With the year coming to an end, it’s nice to look back at all the games that have been released. Some were received with open arms and easily made their way onto the shelves of gamers. Others, not so much. They may have hit a bump or two on the road, but they made their way into the marketplace in some form or another.
So, in no particular order of importance, here are 5 video games that have sparked controversy in the year 2014.
Bayonnetta 2
Although being one of the few video games with a strong female lead, Bayonetta 2 was hit with the strong critique that its overly sexualized gameplay deterred from an otherwise amazing game. After the release and rapid of Bayonetta back in 2009, gaming developers over at Platinum Games were excited to greet the fans with another installment.
By amping up all aspects of the game,the developers hoped that this new installment would be met with equal praise as its predecessor. With the all around improvement in gameplay, the games 2014 release seemed to be seamless. However, the newly heightened sexual aspects of Cezera’s special attacks didn’t fit too well with many gamers and reviewers.
Many critiqued the game as having Cezera’s clothing disappear as its sole motive to sell. They saw the game as an overall great game, with a huge dent. The dent being the sexual nature of game.
A majority of people accepted the game as it is. They knew what they were getting into based on the first Bayonetta and didn’t see the disppearing of clothes as a cheap trick to sell more copies.
There is no doubt that this sparked quite the debate for not only this game, but all games that feature strong female leads.
Hatred
On a far less sexual side, Hatred made its way into heated debates among gamers and non-gamers for having ‘violence for violence sake.’ The game features a nameless character with one mission. Kill anything and everyone.
As you can guess by the title of this game, protagonist/antagonist has a deep hatred for all of present day society. This then leads to him using his big supply of heavy weaponry to go on a killing spree. No man or woman is safe from being slaughtered through one of the many special killing styles that developers Destructive Creation (very fitting name) added into the game.
As everyone expected, this game was given very heavy criticism for the strong violence showcased in the game. Being compared to games like Postal and Manhunt, this games strong focus on killing didn’t sit too well with parents.
This in-turn caused the game to create quite the biz and made it’s way around all of social media. Something we all assumed was going to happen when the creators decided to launch the trailer for the game. What it probably did not expect was Steam pulling the game from its marketplace. After the heavy backlash received for publishing the game, Hatred was pulled from distribution.
After heavy back and forth between Steam, consumers, and Destructive Creations, Steams creator, Gabe Newell, made the executive decision to put Hatred back on Steam. Deeming it unjust to pull one game because of it’s violence while still keeping the countless other games with a similar style.
In addition, Gabe Newell also posted a sincere apology on the Facebook page of Destructive Creation for the instances that occurred surrounding their game.
Flappy Bird
This mobile game made it’s way into the mobile gaming markets back in May of 2013, but it was not until February of this year it became a topic of controversy when creator Dong Nguyen removed it from the marketplace of both Android and Apple devices.
Through the life span of this seemingly simple game, users were left with a mix of hatred and love for this game. With the simple task of tapping the screen in order to make the bird flap its wings, rise, and get through the green tube obstacles.
This simplicity is probably what fueled the rage of just about everyone who played this game. From adults to children, everyone grew frustrated when they couldn’t beat their high scores. This then lead to Nguyen removing the game and saving himself from the hate mail he received.
What seemed like a reasonable decision for saving himself only lead to more anger, ironically. Everyone was outraged that their favorite game to hate was removed, and they demanded more Flappy Bird. What predictably came next was a huge influx of copycat games trying to profit off the success of Flappy Bird.
Not much is really known about the true reason Nguyen removed the game. Whether he had some ulterior motive for removing a game that brought so much money into his pockets is up to you. All he left us with were a few posts he made via Twitter about the issue:
Grand Theft Auto V
Gaming developers at Rockstar Games are no strangers to controversy over their very successful franchise Grand Theft Auto. So when it came to light that Target was going to be pulling Grand Theft Auto V from their shelves in all Australian branches, it was to no one’s surprise.
With both the GTA series being famous for their violence, hookers, and drug references, and Australia having a hefty track record for banning games due to their graphic nature, it was only a matter of time until Australia put another ban on it.
What is odd though, is the focus they placed on banning GTA V sales for only the Xbox One and Playstation 4. No other information has been released on whether they are going to extend the ban across all platforms, or continue sticking to sales for the new consoles. Whatever the case may be, stories revolving the GTA franchise will always big catalysts for debates among all gamers and non-gamers with every new addition.
Assassin’s Creed Unity
This 2014 addition to the history-based game franchise Assassin’s Creed was hit a ton of criticism. Although, the game was given pretty decent reviews, Unity was criticized about many of its aspects. The one I am going to focus on is the argument that sparked at the release of only its trailer.
As you can see by the picture above, this game differs from its predecessors by offering a four player co-op. This piqued the interest of many people, but caused a little disdain in others.
The fact that there is no playable female assassin to choose from caused quite the outcry by consumers. Many though that a franchise so rooted in history would notice that there are plenty of female assassins throughout to chose from. Yet none were present in this game’s four player co-op.
Ubisoft’s reasoning behind this was that the work behind creating a female character was just too much. So they decided to scrap the idea and stick to an all male cast of characters. This, however, did not satiate those already angered consumers who demanded a stronger female presence in video gaming. It has only been a month since the release of this game, and the debate on why females aren’t given any justice in video games is still a heavy topic for many people.