Ten Video Games Viewed From a Different Perspective

ByPaul Posted on

(click to enlarge)

This text art project was inspired by a recent reddit thread that examined how games might look from a different perspective. It was based around this image, and though I found this Skyrim idea in the comments as a follow up, I thought there was much more to be explored with the concept.

Therefore, I went and looked at my favorite games, and figured out how they might be viewed from a perspective other than the heroes. Are the leads of Portal, Mass Effect, Uncharted and more really all that heroic?

Check out the full gallery below, and feel free to add in your own in the comments. If they’re good enough, I may even add them to the list. Also, this is a visual sequel of sorts to this post, which I really loved.

(click to enlarge any of the images)

 

I think I'm a part of the first generation of journalists to skip print media entirely, and I've learned a lot these last few years at Forbes. My work has appeared on TVOvermind, IGN, and most importantly, a segment on The Colbert Report at one point.

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43 Comments

  3. In any Atari game you are…something…that does…something to other…things. but it doesn’t matter because your parents are better than you at playing anyway.
    In solitaire you are a dirty man that just fondles cards just because you like to see them dance. Pervert.

  6. Oh, lemme try for my favorite games:

    In Civilization V, all of the world leaders, including Ghandi, hate you for no reason, tell you this to your face once a year, and somehow act surprised when you nuke them into orbit… take that, Iroquis.

    In Fallout New Vegas, you are a courier. While you think you’re a hero of the wasteland, and that “Courier” is just a code name to cover for your amnesia, not a single NPC hesitates to ask you to fetch something for them, and your only options are to do it or kill them.

    In SimCity 2000, you are the malevolent dictator in a totalitarian city-state, one who can bring down tornadoes, planes, set fires, selectively demolish entire neighborhoods without compensation, end riots by demolishing the roads people are protesting on, and install maximum security prisons adjacent to elementary schools.

  8. In Mass Effect you are insane, because your idea of “renegade” actions varies between being a little rude, and straight punching women.

    That’s not so much a different perspective than it is a personal gripe.

  10. In Just Cause 2 you are a foreign agent, trying to convince the population of an island nation that their leader is bad by blowing up water towers with C4.

    In Red Faction: Guerilla you are someone who likes to drive through buildings just for fun.

    In Halo you are a soldier who does everything the voice in your head tells you to. Sometimes you even argue with it.

  11. In God of War your are a homicidal maniac soldier who cannot accept the fact that you killed your wife and child and blame your misdeeds on others. No matter how many you kill you can never bring them back.

  16. In L.A. Noire, you’re a busybody in a suit that loses your temper everytime someone lies to you, can’t tell if they’re actually lying without some mysterious entity from another reality telling you all the answers, and you drive as if there’s nothing around to avoid hitting, even though there are dozens of things to hit.

    In Dragon Age: Origins, you don’t know your own race, status, gender, or class, but you do know that you can stop an invasion of bloodthirsty demons because you have their blood in you by killing their leader, which will also kill you unless you knock up a witch in a one-night stand.

    In Silent Hill 2, you are an amnesiac, schizophrenic widower that thinks you’re killing monsters in a ghost town trying to find your dead wife who you think sent you a letter when it was just the teenage girl next door playing a trick on you, who is incidentally the reincarnated mother of an evil god that someone else wants to use to destroy the world.

  17. In Castlevania you are a rampaging S&M fanatic on a clandestine mission to stop the inception of Twilight while showing everyone the blow-the-candle-out-with-a-whip trick.

  18. To be fair, the Saint’s Row description is the kind of stuff that is perfectly compatible with what could be on the back cover, since I think the insanely awesome randomness is what made the game. Also:

    In Half-Life you are a physicist whose homicidal tendencies (likely stemming from the mind-numbingly easy tasks you had to perform such as pushing carts) lead people to not question your muteness. You allow those who follow you to die so you can walk across areas unscathed. You also stare at the butt of one of your only surviving friends every time you walk/talk with her.

  22. In Half-life, you are a nerd who is too smart for his own good, and the rest of the world has to suffer for it. everyone say THANKS GORDON!

  23. Dark Souls is about a physical god destroying everything and remaking the world in his own badass image… repeated for several ++++++++++++++++++ lifetimes.

  24. -“In the Sims, you’re just some average person, trying to live your life, but God keeps coming along and messing with you.”

    JessKitty, I salute thee.

  25. In Tetris you are a member of an anarchistic society that strives to establish the best possible utilization of living space for all members of different needs. Whenever you reach a consensus a catastrophic event wipes out your status quo.

  26. OK..so not only are these not even slightly funny, but what “homes” are you destroying in Super Mario Bros.? Goombas don’t live in the bricks.

  27. In Minecraft, you are an amnesiac cast-away with enough strength to punch a tree into pieces, yet you dig a hole and hide in it when it gets dark.

  29. In Arkham city you’re a psychotic meth addict on a constant high, during this time you jump of buildings and attack random civilians and are convinced that theres a green haired killer clown out to ruin your life, also you talk to yourself alot….

  32. In Minexraft, you rape and pillage the planet and all it’s inhabitants to grow your own castle and get supplies to rape and pillage more.

  33. It was all fun and games until they did the one about Portal.

    Because they left out the entire fact that the science they are doing involves KILLING YOU, and SOME PEOPLE like to be STILL ALIVE.

    Valvonaughts would understand.

  34. congratulations, you figured out that video games don’t really make sense when you explicitly state what they’re about. it’s a simulation of reality, and yes, it’s often a very unrealistic simulation. oh well, it makes it more fun.

  35. Weird how people keep randomly hating on the Mass Effect one. “Ha! That’s funny! Wait. . .that one’s about something I like! NOT FUNNY ANYMORE! NOT FUNNY!!!”.

    In Fable you’re Helen Keller with a sword.

  38. The Mass Effect one is pretty lame (especially since you don’t have to do that to complete the game).

    I would’ve went with something like:

    In Mass Effect you choose between being a naïve do-gooder who is in constant need of someone to explain or restate the obvious, or a cocky, xenophobic maverick with a violent commitment to greed.

  40. In Ratchet&Clank- You play as a deranged squirrel who shoots civilians on other planets with massive weapons that are physically impossible to wield, then to really stick it to them, you use awesome gadgets like the grind-boots to make the city your own personal playground. Your best friend is also a robot that turns into a jet-pack or a helicopter.

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