What video games can do which movies cannot.

(Spoilers, just in case) I was recently playing Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of liberty HD version and i played through what i remember to be the most shocking and deceiving moment of my childhood when i played this in 2003. Throughout the narrative you are guided by the "Colonel" who is giving you orders but towards the end of the game there is a moment that completely challenges every single piece of media there is, a ground breaking moment in both video games and the media as a whole. Ignore the naked cartwheels and gameplay.






This actually begins to challenge what you are doing at that particular time and completely smashes the forth wall. At the first time of playing i was only 8 and the results were terrifying, i actually believed someone was watching me and that my PS2 had been infected and in this case i actually did turn my PS2 off, eventually coming back to complete the game, now replaying this as a media and film student i realise the effect it has on the audience and by turning down all sense of conventions it becomes probably the most ground breaking moment of video game history. The Colonels change in camera shot cuts to a close up of him looking straight at you at one point fearing him as his skin turns clear exposing the bones in his face. This does make you question your own reality when playing the game, almost as if it were a lucid dream. This is a technique that no other video game or certainly no movie would try to pull off as it can become the focal point of a film and films and video games are now set out to immerse you in this aesthetic world while in fact this technique actually makes you question your own participation and world. He also repeats the word "Role" which the character Raiden the questions to the response of "Well it is a Role-playing game isnt it?"

In fact it turns out to be the Colonel is an AI that has been manipulating Raiden the entire time causing him to also question reality and if everything is real including his girlfriend which has also been an AI.

Not long after we also have a fight scene that you go through and it then half way through manipulates you into thinking you have failed the mission as the death screen comes up but instead with "Fission Mailed" and you still carrying on in the small window, you really get this sense of manipulation which is a growing and recurring theme which Raiden is also going through, connecting you to Raiden in a way as you both question what is really going on and at the same time feel as though you are being manipulated. Here is the video of this. (Skip to 9:06 for the failed screen but feel free to watch from where the last video left off).





Not long after this there is then a boss battle and not long after is another interesting codec transmission after the AI had supposedly been destroyed. This may just be the most profound moment in video game history as it really goes into depth about social and political issues. This effect this has on the audience is phenomenal. Here is an analysis of this codec transmission (Two parts).






10:36 on-wards in the last video is also an important point to consider.

This being put into a simple context is that the AI is explaining that they control the humans who inhabit this country/world, just how we control Raiden and Snake throughout this game then making us question our participation once again as mimicking the actions of the patriots. This often sends the audience into a stage of questioning everything about the game (Loose ties, explications, missing information) and also sometimes will make you question your own reality.