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David Hewett, the design manager of Sony Santa Monica, has explained in an interview with IGN that the development team will be thinking a little more carefully about how violence is depicted in God of War: Ascension.
Responding to the criticisms of the game's violent trailer revealed at E3, he said:
There are some things we’ve pulled back from. I think where this has been an issue is with violence against women -- the team’s pulled back from some of that and assessed that a little more carefully. There are certain things that carry a different kind of resonance that we don’t want to get into. This isn’t about statement-making in that regard. It’s about fleshing out this character.
It's not just the issue of violence against women, but violence in general, that is being more carefully considered by the team. Hewett explained that Kratos is "seeking revenge and he’s after his ultimate objective and he will tear through enemies -- rip them in half -- as quickly as he can. But there’s not a lot of flourishes, there’s not any kind of enjoying the moment. There’s nothing about this that he’s enjoying."
Violence against women in videogames has been a hot topic over the last few months, with the controversial (and stupid) nun bludgeoning trailer for Hitman: Absolution and the furore over a supposed "rape" scene in the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot being prime examples. I think that's a good thing, and that the more discussion that occurs as a result of these outrages, the better the chance we have of shining a light on some of the murkier, more misogynist corners of the gaming world which have previously gone unchecked.
It might be a tricky task for God of War: Ascension to pull back from its violent overtones, especially since it's heavily inspired by Greek mythology which was itself steeped in violence and misogyny. There is one reassuring fact we can glean from the interview with Hewett, though: Kratos will still be a Mr Grumpy Pants.
God of War: Ascension's current release date is March 12th 2013.
Comments
12 years, 4 months ago
lame stuff like this pisses me off... I hope they do a god of war: rape simulator.
12 years, 4 months ago
So Kratos is allowed to kill everyone except women? I think the greatest "misogyny" in video games is not killing women, but coddling them. Bad things happen to people in ultra-violent video games, and women are people too so we should be able to have games where women are killed in the exact same way and with the same frequency as men without people making a big deal.
Women make up half the Earth's population but are under-represented in video games in both positive AND negative ways and I think that people coming to terms with violence against women in video games will lead to more female characters in video games, both heroic and villainous. That may sound like a terrible thing to say, but when the God of War developers say they're rethinking their violent game just because it involved women, then there is obviously something wrong.
12 years, 4 months ago
The over-the-top violence is a very good discussion that needs to be had, especially after E3 and a lot of the audience reactions. "Oh don't worry, women are safe." wasn't a very satisfying response to it.
12 years, 4 months ago
What was the nature of the violence in the trailer?
12 years, 4 months ago
Probably for the best. The Poseidon Princess scene in God of War III was stupid/unnecessary and the rape-joke(?) trophy you got for it was deplorable.
12 years, 4 months ago
How sexist of them.
12 years, 4 months ago
Maybe if violence wasn't the greatest selling point of their game, rather new mechanics, or an interesting story line, then they wouldn't have to worry about stupid shit like this.
12 years, 4 months ago
But make sure to tear off every guys' arms and use them to kill every other male character you can, and if you want to tear off their penises, go ahead because males are just whatevers, but, you even lay a finger on a single woman and heads will fuckin roll.
12 years, 4 months ago
They should let the player decide whether that sort of violence against women is acceptable. Hell, if they're in this genre to begin with, shouldn't they at least be prepared for this type of problem? Seems like people are having second thoughts, or are being influenced by the publishers... you never hear about this stuff from developers that don't give a damn what the rest of the world thinks.
12 years, 4 months ago
Yes, I would like it if Women in games were not put on pedestal. Go to the other extreme and I would have to say no to having people like Poseidon's Princess put into the game and the story purely to be killed. Might as well have just thrown her in a Refrigerator to show how transparent the whole thing is.
12 years, 4 months ago
Because it is OK to brutally kill anything masculine.
12 years, 4 months ago
How is violence against women worse than violence against men?
12 years, 4 months ago
They should just drop the ascension subtitle and replace it with ultimate hypocrisy or something.
12 years, 4 months ago
To me this is bullshit, but i would like to hear what girl gamers think of this.
12 years, 4 months ago
It's much fairer to women to just have them in the game to stare at their boobies and protect them from bad guys - they are obviously just sexual objects, and shouldn't be treated equally.
12 years, 4 months ago
Double standards. Pff
12 years, 4 months ago
But that's sexist against men.
Oh wait, sexism against men doesn't exist. How silly of me!
12 years, 4 months ago
Sigh
Keeping it classy, gentlemen, classy as ever
12 years, 4 months ago
On a very surface level this can be seen as a triumphant move, however I think by reducing video game violence against women BECAUSE they're women is just as problematic as having that violence there to begin with. I understand the message they are trying to convey, but instead of taking it out entirely, why not have strong women being able to handle that and more importantly - give it right back? The problem here isn't the mere possiblity of women in games being exposed to violence, it's the WHY and the HOW. Why is that particular female a victim, and how does that effect how we understand that violence as gamers? Is it because she is hypersexualized like the twins from DNF or is it because she is an equal opponent like Bayonetta?
12 years, 4 months ago
Does that mean we wont get to shoot kids in our saints row games now? aw =[
12 years, 4 months ago
So it's sexist to women AND to men...
does that mean that the sexism is completely canceled out?
because it can't be sexist to both sexes... right? ):
3 years, 3 months ago
Ur pretty much all idiots for one if there wasn’t violence in the game would u play it
2. How would a game without violence even go with Greek mythology what do u want it to be a run around aimlessly game and not fight bosses
3. Yes women’s lives matter just as equal as men’s but if people want to take the abuse of women road on a game that’s them also ur saying it’s ok for violence on this game to happen to men but not women u know domestic violence can go two ways right