Girl in the Machine - This guy are sick.

Friday, June 6, 2008

First Friday Drinking Game--Late Night Edition

June has finally arrived with the glorious summertime in tow. While schools have let out and vacations are drawing near, it is also getting unbelievably hot out--which is what makes the coolness of the night so darn inviting. Now is the perfect time to get some friends together for a little late-night First Friday Drinking (Game)!

The release of Metal Gear Sold IV is tantalizingly close, so this month we'll be raising our drinks to the entire Metal Gear series. Whether your playing a marathon or just dusting off MSG II, you can follow these simple rules with any combination of good ol' Metal Gear. Play long enough and you'll be Solid Snaking it in no time:

1 drink each time Snake has a smoke
1 drink for each cutscene that lasts longer than ten minutes
1 drink for each additional cutscene minute
1 drink every time Otacon cries
2 drinks every time Fortune whines about being invincible (we get it, already!)
1 drink for every cardboard box stealth mission
1 drink every time the sound of someone discovering you scares the bejesus out of you
1 drink whenever Psycho Mantis freaks you the fuck out
2 drinks whenever the Sorrow freaks you the fuck out
3 drinks if you find yourself missing Mei Ling
2 drinks for every torture scene
3 drinks if said torture scene involves at least partial nudity
1 drink each time Solid Snake stares at boobs (yes, posters and magazines count)
1 drink after Olga dies (make sure it's real vodka--RIP, girl)
2 drinks whenever you learn something about a character that makes you REALLY uncomfortable

And finally:

Finish your drink when you beat the game and still have no idea what's going on

Warning: Excessive drinking during gameplay may result in false notions of badassery to the point that you grow a snappy math teacher's mustache. Play with caution!

Think I forgot something? Suggest a rule in the comments section!

What drinking games do YOU want to play every month? If there is any genre or specific game you want featured in FFDG, drop me a line at PlasmaRit at gmail dot com.

Labels: First Friday Drinking Game, Metal Gear, PlasmaRit, Stealth

Posted by PlasmaRit
10:36 PM + Link to this post
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Monday, March 17, 2008

Tempting the snake in the Garden of Eden.

Warning! MGS3 spoilers follow!

In 2004, Konami released Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, the prequel to its stealth-action Metal Gear series. Snake Eater sets itself apart from the rest of the series by moving the action from urban environments into the heart of the Soviet jungle, requiring players to utilize camouflage and various survival techniques. The game's Cold War era setting also imbues it with a James Bond feel, complete with a kitschy theme song and opening. With every Bond movie, there is also a so-called Bond Girl, and Snake Eater's irritating symbol of sexism is a frisky lady named EVA.

Our pal EVA is a KGB spy working alongside Snake in his mission to destroy the Shagohod, a nuclear-equipped ancestor of the first Metal Gear. She poses as a Russian woman named Tatyana to infiltrate the traitorous Colonel Volgin's forces, feeding Snake information from her position as a mole. She also repeatedly takes her clothes off (guess her boobs need some air), flirts with Snake in literally all of her scenes to the point of sexual harassment, and gets groped by male characters no less than three times over the course of the game. Oh, but she's tough, though! Tough and she wants to do you.

Yes, she's one of those characters: the tired "Beautiful but Deadly" stereotype we're all sick of. EVA fairly jiggles her way from scene to scene, pausing only to unzip her motorcycle onesie down to her crotch for no particular reason, and the more voyeuristic gamer can take advantage of Snake Eater's first person cutscene viewer to join Snake as he repeatedly ogles the goods. I have to admit, I laughed the first time, but does our intrepid hero really have to stare at her tits in every single scene as if they contain the meaning of life?

It's no surprise as well that EVA is boring as all hell. She's a tough chick, blah blah, she rides a motorcycle and can apparently fly a plane as well, she's a super spy with a kickass gun, whatever. In a series known for characters who are interesting (sometimes to a fault -- especially when you're covered in bees!), EVA is predictable and stale. Her lines are generously peppered with double entendres, she's a master of charming any and all foes with her smoldering good looks, and she falls in love with Snake at the end . . . even though she's not supposed to! How shocking.

Unfortunately, things get worse. While oversexed leading ladies are no strangers to all sorts of media, EVA's case is made more disturbing by the sexual violence inflicted on her. While posing as Tatyana, she is repeatedly raped and tortured by the sadistic Colonel Volgin over the course of the game. Fortunately, these scenes are never shown, but Snake does observe a number of scars caused by Volgin during one of EVA's "skip around in my underwear" scenes. Rape is not often addressed in video games, and the way it's presented here is cringe-worthy at best. While the act itself is (thankfully) never sexualized, EVA endures it as part of her mission -- something that no male agent would ever be expected to do. As well, EVA was trained to seduce her foes, a technique that places her in this victim's role intentionally. It's horrifying and sick, and treads dangerously into "She was asking for it" territory.

After all is said and done, she's also a centerfold in a men's magazine the player can obtain in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops.

Metal Gear Solid 3's female lead, EVA, is one of the worst examples of a female character I can think of. Two-dimensional and stereotyped, she's the Sultry Vixen With a Gun that we've seen thousands of times. Even more problematic is the sexual violence she repeatedly suffers, the effects of which are never even mentioned. I love the Metal Gear series, but EVA's design and presentation severely soured my experience with Snake Eater. I can only hope that her return in MGS4: Guns of the Patriots doesn't make things even worse.

Labels: BomberGirl, Metal Gear, Sexuality, Stealth, Stereotypes, Violence

Posted by BomberGirl
8:08 AM + Link to this post
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Monday, September 17, 2007

Loss, Death, and Hope: The Mothers of Metal Gear Solid 2

(Major plot spoilers follow!)

Hideo Kojima's popular Metal Gear series is known for its stealth-oriented gameplay and notoriously complex plots. 2001's Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty met a mixed reception by fans because of its extremely convoluted (and nearly incomprehensible) storyline. Among a huge cast of characters are three central female figures that, in addition to playing major roles in the advancement of the plot, share different aspects of the literary mother archetype.

Olga Gurlukovich, Helena "Fortune" Dolph Jackson, and Rosemary are three of the four female characters featured in MGS2 (the fourth, Emma Emmerich, is underage). In some form or fashion, each of them is tied to the game's main event, the Big Shell incident, by the secret group known as The Patriots. Their roles as mothers drive each of their motivations, ultimately shaping their individual fates.

Olga is an extremely impressive female character. Tough, adept in combat, and essential to protagonist Raiden's survival, she cuts a formidable figure. In an interesting and refreshingly realistic move, her character model is designed with practical apparel and, awesomely, unshaven armpits (it's rare for even male video game characters to have body hair -- I guess Raiden shaves his legs -- so I found this to be an interesting choice). We learn early on that Olga is pregnant during the Tanker incident, and near the end of Big Shell she reveals that she's been coerced into serving The Patriots because her child was kidnapped right after being born.

Olga's motherhood is characteristic of loss. A group of men use her motherhood to control her, and her life and that of her child fundamentally hinge on Raiden's. She finds herself in an impossible situation, stopping at nothing to protect the child she's never even seen, even though it means aiding The Patriots. Interestingly, the story never references a husband nor a boyfriend, leaving Olga's mission solely in her own hands. In the end, though she does save her child (presumably), she's murdered by Solidus Snake. While her self-sacrifice is extremely admirable, she died under the thumb of The Patriots, and was left with little to no possibility for saving herself.

Helena Dolph Jackson, or "Fortune" as she's code-named, leads the Dead Cell unit in the Big Shell takeover. True to her namesake, she possesses the seemingly supernatural ability to repel bullets and deactivate bombs with her very presence. Wielding an enormous rail gun, Fortune is also quite intimidating. She's a rare sight in video games as a woman of color, and even more so as one who awesomely avoids racial stereotypes.

Fortune's aspect of motherhood -- and perhaps her very character as well -- revolves around death. Her father, Scott Dolph, was killed by Revolver Ocelot in the Tanker incident, and, not long after, her mother committed suicide and her husband passed away in federal prison. To top everything off, a pregnant Fortune suffered a miscarriage, and, wrought with grief, she took her husband's place as the leader of Dead Cell. Her perceived invincibility isolates her, leaving her to believe that she will forever outlive her loved ones. Though she's one of MGS2's villains, she partially redeems herself at the end of the game by turning against Solidus (who has, surprise surprise, been manipulating her all this time). Unfortunately, Solidus fatally wounds her, and, as with Olga, her redemption is too little, too late. While the other members of Dead Cell met their ends as well, it's particularly tragic that she dies at Solidus's mercy.

Rosemary is Raiden's girlfriend and mission correspondent during Big Shell. Unlike Olga and Fortune, she's a less shining example of a female character. Chatty, hypersensitive, and just plain irritating, she nags her way through the entire game until the big reveal at the end: she's a spy hired by The Patriots to monitor Raiden's progress during the incident.

Despite this, Rose's motherhood emblemizes hope. When Raiden discovers that Rose is not what she seems, she confesses that she's pregnant. Her pregnancy -- the bond that ties her in a very intimate, immediate way to Raiden -- helps her do what neither Fortune nor Olga could: escape the clutches of her controllers. She's a small but very important sign that The Patriots are not unbeatable, and she shows up outside of the codec interface for the first time to meet Raiden in the ending cutscene. While I find Rose's character to be less than stellar, I am glad that she's not a stereotypical temptress sent to lead Raiden astray. Her service under The Patriots is very intricate and subtle, having had both her appearance and personality reshaped to meet Raiden's specific preferences so as to remain undetected.

Metal Gear Solid 2's three central women are united by their aspects of motherhood. While all are tragic characters, none of them is static or predictable, and they each present an interesting take on what it means to be a mother. Considering the myriad philosophical layers that MGS2 tackles, I have to wonder if there's any ulterior significance to this theme, or even to the fact that the strong Olga and Fortune die while the passive Rose survives.

Labels: BomberGirl, Getting it Right, Metal Gear, Motherhood, Stealth