T’Hersday: Far Cry 3

by on April 18th, 2013 at 11:55 am

We here at Gamers Schmamers just write/talk/jerk-off about anything we very well please. Already played a game and moved on? Thought you’d never hear about it again? Have no fear! Gamers Schmamers is here to drag you back because, damn it, we have shit we want to discuss. For today’s T’Hersday selection (which was supposed to be last week’s) I want to discuss Far Cry 3; a game that has been written about numerously and at length. Here is exactly what you wanted: One more jackass’s view.

The gameplay is solid. The scenery is beautiful. It’s actually lots of fun to play. The story. Good gods, the story. It’s filled with every racist and sexist trope you can think of. According to lead-writer Jeffrey Yohalem that’s the whole point. We as gamers are supposed to read deeper into the game and see that it’s all just a fantasy. If that’s the point then the point was lost. Consider the point to be the Mars Climate Orbiter; it missed its intended destination and burned up in the atmosphere. At no point did I think, “Gee. This story sure is over-the-top. I’m glad I’m learning about how ridiculous it would be to be a racist or sexist.” My mindset was more along the lines of: “This game is fucking racist. Oh good. Here come some ladies to help me. No? This game is fucking sexist.”

I’ll leave the racism alone. This is T’Hersday after all. And I’m here to talk about how women could be kicking ass and saving the day as well as any man. (Replace ‘women’ with ‘any other race’ and ‘man’ with ‘white man’ and you get my views on the racism.)

Just. Fuck me. You and your friends have crash-landed (more or less) on an island and, of course, have to find your way off. Your militarily-trained brother has just been killed. Your skinny, white ass finds itself on an island full of natives and pirates. The natives want the pirates gone because they’re fucking pirates. The pirates want the natives gone because they’re fucking pirates. You become better at the “Magical Negro” trope than any of the natives in a matter of days. You kill the bad guys. End of fucking story.

Basically just a fuckload of this dressed up as, "LOL. Satire."

Basically just a fuckload of this dressed up as, “LOL. Satire.”

The problem I have is that, not only are you “Mighty Whitey,” you’re saving the token women. Yeah, I called them token. They do nothing to advance the story. The only reason they seem to be there is, “Hey, look, a vagina.” Your girlfriend does nothing but nag you the entire time, a ridiculous trope in its own. Your brother’s girlfriend can apparently fix a fucking boat but can’t figure out how to pull a trigger. They make the one strong female become white boy’s fuck toy. The game even implies that being raped makes one weak and in need of rescuing. Though this person is male and the rape is never shown, we all know which sex gets raped far more often in this disgustingly apologetic culture of ours. Personally, I’m pissed off that they would portray any rape victim as being weak. The writer has obviously never met a survivor; they’re among the strongest goddamn people you’ll ever know.

Have these people out there kicking pirate ass with you. Don’t they want to get off the island just as badly as you do? Who would just sit back and accept their fate? Not many people and it certainly wouldn’t be based on sex. Have the women get some vengeance. One just lost a lover. Have her put a bullet in some pirate brain like a good violent video game! THE SEAS WILL RUN RED WITH BLOOD AND, NO, IT WON’T BE FROM MY FUCKING PERIOD!

This woman killed thousands and so can you.

This woman killed thousands and so can you.

But that’s all cool because it’s supposedly a white boy’s fantasy and, fuck yeah, shark hunting. Instead of trying (and failing miserably) to turn these tropes into satire why not just go against them? Create a game that defies the norm instead of saying, “Here’s another one. Isn’t it silly?”

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