of cybernetics added as part of her real reason she went in) so she could and what simply isn’t. To some, that uncle’s training (one of the game collect the $18,000 bounty. knowledge may seem scary or mechanics was as the cyberware dangerous. I proffer it is not. It is what We all have one. You know, the increases, your human empathy, and OK, so maybe she was a little bit more one does with knowledge that makes it characters in games where we played therefore psychological intactness, than misunderstood. But why did I like bad. And it is without fear of this the bad guys. And lots of times, they decreases). So, naturally, she snapped. playing her? Because she wasn’t me. At knowledge, that we present this week’s are our favorites. Mine is Diva; the It’s really quite a sad story. all. There was nothing in her personality issue of The Escapist, “Good to be Bad.” game, Cyberpunk 2020, a tabletop role- that remotely resembled my own. This playing game. But it made for a delightful backdrop of was truly escapism. There were a couple Cheers, role-play. She was essentially a of key motivators I could latch onto, a First, a little background on Diva. Really, sociopath who joined up with a group of background from which to build, and I left she was misunderstood, see? When she mercenaries in the hopes that one day my real life behind on those Friday nights. was young, she was involved in an she might gain access to her uncle. She accident which cost her her two legs and trusted no one and cared only for Sure, the play was sometimes stressful the lives of her mother, a high-fashion vengeance. Her favorite possession was in its own right, but in a completely model, and her millionaire father. Her her sig sauer pistol that once belonged different way than my everyday stress. uncle took her in, raised her and to her father. She was beautiful and Yes, occasionally, we got really swept nurtured her need for vengeance, for the seduced people at will – it was a means into the action, such that we got angry loss of her parents, at the loss of her to an end, usually the seductee’s. and yelled at each other – the “I’m The following was received by The legs (though they were replaced with gonna take you out first” night was one Escapist from a designer at Doublefine, nifty bionic ones), and at the theft of the Among her exploits: She dispatched of a of those. But that doesn’t mean we’ve all the makers of Psychonauts, who asked fortune that was rightfully hers. boatful of corrupt river police while her since become a band of mercenaries. to remain anonymous. He sheds a little groupmates tricked them into going The game’s ability to pull us out of this light on the design theory behind the This need for vengeance was handy for below deck, one by one, to their doom. life to another was its brilliance, what level of Psychonuats addressed in Lara her uncle, a Chinese mafia bigwig, who She once uttered the words, “I may die, made it our favorite. Crigger’s article ”The Milkman Cometh” used her considerable talents for but I’m sure as hell gonna take you out issue 67 of The Escapist. removing barriers to his progress in the first,” to one of her groupmates who Playing “bad people” is the ultimate ranks. Yes, it was handy until the day betrayed her. She stealthed into a building trying on another identity for a time, We’ve taken to calling him “Deep Diva learned it was that very uncle who held by six hostiles holding several dozen escape of self. But in that escape, we Doublefine.” --Ed. was responsible for her parents, her civilian hostages, dispatched all of the also better learn what our self is. We legs, her lost fortune, and her near- hostiles to solve the situation, but at the learn better our shape, our lines we do To the Editor: Hi -- I just read Lara’s psychosis due to overwhelming amounts same time made sure to hit her mark (the not wish to cross, what feels possible, article and enjoyed it very much. I also was blown away by the Milkman At the end of the level we find out that In response to “World, Interrupted” [Conspiracy] when I [played it]. My the suspicious g-men are actually censors from The Escapist Forum: Having reading of the level is slightly different in disguise. This is surprising and brilliant spent many hours in WOW, some in Eve from Lara’s and I wanted to share it. because so many things are flipped on and City of Heros, and many in their head in that one moment. Guildwars, I have to agree with you The clues in the game point to the fact about the limitations of the games. The that the Milkman is not of Boyd. Boyd’s Throughout the game, the player is one redeeming element of WOW is the memory vaults make us suspicious, and taught that the censors are, if not evil, social interaction that you can get with then we see the censors fighting the at least antagonistic to the player. And developing friends and partners in the milkman’s agents, and after that we see those G-Men certainly seem suspicious: the milkman taking over, then leaving but we learn that the G-Men are censors Boyd. I think in some ways Boyd’s story in disguise, hiding from the squirts. They would have been stronger if the milkman are the good guys. The squirts are the had been his repressed but naturally- evil agents (although this was more occurring rage; it would have more real- obviously and humorously telegraphed). world resonance. We also learn that Raz fails. He doesn’t I agree completely that one of the best make Boyd better; the best you can say things about Boyd’s story is that his is that he accidentally initiates the paranoia is real -- “just because I’m struggle between the foreign Milkman paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to and the native censors. You can hop get me”! But it’s difficult to tell and only back into his head watch Boyd struggling becomes somewhat clear at the end of to regain control of his mind; I find it the level, and then again near the end of hard not to cheer, but sadly, when I see the game. the fight. The censors don’t look like they’re going to win, and of course I The level lacks censors. Their absence is know they don’t. of course a clue that this is a mind less healthy than previously encountered, but Thanks for reading. the clue likely registers as a vague feeling of emptiness and foreboding and - Deep Doublefine only becomes clear after the fact. game. Guildwars can also have this In response to ‘I Didn’t Leave element, with guilds and such. Games, the Games Left Me” from The Escapist Forum: Whether his ego - lmertz be justified or not aside, he’s the first “professional” dev to speak sincerely In response to “Football as Madden (perhaps, at least since Lord British?) of 07” from The Escapist Forum: how he feels in regards to the treatment Interesting article. I’m a bit more he’sreceived from his peers, how his IP skeptical of EA and the Madden series, was used, the control over creativity he however. I feel that EA these days tends was relieved of, and how all those to go on autopilot for their yearly companies are treating games nowdays updates (especially with Madden), as neato-business and zero care for it as knowing full well that the name alone a form of art and entertainment. will move plenty of units. This is compounded by the fact that they no - Ramification longer have competition due the exclusive NFL license. So we now have the NFL as filtered through the EA lens. As to whether that’s good or bad is up to the individual to decide, however is lack of competition ever a GOOD thing? Your mention of 10 Yard Fight (a great game) got me reminiscing about Tecmo Bowl. I am a longtime fan of football videogames, and Tecmo Bowl had a certain simplistic magic that was something special. There have been great versions of Madden, sure, but the games these days tend to be so complex it can be a turnoff. - AF_Whigs show acts both sexual and violent. website devoted entirely to the topic, Shakespeare’s plays were almost always gamepolitics.com, has exploded in filled with depraved human beings, popularity since it started in 2005. betrayal, suicide and murder. The Terror Connection Why do these themes haunt us, and how In mid-September, the Global Islamic does this impact our current culture? Media Front, which describes itself as a “jihadist mouthpiece,” released a game One has to start from the position that The Man with the Briefcase entitled Night of Bush Capturing. The people are generally good. Good to Jack Thompson, a practicing attorney in game, which is a first-person shooter, themselves and good to others. Miami, has become the most polemic has six levels of combat, each one figure in gaming, second to none in displaying firefights with American troops And yet, there are times when otherwise terms of his influence and reach, not to on a U.S.