Call of Duty

August 27th, 2008

Think of it this way, Call of Duty depicts the history of the world. Yes, it contains violence but if you are looking for a good opportunity where gaming meets historical knowledge, then there’s no reason why you should not try Call of Duty.

So what kind of violence do we expect from here? In Call of Duty, you will encounter real-world violence in a very graphic manner. Violence rating could be intense along with quite a few cursing. Visually, you will see flying bodies, blood all over, blown limbs and mind-boggling images. Soldiers are shot to death through a downpour of bullets and get tossed in the air like dolls upon grenade explosion.

The player is guaranteed to feel the terror of being in the middle of an ambush encounter with a number of Nazi troops aiming at you from the rooftops surrounding the narrow street that you’re in.

Call of Duty offers you a spectacular gaming experience that you won’t find in wither Half-Life or Halo.

Final Fantasy

August 27th, 2008

Just like in other video games, parents tend to clamor over Final Fantasy as yet another subject for criticism due to its extreme violence portrayal. This was the case during the Columbine High School massacre which even resulted to a lawsuit between parents of the murdered children and video game developers.

Despite the criticisms from the parents’ side, the game reaped positive comments and reviews from several gaming publications. GameSpot praised its glamorized and high caliber audio, graphics and story. It also recognized the game’s narration and technology. Another gaming publication, GameFan, called Final Fantasy as the “greatest game ever made.” Other gaming publications from the United Kingdom called it as the perfect cinematic experience which no other game could ever pull off. The soundtrack is also something to acknowledge for its sheer volume and variety. Generally, what these commentators favor most about Final Fantasy are its visual portrayal and unique plot.

Need for Speed

August 27th, 2008

The game starts with a disclaimer which discourages street racing in real life. Despite of this; however, the ESRB still rated NFS as “E10+” and was given a descriptor of “Violence.” NFS promotes illegal street racing through the involvement of full contact racing.

NFS is based on the concept of pop cultures and illegal street racing just like what was seen in the movie “The Fast and the Furious.”

NFS is easy to play. The player becomes the street racer and the goal is to make a name for him by winning the game. Before that happens; however, he should take on different challenges around the city. He has a virtual teammate whom he can control. He can give different orders to his teammate to block their opponents. Since the game presents a glamorized driving, it is encouraged that the player plays NFS in a “glamorized-play-dirty” approach.

Because of the movie-like portrayal of illegal car racing in the video game, it is highly encouraged that parents guide the younger ones properly and make sure that they understand that what they see in the game is an exaggerated portrayal of car racing and should therefore not be imitated when driving a real car.