Global Conflicts PalestineCovering the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict as a Journalist | Submitted by costik on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 09:30. |
Global Conflicts: Palestine takes a very different approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from PeaceMaker; rather than casting you as one of the opposing leaders, you are a journalist, and rather than making high-level decisions, you are exploring a 3D environment meant to represent a section of Jerusalem.
PeaceMakerCan a Game Make You Cry? | Submitted by costik on Mon, 05/21/2007 - 00:49. |
Can a Game Make You Cry?
Certainly... At least if its subject is enough to make you cry.
PeaceMaker begins with a cut scene--brief video clips from the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, beginning in 1948 and ending with the present day.
In any game, the purpose of an initial cut scene is to set the emotional context; for most games, this means bombast and violent triumph. For PeaceMaker, it means--sorrow, and perhaps despair.
Created by a mixed American, Israeli, and Palestinian team, PeaceMaker deals with the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Playing as either the Israeli Prime Minister or the Palestinian President, you must try to satisfy the urgent needs and demands of your own people, while establishing a degree of trust on the opposite side--and, with (a great deal of) luck, an agreed resolution to the conflict.
The gameplay is simple, like a sock, and also like a sock, it can be turned inside-out. People or robots are coming down a conveyor belt. Click to slam down your machines, killing the people, building the robots. A partnership for a better tomorrow.
You can get a refreshing sense of pace out of mastering this, the efficiency you take in to maximize your score -- leave no robot incomplete or human alive. It's kind of chilling, in a totally innocuous, Habbo Hotel-esque pixel-sprite kind of way. As you the player internalize the efficiency you need to thrive, you become more roboticized. The use of complementary play modes could be extremely interesting until you realize it's the same mechanic, same dynamic, just different aesthetics. So you have to wonder, would this same vibe come from a different mechanic?
Overall, a solid arcade game with a clever subtext, with some leverage between them.
