Play in Process: Hot Pursuit's Moral Whiplash

Last updated on: April 28, 2011 at 9:12 am by Richard Clark

Play in Process: Hot Pursuit's Moral Whiplash 2011-04-28T09:12:24-06:00 Richard Clark

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Each week in Play in Process, Richard Clark shares what he’s been playing and why it matters.

Games resonate with us for various reasons. Whether we find them to be primarily fun, satisfying, addicting, peaceful, frustrating or disturbing, we have these reactions to them because they are leveraging a certain truth, whether it be about the world, ourselves, or games themselves. Most often, games are known for being fun; everything else tends to be secondary. That’s because a game relies first and foremost on being played. This is why some of the best games are merely mechanical.

Still, those systems mean something. Fun is actually a word that encompasses all of the others. We enjoy Tetris because we enjoy bringing order to chaos. We enjoy Pac-Man because we enjoy flourishing in the midst of a desperate attempt of survival. We enjoy racing games because they allow us to test our own limits. At least, those are oversimplified guesses as to why we enjoy those things. You get the point.

The latest racing game I’ve been playing, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, manages to marry solid gameplay mechanics, setting, and a barebones narrative to create a player experience that is more than simple “fun”. It sticks with you. In Hot Pursuit, you choose between playing the racers or the cops, charged with putting an end to the racing menace. Unlike other racing games, Hot Pursuit focuses on the implications of no-holds barred racing. Even as the racer, you hear police chatter that feels serious and desperate. They talk about the damage done, the out of control nature of the racer. They talk about you. This is so effective that it’s a joy to switch over to police mode and deal out justice.

Ultimately, that’s what the game is about: justice. In Tetris, you bring order to chaos in an extremely abstract sense. In Hot Pursuit, you take practical measures against chaos, or you enact chaos yourself – though all you were really trying to do was win a race. It’s a surreal experience, really, switching back and forth between self-centered psychopath and self-appointed defender of justice and order. That’s a kind of moral whiplash that finds its home deep within our brain – a double empathy that compliments itself.

Asides

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

Play in Process

Previous Post

April 28, 2011

…by the Bell, Chapter 6: How Will They Know?

Next Post

April 29, 2011 Elsewhere: The Royal Family, Survivor, Portal 2, Donald Miller, etc.

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Asides Elsewhere Featured Film Games General Culture Headline Literature Music Of the Moment Podcast Politics RetroPost Sports Technology Television Uncategorized Viral

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz