Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studies, 2015) involves the game tourist in a post-apocalyptic dystopian gameworld and in a multifarious experience of play and video game photography. It is a venture that is both terrifying and intriguing, perilous yet pleasurable. And confronts players with the utopian beauty of the environment and the regenerative appeal of a…
The Game Tourist Episode 7: Remembering the Cyperpunk Vigilante in Watch_Dogs
Reviews for the new Watch_Dogs 2 (2016) suggest that Ubisoft Montreal have learned their lesson and created an improved version of Watch_Dogs (2014) (the cyberpunk vigilante) with their newest iteration. But is this really so? When missions proceed according to the same, cumbersome routine, lacking checkpoints, which would have promoted creative play. But instead the player finds himself encapsulated…
The Game Tourist Episode 6: Hellblade and Senua’s descent into darkness
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory, 2019) grants players access to the nightmarish visions of Senua, a Pict warrior who embarks of the journey of a heroine to cleanse her inner demons. Senua suffers from psychosis, a mental illness that developed in her childhood with the loss of her mother, Galena, (a trauma she has ever since…
The Game Tourist E05: Why Half-Life 2’s Beginning is Still One of the Best!
When Half-Life 2 (Valve) released in 2004, it modernised game and narrative design alike. Like its predecessor it refrains from telling its story through cut scenes and non-connected gameplay but rather sets players at the forefront of the action. This is thanks to use of scripted events and characters that players care about and with whom…
The Game Tourist E04: The Panoramic Views of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild(Nintendo, 2017) involves players in a world that actually demands exploration. It demands them to wander Hyrule, climb its mountains, and savour panoramic vistas. Lush grasslands and towering mountains create an environment for animals to thrive and offer a wilderness to explore and interact with. Combined with vibrant…
The Game Tourist E03: Fantastic Worlds, Cultures, and Conflicts in Mass Effect Andromeda and the Struggle for Utopia
Mass Effect Andromeda (Bioware, 2018) invites the game tourist to explore faraway places and document their surroundings and foreign cultures through virtual photography. To capture these fantastic worlds and their natural and cultural phenomena is a pleasure in itself. As an astronaut of outer space, the game tourist embarks on this venture, which nonetheless does…
The Game Tourist E02: Enter the Metro
Metro 2033 (4A Games, 2011) is a nightmarish vision of a nuclear future to come as it is a depiction of humankind’s inability to evolve past vital shortcomings. The game involves players in a conflict between ideologies and several factions (the Reds, the Nazis, and so on) and asks the question how ethical can one…
Book Announcement: Playing Dystopia
Hi everyone, I want to draw attention to my newly published book—“Playing Dystopia: Nightmarish Worlds in Video Games and the Player’s Aesthetic Response”—which is now available (as a book and ebook) via Transcript and soon in the US/internationally through Colombia University Press. (You can read the introduction and table of contents following this link) In…
The Game Tourist E01: The Magical Ascent of Journey
The game tourist of Journey (Thatgamecompany 2012, 2015) comes to visit an extraordinary, magical world that is permeated by vibrant colours and alluring vistas. To travel this world not only means to participate in a plot scenario that has the player (and the unnamed character) move the way of life towards a final goal but also…
When Dean Cain (alias Superman) Saves the Show: German Comic Con in Munich 2017
The German Comic Con in Munich 2017 is a rather small venue and run in a semi-professional manner. But it comes with the benefit of privacy and an intimate atmosphere with the actors, who patiently take their time for their fans. This positive impression is initially forestalled by the venue itself. Entering its halls, the size…
Video Game Tourism E08: Watch_Dogs 2 Drone Pics (Part II)
Taking pictures with the drone heaves the video game tourism in Watch_Dogs 2 to another level. I was quite fond of toying with the possibilities and am glad to show you the results.
Video Game Tourism E08: Watch_Dogs 2 Selfies (Part I)
With 40H40min, Watch_Dogs 2 (Ubisoft Montreal, 2016) is finally over! This might seem a little harsh, but in the end I’m glad I finished the game. This is not to say that Watch_Dogs 2 is a bad game, that’s far from the truth—and I had some incredible moments with it. Unfortunately, though, many of the…