I … cannot … harvest …

Yes, more talk about Bioshock.  There has been much discussion here and practically everywhere else about the quality of the game, the immersive environments, the wonderful narrative and so on.  There are also a number of little annoyances that I’ve been compiling to discuss later.  But there is one thing that has gotten relatively little attention in the wide world of gaming that I was interested in talking about.  If you are being a purist about staying ‘spoiler-free’, don’t click to see this rest of this post until you’ve played the game.  But since the basis of what I want to talk about occurs in the demo, I’m pretty confident saying that you won’t find any ‘major’ spoilers here.

I hate it when games force cruel actions upon you.  I am by nature a decent person and try to be kind to others whenever I can … and that is how I play games as well.  I play my D&D style games as either a Paladin (lawful good) or a Neutral Good Sorcerer; my Star Wars games fully on the Light Side.  It took me FIVE YEARS to do the Dark Side in the original Jedi Knight … and that really wasn’t full of gut-wrenching choices.

There are tough moments in many games, but for me it is those moments that strike at my greatest fears that really get me – those moments that involve families and children in dire circumstances.  So whether it is returning to the village in Fable or Jeanne D’Arc and seeing everyone dead, watching the tormented children in Prey, or choosing whether or not to help the widowed wife on Tatooine in Knights of the Old Republic, messing with families really messes with me.

Which is why the ‘Little Sisters’ of Bioshock continue to haunt me days after I have completed the game and moved on to something else.  It is not that the choice of Harvest or Rescue was really all that hard for me – sure I thought about it the first time, thought that I could really use the Adam and wondered what it would be like … but I knew that I could never risk being in the position of killing one of those little girls.

I rescued every single one of those little girls – even going back and spending probably an extra half-hour searching for one I missed on one level rather than leave her wandering around in that state.  The fact that the decision was easy doesn’t mean that the overall experience was easy.  It was hard for me to go through it each and every time.

It was hard because in a world gone completely wrong and bent on destroying itself, these innocent babies are put at the very center of the twisted fight for adults to ‘better’ themselves.  It was hard because it is everything most parents fear, only abstracted into a video game.  It is hard because some days it is hard to not think that millions, perhaps billions of us would march happily into the early life depicted in Rapture.

But because it was hard, it was a deeply emotional experience that didn’t feel cheap and gratuitous.  It was an integral part of the analogy of how life worked in Rapture – what these people were willing to give up; what ends they would go to.  Recently a paper local to me, the Patriot Ledger, took the game to task over the issue.  However, instead of talking about the moral choices in detail, they chose to focus on the ‘video game violence’ angle.  They state that “one strategy enables players to attack ‘‘Little Sisters,’’”, which is simply not true.  The choice to rescue or ‘harvest’ as it is called in-game, is as simple as choosing light or dark side in Jedi Academy – choose one button to harvest, the other to rescue.

And every time I rescued a poor little girl, I was put on an emotional roller-coaster – I hated seeing the little girls in that state, then watching whatever had possessed them struggle against the humanity of my touch, but then as the little girl in side of them won, the music changed and I had a catharsis as I saved the child, made right some small part of that crazy world, and was able to move on knowing I had done some small bit of good in that topsy turvy world.

And as far as I’m concerned that is one of the hallmarks of good art – the music I like isn’t always easy to listen to, the art I enjoy is often dark and obscure, but it all challenges me to go places that aren’t always comfortable or easy.  Bioshock forced me to do that in a way that wasn’t cheap or exploitive, and I applaud them for having tried and succeeded.

14 Responses to “I … cannot … harvest …”

  1. Excellent post Mike.
    During my speech at PAX I mentioned this dilemma. The first time I did it I had to sit and think. I mean, I’m reviewing the game, right? I had to kill the first one. Luckily you can go to Harvest from then on, but the anguish of the Doctor is disturbing even if you don’t see the child die – it sort of goes black and then she’s gone.

  2. I also had to know – so I searched YouTube yesterday, and sure enough it was there!

  3. Great post.

    Despite my previous post about wanting less fighting in games, that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the emotional impact death and destruction can bring to a game when it’s done well, when the creators have managed to make you care about the avatars and the people they represent. That this is even possible seems to escape the media coverage (big surprise there).

    If Rockstar ever portrayed any of the Grand Theft Auto pedestrians as anything but bottom-feeders with no redeeming qualities, I’d drive a hell of a lot more carefully in that series.

  4. Great point about GTA.
    That’s something that never gets mentioned when they go on and on about the killing in games. Like the old question, could you pull weeds if they screamed? So, would you be as cavalier killing virtual enemies if they died in agony?

    I said during my speech that I could easily kick a virtual dog, but I could never kick a real one (well, a non-threatening real one). But could I shoot my Nintendog?

  5. I honestly didn’t see the moral dilemma when it came to harvesting / saving the Little Sisters. Even the wonder factor didn’t sway me from feeling I was doing the noble and right thing. While undoubtedly helpful, the extra Adam just wasn’t enough for me to cross the line. Which makes me wonder just what could they have offered as a reward to sway those of us who did the right thing. Hell, the probably just need to make an achievement for harvesting all the girls and I know I would be reconsidering my good ways.

    Beyond Bioshock, I always try to make the moral choice in all the games I play, even when it’s not so easy a choice. For instance, there is a scene in The Darkness where you are ambushed by cops. As I played I couldn’t help but think that these guys had lives & families and were only doing their jobs (way too much thought for some AI enemies, I know). I tried every way to get out of the situation without killing them as they riddled me with bullets.

    Unfortunately, the developers didn’t leave in a pacifism option in the game, and I could progress no further until I dispatched the officers. I wasn’t happy about it, but I did what I had to in order to progress. I was quite relieved to later learn that the cops were corrupt.

    Back to Bioshock, it’s quite the immersive experience both visually, aurally (is that even the word?), and emotionally. It’s one of those rare gems that immediately from the onset has me dreading reaching the ending. When I pick it up to play it is extremely difficult to put back down as I try and explore every inch of Rapture. I do have to say though for an impressive & expansive underwater city, there are a bit too many invisible walls for my liking. Just some small nitpicking if I had to pick nits.

  6. There is no choice. Bioshlock is a blight on humanity All you wackos that defend it are just that, wackos! How dare you suggest that our children should be subjected to this filth. How dare YOU. There is no moral choice here. The only “moral” choice is to erase your hard drive, re-program your minds to realize that video games are the worst thing ever happen to man-kind.

  7. @ Tengenport

    Nice post. You’re right, it is a false – and superficial dilemma. We’re projecting a lot into the game (fortunately the game holds it well) and in that way some players – especially hardened critics who often have to play bad games that don’t even come close to making us wonder – are so intrigued by the dilemma. The opposite to your example is if they made it HORRIFYING to Harvest.

    In this way Bioshock is a victim. If videogames could shake the kid label, designers could make games even more tasteless then Manhunt 2. But they could also challenge us with even more mature dilemma. Maybe that’s the main reason I’m often unimpressed with the “art” argument.

  8. So this ithe GameSanityBlog. Cool.
    Yeah, I’ve never played Bioshock, but I appreciate what the game designers were going-for with this dilemma. I just wish they had not chosen “little girls” for it, as I have three of them and trying to protect them is my constant battle. I’m all-for “moral dilemmas” but why could it have not been fuzzy bunnies, cute kittens? Or why not make the “moral dilemma” over something that would be quite easy for a player to kill, say Nazi’s or Zombies, or even Nazi-Zombies? Then the “urge to kill” would be there, but the player would have to exercise restraint. I know, it would be a different game, but as it stands, Bioshock is probably the best game I will never play.

  9. Glad to hear you had a strong emotional response to the “harvest v. rescue” game mechanic. As the father of a beautiful 6-year old little girl (the most exquisite creature on the planet), I teared up a bit when the onscreen hands scooped up that tiny helpless child and she cried out “no, no” while I administered the cure. Such is a testament to the immersion and production value of this wonderful narrative.

    Any father who has had to give their child medicine, or a shot, to make them better knows the pain that is often associated with caring for a little one. Causing them pain or discomfort or fear is heartwrenching – but the relief of knowing they will be okay is worthwhile.

  10. And yet to even get to the point of getting to choose to harvest or free, you must first deal with the big daddy, which as you learn later in the game seems to been ”conditioned” ie. Brain washed into the role, which doesn’t look like it was a nice or pleasant experience or if it was in fact a willing one either.

    And yet we willing take down a brain washed victim who is doing nothing but obeying the protect command his given, so that we can then make the moral decision of harvesting or freeing a little girl.

    I’m sure there’s a lesson about human nature there.

  11. Indeed like Dasar implied I think people have ignored the mindless slaughter of Big Daddies in the “moral” equation. Personally I felt very bad each time I had to kill one of them – they were poor unfortunate people trapped in that existence, and yet so valiantly protecting the little sisters without regard for their own safety, willingly taking bullets to keep the girl safe.

    I could not help but sympathize strongly with them. Was I alone in this?

  12. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one that couldn’t bring themselves to Harvest. I did do it once, but I immediately stopped playing the game for about an hour or so to do something else and get my mind off of it.

    @Antti

    Nope, I felt a strange affinity to all the denizens of Rapture. Even the Splicers. The whole world and what they were made me feel incredibly sad the whole time.
    I was “forced” to attack and kill Big Daddies without provocation because I “needed” the Adam. I still felt bad even though I was freeing a Little Sister from her Torment in the end.

  13. When I played Bioshock, I did not even realize the big daddies were human. Now, having played a good way through Bioshock 2, I know more of their backstory – but it was only after reading this post that I started thinking of THEM as human.

  14. By “THEM” I meant the big sisters. Hadn’t realized I’d edited that out when cleaning up the comment.

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