Endless War + Biotech Zombie Plague + Martial Law + Apocalypse = ProtoType 2: The Power of Revenge

Rated Mature 17+ for Blood & Gore, Drug References, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, & Strong Language

(so play all day and mindfuk your soul into oblivion!)

Video games are a great vehicle for low environmental impact entertainment, so here at oil free fun I'm all in favor of video games although I'm wary of the messages many of the most popular modern games promote.

I haven't gamed much since kicking my Warcraft III addiction in college, a nasty relapse into Grand Theft Auto during 2005-06, and a more controlled conquest of Star Craft II not too long ago.  I know from personal experience how addicting and enveloping modern games can become, so I care about the life lessons being foisted upon players by game plots.

Watching the occassional ad for the latest blockbuster first person shooter can be very revealing.  The most addicting and popular video games gives a good idea what controversial topics and value systems (or lack of value systems) are being indoctrinated into the heads of the youth.  Think about all the Black Ops titles and their condolence of endless war, boundless corruption, and dishonorable tactics and lifestyles.

In an era when hundreds of millions if not billions of people around the globe spend incredible amounts of time playing video games, it is self-evident that some games are used as training tools and indoctrination programs for some elusively strange purpose.   Modern video game plots -- especially for the blockbusters some people spend half their lives playing -- are geared to twist players' imaginations down carefully crafted story lines through disturbingly dark scenarios.

Immersing oneself in one of the dystopian virtual realities presented by many modern video games obviously has consequences.  Can you really go 100% back to being YOU after logging hundreds or thousands of hours role playing as a black ops goon, ultraviolent criminal, or revenge bent, horribly mutated, superhuman dude in skinny jeans and a red hoodie (our "hero" in Prototype2).

As YouTube's homepage is pimping for a post-apocalyptic first person hack em', slash em' with a biochemical warfare mega mutation/plague/zombie theme,  I naturally clicked the link and watched the trailer.  Pretty damn good use of Johnny Cash covering NIN's "Hurt", but I can't say I approve of the overall message this game is speading: endless war, biotech plague gone horribly wrong, the collapse of civilization, and ultra violence...





Should you play games like this?  Should you allow your children and loved ones to play games like this?  Does playing games like this make you a better person?  Does playing games like this do anything to improve humanity's status on our severely imperiled planet Earth?  Probably NOT.