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Revisited: Gears of War 2, Pinocchio, and masculinity photo

[Whenever possible, Destructoid critiques overlooked design aspects of games both old and recent for our "Revisited" series.]

There exists in the gaming community a particularly virulent strain of anti-intellectualism that would assert, among other things, that Gears of War 2 "is just a game, bro." On the opposite of the spectrum is an equally uncharitable position: Gears of War 2 is nothing but a testosterone-fueled male power fantasy with no real merit.

Don't get me wrong: Gears of War 2 is definitely a game, bro, and one that I like very much. It spends too much time with clumsily-stitched-together set pieces and not enough time letting me take cover and shoot things (which is a testament to the quality of its core mechanic), but it's a definite narrative step up from the first one, and it's still the third-person multiplayer shooting experience par excellence.

But Gears of War 2 is also, I want to argue, a modern treatise on masculinity, agency, and anxiety, and perhaps strangely, a recasting of the Pinocchio story.

Seriously, just hear me out.

Most of us are probably familiar with the 1936 version of Walt Disney's Pinocchio--it's a triumph of animation and was deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress. It also just happens to be the most famous adaptation of The Adventures of Pinocchio, a novel written in 1883 by Italian author Carlo Colludi.

All told, Pinocchio is about growing up, about transition, and about what it means to be "a real boy." In short, Pinocchio is about masculinity. One of the most famous scenes in the story is when Pinocchio gets swallowed by the Terrible Dogfish while looking for his father and creator, Gepetto. You nimble-minded readers who have played through at least the first half of Gears of War 2 see where I'm going with this: the Dogfish (itself probably inspired by the Biblical story of Jonah and the whale) finds a modern counterpart in the Riftworm. Delta Squad gets swallowed by the Riftworm and fight their way out, snipping arteries as they go.

Unfortunately, the allusion doesn't support very careful scrutiny: Marcus Fenix doesn't go through any of the transition or development that Pinocchio does (but more on that later). The Riftworm's imagery does evoke some of Pinocchio's broader concerns, though, and I'd like to use it as jumping-off point to explore how Gears of War 2 explores masculinity. Writing Gears 2 off as just another phallocentric male power fantasy is just as simplistic as assuming that we shouldn't be taking it seriously in the first place.



If I'm going to take umbrage with the idea that Gears of War 2 is a mere power fantasy, it would benefit everyone to have a working definition. I'll let the '80s do this for us: John Rambo, starting, say, in First Blood Part II--one dude, killing the shit out of everything on his own. In contrast, Gears of War not only follows the story of four Delta Squad soldiers, but places a heavy emphasis on cooperative play. In a brilliant piece titled "Yes, Video Games Can Be Political," Bitmobber Lee Bradley attributes the rise in co-op gaming to a shift from conservative to relatively liberal politics:

The language of the presidency has changed from "I" to "we." Now we strive to look after each other ... Even in games where the cooperative element of co-op is less pronounced, the ideology is the same: You are not on your own anymore, you are part of a team. What's more, that team is more than likely multicultural and/or multi-gender. Don't dismiss the presence of the Hispanic Dom in Gears of War.

The jump from politics to culture isn't a big one, and it's easy to see that the way Western society constructs the idea of masculinity or manliness is changing, and that, as Bradley points out, this change can be reflected mechanically in videogames. In Gears, if a player takes too much damage, he is "downed" until one of his teammates revives him. In Gears of War, weakness, vulnerability, and fallibility are built-in, and the bond between Delta Squad is better for it; for John Rambo, they are impossibilities. Sending four soldiers to destroy Nexus is just as far-fetched as sending one to topple the Viet Cong, but it's clear that notions of masculinity and power have changed over the past 20 years; for Epic to reflect that in Gears' actual mechanics is praise-worthy in and of itself.



If the mechanics of Gears suggest a departure from traditional forms of masculine power, then Gears of War 2's narrative undermines them totally. Gears is certainly a violent game, and I think that might be why so many critics have, in my eyes, missed the mark. "Male power fantasy" is a judgment based on the game's externals: its brown and grey graphics, its over-muscled character designs, the bits of gore and carnage that hit the camera when Marcus chainsaws a grub. The problem, though, is that concepts of masculinity, power, and fantasy are internal constructs--a notion literalized by the Riftworm scene.

Structurally, Gears of War 2 is set up like most fantasy stories: line and circle, or quest and rest. It's a type of organization that most games employ and one that feels familiar to us: little bits of story (the circle, or the "rest") are cut up and placed between action sequences (the line, or the "quest"). Those externals that I mentioned above--the graphics, the violence--are most associated with the lines, but the internals that I'm interested in take place mostly in the circles.

The first circle is, for my discussion, Tai Kaliso's suicide. Earlier in the game, the player watches helplessly as Tai and Dizzy face off against Skorge, the head of the Locust's Kantus forces. Later, when Marcus and Dom board one of the Locust's "Torture boats," they find Tai locked in a cell. After they release Tai, Marcus hands him a gun; instead of re-joining Delta Squad, Tai shoots himself. Dizzy is never heard from again.

It's understood that Tai is a victim of physical and psychological torture, but the game is never explicit. The scene is an effective attack on masculinity because it perverts what we accept as "normal." Tai has been presented to us as some sort of mystical, unbeatable soldier, sound in body and mind, but he's reduced to a mute and catatonic shell. Even worse, he uses his Lancer, his very own weapon, against himself Marcus' shotgun. Men use weapons to fight their enemies, not themselves. By inverting Tai-as-soldier to Tai-as-suicidal, Gears 2 examines how fragile our ideas of masculinity--authority, agency, stability, physical strength--really are.

In a thematically related scene, Dom finds his wife, Maria, locked in an iron maiden in a Locust prison camp. She too is psychologically shattered and mute, and the game is similarly ambiguous concerning the torture she's been exposed to. Choosing to end her suffering, Dom shoots Maria with his pistol, shares a quick nod of compassion from Marcus and moves on. Again, the scene is emotionally devastating because it exposes the limits of what we consider masculinity--Dom moves from loving husband, protector and provider, to mercy-killer.

Right after killing the Riftworm, Marcus and the rest of Delta Squad get a message from Colonel Hoffman and Chairman Prescott, ordering them to investigate an abandoned research facility at the base of Mont Kadar, even though Marcus had requested evacuation. It's a brief scene, but it highlights another anxiety present in Gears of War 2: how does Marcus reconcile his independence with his life as a soldier, especially when he knows that he's being manipulated by the powers that be? 

And so Gears of War 2 presents players with several examples of the ways that masculinity and manhood can be undermined: psychologically, physically, emotionally, and even bureaucratically. This theme finds its climax in the death of the Riftworm. The Riftworm is an easily identifiable phallic symbol, and the tension between internals and externals--one part birthing sequence, one part stunted assertion of power--makes it an interesting microcosm for the rest of the game. Pinocchio and Gears of War 2 might both be about the trials and anxieties of manhood, but Pinocchio never cut through a whale with a chainsaw.

The best thing about videogames is the way they can take these types of internal conflicts and externalize them rather easily. If you believe that Gears 2 presents a series of masculine anxieties, it changes what the Locust represent and why you fight them. Yes, the Locust have invaded Sera (maybe?), but they also represent the types of psychological and emotional dangers that consume Tai and Dom. The Locust represent a perversion of the human form as well as a corruption of traditional masculine social roles and values, turning protectors into killers. The Locust are enemy soldiers, but they are also psychological threats to the relatively fragile type of social mores and masculine ideas that Delta Squad buy into. Gears of War 2 isn't so much a celebration of the male power fantasy as it is a literalization of the types of psychological, emotional, political, and symbolic threats to it.



If you read the Locust as externalized anxiety, it becomes tempting to conclude that Gears of War ultimately comes to a pro-male conclusion: they get washed away after the sinking of Jacinto, right? Doesn't the game's conclusion (after an admittedly phoned-in boss fight against a Lambent Brumak) validate all those claims that Gears is a vapid power trip? Well, perhaps, except that the last thing the player hears is that perennial masculine bugbear: Adam Fenix, Marcus' supposedly-late father. "This is Adam Fenix, is anyone out there...? Can you hear me...? This is Adam Fenix, can you hear me...? What have you done...?" he asks, in reference to the sinking of Jacinto. Not only does Adam Fenix represent yet another hurdle to masculinity--how much of Western art is about sons and fathers?--but he also comes dangerously close to undermining everything that Delta Squad has been fighting for during the past twenty-odd hours and calling the entire war into question.

While I firmly believe that there is a subtext that runs through Gears of War 2 that questions the validity of Rambo-style masculinity, Epic Games seems reticent to make a unified statement about it either way. Marcus and the rest of Delta Squad are hardly self-aware or self-reflexive: they don't balk at being jerked around by Chairman Prescott, and apart from a few knowing looks after Maria dies, they seem like tabulae rasae. I mentioned earlier that the comparison to Pinocchio was risky because, while the two stories share some thematic concerns and some imagery, Marcus never develops as a character. For all intents and purposes, he is a silent protagonist.

In any other medium, a static character like Marcus Fenix counts as a strike against, but this particular brand of flat character seems just right for a game like Gears of War. Delta Squad's black humor is engaging and appropriate, but Marcus' character never gets in the way. He shows real emotion only twice throughout the game--during the search for Maria and when he thinks Anya has died--throwing the rest of it in sharp contrast. Seeing Marcus Fenix express human longing and sympathy only reminds us how cold and blank he is most of the time.

Instead, he is the perfect cipher for symbolic and psychological subtext that Gears 2 offers. Playing as Marcus directs your attention to the fact that Chairman Prescott is manipulating you or that Tai's suicide is arresting, without gumming up the works with any of the introspective melodrama of, say, a JRPG. Gears of War 2 manages to be thought-provoking (hence this article) without being overbearing. It seems to me that Gears of War 2 uses tools unique to the medium--a more-or-less-silent protagonist--to address some of its fiercest criticism: videogames might not be all about stunted man-children after all.

[Image credit: Tai Kaliso, DC Comics.com]


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92 comments | showing # 1 to 50

that1dude24's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 16:19
that1dude24
I think I love you. You've convinced me to play through this game eventually, and I'm glad you were able to find some thematic depth within gears of war. I've always seen it, as you described, as a "BIG HULKING MAN" game.

Also, keeping with the Disney theme, Dumbo.
DuncanIsaac's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 16:19
DuncanIsaac
Interesting analysis.
WankerJist's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 16:25
WankerJist
I've always thought Gears had brilliant undertones. The Pinocchio analogy is a bit of a stretch, especially since we don't know yet if Marcus will be a real man or not (Gears 3 might resolve this). Will that even be relevant if the silent protagonist is a projection of the plot?

Still, a thoughtful treatise on manliness and Gears :)
Y0j1mb0's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 16:25
Y0j1mb0
I LOVED this piece but I gotta tell ya when I played Gears 2 all I thought was this "is nothing but a testosterone-fueled male power fantasy with no real merit." Still do.

That I loved Horde mode.
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 16:25
Dexter345
Interesting thoughts. I always thought it was sort of unfair that people wrote off the Gears or Halo stories, when there really is a lot there to think about. People just don't want to think about things in the games where they shoot people in the face.
mourning orange's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 16:29
mourning orange
Pretty fascinating take on a game I never considered to have anything deep within.
Dr Spaceman's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 16:34
Dr Spaceman
great article, man. this and your PoP revisited from last week were both stellar.

Cheers
sickboy0138's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 16:51
sickboy0138
not a bad little read. just one thing, tai kills himself with marcus's shotgun. not a lancer.
ninjalegend's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 16:55
ninjalegend
I always had a different take on the "message" they try to get across. I see it as the struggle man has with the moral values one has vs. his own objectivism. (Ayn Rand: My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.) Dom's reason to fight at first is clear cut. Then Maria is found unsalvageable. What then is his raison d'etre? I think they set up Tai as this unstoppable, killing machine to show that even the hardest of the hard can fall to objectivism, and give up utterly and completely. The stamina it takes to press on when ones hopes and dreams are shattered and now devoid of all meaning, are the true mark of a being (read: not just a man). When one must transfer the needs of others above the needs of yours. Objectivism is always there (as evidenced by the order to investigate the research facility and reaction Marcus has). The message would come over to me as not mattering how strong you are mentally or physically on the surface, but the will that burns inside you to see things to their conclusion, even when you no longer have a stake in the outcome. That, my friends, is the true meaning of strength.
Daxelman's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 16:58
Daxelman
Dexter: You know, it's actually because thinking about thematic qualities of a story in Gears of War will get you killed in a firefight.

People want to think about the stuff, it's just, not dying is a bigger priority to them at the moment.
Obsidian Eye's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:04
Obsidian Eye
Gears 2 is definitely worthy of retrospection. I feel that Gears' open embrace of video games' masculine power fantasy was truly for stylistic (and possibly philosophical) reasons, for more reasons than reception. Contrast with the incessant introspection of JRPG's is right on the ball; on Niconico, they were praising the "women and children shaddup" masculinity for it's lack of convention in Japan, go fig.
Pinocchio is a coming-of-age story, but the puppet's development is not one of masculinity. Pinocchio is actually a political allegory paralleling a fake boy's maturation to a real one with the creation of a nation (unified Italy). Collodi was a political activist and blah blah, blah blah blah blah.
Mulk Calathar's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:09
Mulk Calathar
Yeah yeah yeah. Spearmint gum is a form of tyrrany and music is the excrement of the soul making anyone who listens to music a corpophage, etc. Dig too deep and instead of a miner you become an mbodiment of technological masturbation by the mass unconcious.

Yadda.
Mulk Calathar's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:12
Mulk Calathar
Yeah yeah yeah. Spearmint gum is a form of tyrrany and music is the excrement of the soul making anyone who listens to music a spiritual coprophage. Dig too deep and instead of a miner you become an embodiment of technological masturbation by the mass unconcious. There is no reward but scorn for trying too hard and taking too unnatural a slant on something just for the sake of cleverness.

Yadda. Etc.
Sgt Cheesecake's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:23
Sgt Cheesecake
Tai kills himself with the Gnasher Shotgun, not the Lancer like you stated in the article above. I think this is worth correcting as the Shotgun is often seen as a weapon of "Raw Power" and is one of those guns that seems to be associated with masculinity. There's certainly something going on there worth thinking about, in theme with the rest of the article.
Joseph Leray's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:25
Joseph Leray
@sickboy -- good catch. I'll fix that.

@Obsidian -- one of the best things about allegory is that they can be read so many different ways, by different people at different times. In a letter to his patron, Dante explains that good allegories can be read on at least 4 different levels -- maybe we just found two different ones for Pinocchio. :)

@Ninjalegend -- Maybe you're right, but isn't the end result similar in either case? Either way, we're presented with frailty and fragility instead of HE-MAN HEROICS, right?
ndschroede23's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:30
ndschroede23
@Daxelman

Good point. You don't have to (and possibly cannot) consider the subtext of a game while playing. That's why retrospection is valuable. The same applies to any medium - the subtext of a film is hard to read as you're watching it the first time through, retrospection helps that.
ndschroede23's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:32
ndschroede23
Oh, and also, I loved this post. Really did. I didn't know this "Revisited" thing was a Dtoid series or whatever, but I'm definitely going to have to look for the other posts about it. Call me a nerd or pretentious or whatever, but I go nuts for criticism like this in anything that calls for it.
akathatoneguy's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:36
akathatoneguy
"There is no reward but scorn for trying too hard and taking too unnatural a slant on something just for the sake of cleverness."

Oh, I don't know...there are some other rewards, such as overly verbose ramblings from self-important know-it-alls.
Joseph Leray's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:37
Joseph Leray
Oh, and Dr. Spaceman and ndschroede -- thanks for the support!
Kuwanjahbee's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:42
Kuwanjahbee
great article. i'm a big gears fan and i noticed some of these themes (although in admittedly low caliber by comparison) when i played.

only thing i noticed is the shotgun is called the Gnasher, the Lancer is the assault rifle (the paragraph talking about when tai commits suicide.)
Brendan Keogh's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:44
Brendan Keogh
Great article. It is about time someone thought critically about Gears of War. I always thought there was something there worth analysing as I generally can't stand masculine power trip games, yet I thoroughly enjoyed boths Gears of War games. Though, I had always assumed that the undercurrent of GoW was about parody, in a Snakes on a Plain kind of vein, being tongue-in-cheek to overly masculine roles.

However, this article has made me recosider that ad i would like to think that your analysis is closer to the truth. A very interesting and well thought-out aguement.
Brendan Keogh's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:44
Brendan Keogh
Plane. Snakes on a Plane. dammit.
Joseph Leray's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:47
Joseph Leray
@akathatoneguy -- I can't tell if that's a SICK BURN for me or Mulk Calathar.
topcatyo's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:54
topcatyo
Damn, that is some deep-thinking about a game with what seems like no intelligence, but I did consider the parts you mentioned. Tai's suicide and Maria's mercy-killing (which made me think a lot about Of Mice and Men) definitely made me consider there was more to the game than meets the eye.

Speaking of "more than meets the eye", my friend once described Cliffy B as "The Michael Bay of video games".
ninjalegend's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 17:54
ninjalegend
@Joseph Leray

Perhaps I should have started by saying slightly different take. Anyway, I always thought that art is subjective. I loved the read. To me, videogames are half experience when playing, and half retrospect afterwords. Same with books and movies IMO. I see that ndschroede23 just said that, but it bears repeating. I am glad when people see different meanings in the things that entertain them. It shows an ability to use the imagination in concert with ones cerebral cortex. This separates us from the knuckle dragging, stimulus driven masses. It also separates us from the faux intellectuals whom have a fixed view of how works of fiction should be interpreted.
Ryan Moriarty's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 18:15
Ryan Moriarty
This was excellent although it is one of those things that if you tried to explain it to people who aren't actively looking for art in videogames you might get a few blank stares.

In any case this was superb, and I thank you for it.
-PL-'s Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 18:15
-PL-
Yeah I dunno, I just play games to shoot stuff.
SilversunFrenzy's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 18:24
SilversunFrenzy
I, hm. I'm not entirely sure if I can get behind the notion that the developers of the game wanted to convey these messages, but it's interesting regardless to look at these ideas and conceptions.
Daxelman's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 18:41
Daxelman
ndschroede23: Yeah. I think the only time you can think about it is blatantly obvious, such something being referenced towards a well known...something, be it description or landmark or work of art, literary or otherwise.
Joseph Leray's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 18:49
Joseph Leray
@SilversunFrenzy -- well, depending on who you ask (the New Critcism), what the devs want doesn't even matter.
Tom Jansky1's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 19:05
Tom Jansky1
I think we're all underestimating just how clumsily the Gears of War 2 story is told, and we're mining for meaning and resonance which simply isn't there. In the space of 5 gameplay minutes, Dom goes from killing his wife to cracking jokes with Phoenix, and there's no evidence to suggest that this total lack of character development is an intentional work of commentary on masculinity or anything else; what it is, is sloppy writing by people who only needed to stamp together enough action movie tropes to keep the bro's entertained.

I will gladly profess my love for the Gears games, but the writing is for shit and any depth you imagine you perceive is purely the result of your own creativity, not theirs.
x1251x's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 19:15
x1251x
Lame.
Ize's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 19:28
Ize
I think this analysis, while a fun read, completely absurd. Gears of War IS just a silly, sweaty, violent male power fantasy with absolutely nothing to say about anything besides "woah look dude that gigantic monster face just exploded!".
It's funny no one is attacking this guy and calling him names, despite the fact that when some guy at IGN tried to analyze Metroid Prime (by no means a complicated game o anything) by comparing it to classic work, it was he had insulted everyone and their moms.
Just sayin'.
Ize's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 19:30
Ize
Crap this is what happens when I type after drinking, what a mess,
grafkhun's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 19:43
grafkhun
Hmmm... I see what you're saying, but I don't exactly agree; interesting read though.
Mr Pibb's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 19:43
Mr Pibb
Until the end I thought that this was a funny, ironic blog. Now I'm just confused.
D-503's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 19:50
D-503
First Blood Part 2 is not the only example of hyper-masculinity that exists. A better example of hyper masculine film to compare to Gears of War is "300," which has two armies, one with seemingly hideous, muscular, man monsters, the other with big strong hero men are not only with their big man muscles but their unity. I think masculinity is largely based on the concepts of brotherhood, that is why organizations in the masculine sphere tend to emphasize community.

"Not only does Adam Fenix represent yet another hurdle to masculinity--how much of Western art is about sons and fathers?"

What are you trying to say with this question? Is it that you believe father/son relationships are not common in Western art? Or is it that you believe Gears of War 2 is legitimate art because it has a common theme in Western art? Either way the influence of Christianity upon art has led to a massive amount of masculine art representing a relationship between fathers and sons. It's not a new idea, or a new way to look at masculinity. I don't see the point in your statement.
Preacher747's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 19:51
Preacher747
I think the whole riftworm thing was Epic's attempt at a Campbellian Hero's Journey. I don't see how the story could say anything meaningful about masculinity, especially with a static protagonist. Does the audience really care if Marcus comes to define his masculinity differently any more than people care if their mouse cursor develops broader opinions on race relations by surfing the NAACP website?

If the world's view of masculinity is changing, what is it changing to? How is it relatable to us, the audience? You mentioned that masculinity is changing from individual masculinity to more cooperative masculinity, but what does that mean in real life? Does that mean that men who once commanded society and their families as lone solitary figures are now more collectively involved with other men and women to find better ways to be leaders, husbands, fathers and men in general? If so, how do we see that in society today?

I think masculinity is definitely changing, things that once were staples of masculinity are considered harmful to society at large. Men who largely took refuge in these activities now are exposed, undefined and fragile. No wonder so many men play video games, games are becoming the last refuge of masculinity. I think men have been cornered and marginalized over the past few decades. Right now reading this article that tries to tell me that a video game contains an analog for masculinity just reinforces how narrowly masculinity is defined.

I've been trying to figure out how to teach my eight year-old son what being a man is all about and it kind of depresses me how our generation narrowly and at the same time vaguly defines it's men compared generations past.If we're going to talk about manhood, then I wish the discussion were broader than the way we see ourselves today; playing war vicariously getting all the gore and horror of war with little of the responsibility and discapline that war taught our grandfathers. What is masculinity about today? Whatever it is I don't think your article or Gears of War 2 really cover it well.
Krow's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 20:07
Krow
Comment of support for my former overlord.
somnambulist's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 20:32
somnambulist
This was such a great article. I had forgotten that there was actually some thematic meat to Gears of War. I still haven't played the sequel but I think I will now. The first one gave me this overwhelming sense of folly to every objective. That there was this sense that no one actually believed that they could win, but that their obstinate, almost animal-like qalities drove them beyond hope to do what they did and made every success seem all the more mythologically masculine. It seems like maybe the whole alien invasion thing was merely a set-up for a deeper introspection into some of these themes.
BadStar's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 21:01
BadStar
I find it incredibly hard to believe that the developers wanted to convey anything at all thematically, but your take is certainly interesting and well thought-out. With that said, the story and overall feel of the Gears series make me feel like an 8 year old smashing my action figures together.

I usually make my interpretations of what games are trying to "say" based on what they make me feel at the time. Portal made me feel something. No More Heroes made me feel something. Manhunt made me feel something. There were moments during all of those games where I stopped and thought, "Ahhh....I see what you did there." The only introspection that Gears provoked within me was something along the lines of "maybe I'm too old to be playing this." Good game, just not the kind that made me want to think about it.
akathatoneguy's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 21:04
akathatoneguy
@ Joseph- oh, it's not for you, good sir. I liked the article!
Joseph Leray's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 21:10
Joseph Leray
@D503 -- I'm not saying that father/son relationships aren't common themes of Western art or thought; I'm saying the exact opposite. I'm saying that Marcus trying to live up to Adam's expectations (and failing) is a really common theme, and an indicator that Epic is showing his vulnerability instead of his prowess. It's obvious that Adam Fenix is a sore subject for Marcus and a clear source of anxiety.

My bigger point is that there is tensions and friction in Gears' story that gets often overlooked.

@Preacher -- I think your discussion is totally valid, but it's largely tangential to what I was trying to say.

"Does the audience care of Marcus is defining his masculinity?"

That's up to you to decide, I suppose. But what I care about is exposing how vulnerable, fallable, and sometimes un-masculine these characters are, when most people just write them off as meatheads.
D-503's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 21:24
D-503
Ok, I will agree with you there, definitely. But I find it so poorly written that the tension and friction comes off as forced, like you pointed out with the emotional moments Marcus experiences just bring attention to the fact that he is so rarely emotive. The suicide can be real dark and sobering, but then I spend 20 minutes laughing because a guy just shouted, "THEY'RE SINKING CITIES WITH A GIANT WOOOOOOOOOOOOORM!"
Joseph Leray's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 21:31
Joseph Leray
Yeah, there's definitely some sloppy writing and editing going on as well. I can't really defend that. But there are about, say, half a dozen moments in the game that made me consider it in a new light. :)
Liam Allman's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 22:04
Liam Allman
I'm waiting for the part where this turns out to be a massive troll.
Nate River's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 22:25
Nate River
yeah the Preacher is critiquing you for an article you didn't write... and at this point in your life (not having a son to impart the idea of masculinity to), an article you're not in a position to write.
I do think you kind of ended the article abruptly, however. I get the feeling you had about 10 more pages on this comparison in your head, but you didn't want to repeat the Dante fiasco and get a lot of TL;DRs. I do like where you're going with this, though. The fact that Gears has some 120+ year old themes is pretty intriguing. I never conceived that a game about slashing aliens up with a chainsaw could be so literary.
Cool article, bro.
bickle's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/27/2009 23:37
bickle
@Ize: "It's funny no one is attacking this guy and calling him names, despite the fact that when some guy at IGN tried to analyze Metroid Prime (by no means a complicated game o anything) by comparing it to classic work, it was he had insulted everyone and their moms"

The two situations are apples and oranges. Here the author analyzes the game on it's own merits, looking for meaning within. On the Metroid article, the author was trying to legitimize the game by likening it to a completely unrelated work of art. It made as much sense as proclaiming a popsicle as being "The Mona Lisa of frozen treats!"
Gee-Man's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 00:05
Gee-Man
While Gears 2 definitely was an improvement on Gears 1 in terms of storytelling, comparing it to Pinocchio and trying to find all these deep meanings is a bit absurd in my opinion. Knowing that Cliffy B made this game, I can't really imagine that he intentionally crafted the story to have these themes.

Then again, we have guys trying to compare Metroid Prime to Citizen Kane, so maybe all gamers are actually looking far too deeply into this.
Animated Toupee's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/28/2009 02:49
Animated Toupee
Cool ... I actually want to play Gears now.
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