems to be expecting that pat in the back for being good guys:

You can sometimes choose to not staff, or not use force against human rights-related protests, but beyond pissing off city hall there’s no resolution to these events either.

The review is expecting that “congratulations for not being a dick” medal. The Kotaku review seems to be missing the point too.

There isn’t one. This is just...the way this game rolls. There isn’t anything smart being said here, there isn’t a heroic undercurrent to your work, you’re simply given repulsive tasks to do and told to do them, or else.

I am arguing that it a good thing that the game doesn’t give you any recognition for doing the right thing, that you are put in a position in which you are tempted to do horrible things. That it’s a good thing, that’s what being part of a corrupt system feels like; that is the proper way to deliver a narrative through mechanics.

[–]pengo [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

"Fire all the black cops" is very on-the-nose. To be a useful tool for showing the effects of racism it ought to be subtle enough that it needs an explanation.

[–]Atimo3[S] [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

There are more nuance elements, like the officers feeling comfortable throwing slurs like it’s a normal thing. I just focused in that example because it was the most obvious one (and the one most reviews mentioned).

The game is certainly not The Wire, it’s much more pulp fiction than that. But I think the way the system operates is still meaningful even if not 100% realistic.

[–]Fixer_ [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

I appreciate what you have to say in this post, but it's pretty reckless of you to call the reviewer racist.

I thought he did a good job in the review stating the pros and cons. He didn't feel like what he did really mattered. The moral choices are only there to test the player. But at the end of the day it's a video game that we all want to get to the end of, so we are going to make choices we wouldn't necessarily make in real life.

But maybe that's the point the developer wants to make. Who cares what you do if you can get away with it? You're advancing your career and you aren't getting hurt . What could be better? That's human nature.

I think the reviewer understood this, but was still disappointed that even in the end game he didn't feel like he was making any progress in one direction or another.

[–]iceph03nix [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

I don't think the Killscreen reviewer actually got what the point of the game was...

This isn't a tunnel story game where you play through once and you've finished the puzzle. This is a game where the puzzle goes together multiple ways and you have to try different things to see all the different pictures.