Summary
- Video games address real-world issues through storytelling and gameplay, sparking meaningful conversations.
- Games like Papers, Please highlight systemic oppression and societal issues within gameplay.
- Titles like The Last of Us Part 2 and Spec Ops: The Line criticize violence, trauma, and the complexity of human morality.
Many video games provide escapist fun designed to entertain players, yet developers have utilized the medium as a platform for raising awareness of real-life social issues. From racism and inequality to mental health and environmental concerns, these games have the power to educate, raise awareness, and spark meaningful conversations.
8 Best Story-Driven Video Game Franchises, Ranked
Players hungry for great stories will find their next favorite games in the following franchises that put storytelling above everything else.
The commentary can be subtle or be an overarching theme to a game in terms of story, world, and concept. These can be action-packed games where the messages are woven into the overall experience, or they can be story-driven games with movie-like performances and scenes that are used to effectively engage players with meaningful topics.
10 Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora
Colonization And Exploitation Of Indigenous People Sadly Reflects Human History
Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora
- Released
- December 7, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Language, Mild Blood, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Massive Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- Action-Adventure
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
Experiencing the open world of Pandora is as beautiful as it is fun, with Massive Entertainment taking the Far Cry template to create Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. In it, the player controls a young Na’vi who was abducted by the R.D.A. As a child and must reconnect with their people while protecting them from the invading forces of Earth.
Much like in the movie universe that the game is set in, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is quick to point out the flaws of colonizing and humanity’s greed to claim whatever it wants. It harks back to when Europe conquered America, or when England took over India. The Na’vi are fighting to protect their home from humans who just want to exploit them and their resources.
9 Papers, Please
The Horrors Of Serving A Totalitarian Regime
Papers, Please
- Released
- August 8, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
With a game like Papers, Please, it can be seen as just an addictive work simulator, with the player having to monitor identification cards, passports, and other paperwork at a border checkpoint. However, despite the fictional countries, Papers, Please is all about systemic oppression and how it affects the people and those directly serving them, inspired directly by the Berlin Wall.
As the game progresses, people have to go through so many hoops just to be able to cross the border to see family or just go to work. Meanwhile, the main protagonist has to balance serving the heartless dictatorship to care for his family and helping those who go through his checkpoint, giving commentary on the morality of serving under totalitarians, even when that person doesn't agree with it.
8 Fallout Franchise
When Corporate Consumerism Meets War Mongering
Fallout
- Released
- October 10, 1997
WHERE TO PLAY
The concept of the Fallout universe as a whole has always been a parody and a warning about nuclear war, but it has expanded to show the dangers of capitalism and consumerism. Fallout: New Vegas goes even further, with villains like Mr. House representing the problems with an oligarchy and The Legion being a group of fascists who seek control over the wasteland.
The Best Part Of Every Mainline Fallout Game
Fallout games have some truly memorable experiences, here are some of the absolute best moments from every mainline Fallout title.
Fallout 4 showcases the flaws of the Brotherhood of Steel, which blindly kills anything that doesn’t fit their imperialistic mindsets. As a bonus, the apocalypse that created the Fallout world, as fans know, is the result of corporations and the elite seeking to control the population, which is a scarily realistic concept that people worry about in the real world.
7 Life Is Strange Series
Every Game Addresses Trauma And Identity
Life is Strange
- Released
- January 30, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
One of the reasons Life Is Strange is so beloved is its exploration of themes like identity and trauma. Each game highlights different struggles that the characters face, showing how their childhood experiences influence the modern-day narrative. The series has developed into powerful character dramas that also incorporate superpowered mysteries and thrilling plotlines to keep the story engaging.
In Life Is Strange: True Colors, one of the main characters, Tyler, is a transgender man who suffered from abusive and unsupportive parents. Life Is Strange 2 deals heavily with racism and police brutality, and even the original game focused on the queerness of its protagonist and her emotional journey, while dealing with the supernatural events happening in Arcadia Bay.
6 Detroit: Become Human
A Benevolent Take On Artificial Intelligence
Detroit: Become Human
- Released
- May 25, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Quantic Dream
- Genre(s)
- Adventure
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Artificial intelligence has continued to advance, and a game that shows the good and the bad of such a touchy subject is Detroit: Become Human. It’s an advanced society where androids have become the norm: they are cops, workers, house servants, and more, but they are treated as things, which slowly leads to a revolution of androids that are discovering sentience and emotion.
Detroit: Become Human could have portrayed robotic individuals as pure evil, like in a Terminator movie. Instead, the story showcases that many of these androids are scared and just want to exist, while humans act more soulless than artificial people. Detroit also explores the ugliness of society, with these androids being treated like second-class citizens and slaves, which emulates centuries of racism and classism throughout human history.
5 BioShock
Utopia Isn’t What It’s Cracked Up To Be
BioShock
- Released
- August 21, 2007
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- m
- Developer(s)
- Irrational Games
- Genre(s)
- FPS
A life lesson is that perfection is impossible to find, and BioShock is an example of what happens when blind people attempt to create their ideal utopias. The underwater city of Rapture in the first two games was meant to be Andrew Ryan’s vision of a perfect society, but instead, it led to civil war and genetic modification that destroyed it.
BioShock: Infinite features the flying city of Columbia, a glimpse at a seemingly ideal world, but only for a certain demographic. It’s a place where their version of America is one where racism, patriotic extremism, and exploitation are not only normal but radicalized. Each city in BioShock is designed to show what happens when a society refuses to advance with the rest of mankind.
4 We Happy Few
Sometimes, Too Much Escapism Is Destructive
We Happy Few
- Released
- August 10, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
We Happy Few depicts a retro-futuristic version of England post-World War 2 where the Nazis won and have taken over to create a dismal dystopian world. The only way people can exist is by taking a drug called Joy, which warps their senses and mind to think that they are living a perfect existence that’s dancing, smiling, and other pleasantries.
8 Best Post-War Video Games, Ranked
Games such as Mafia 2 and Wolfenstein: The New Order focus on the post-war lives of their characters, resulting in unique stories and lore.
The world of We Happy Few illustrates how people bear some responsibility for their drug-induced state, opting for a comforting fantasy over confronting reality. This reflects how individuals often choose to engage with narcotics, the internet, and certain video games, sacrificing their rights for escapism.
3 Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Cybernetics Can Be As Helpful As They Are Dangerous
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Released
- August 23, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Eidos Montreal
- Genre(s)
- FPS
- Platform(s)
- PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii U, PC
On the one hand, Deus Ex: Human Revolution provides an exciting mix of action and stealth gameplay as a powerful cyborg named Adam Jensen, utilizing cybernetic weapons and abilities to fight terrorist threats. On the other hand, the fear of corporate control is written in as a major part of the story, with the elite having control over the augmentations in people’s bodies.
All it takes is a cybernetic implant in the brain, and suddenly, a corporation can control a person for nefarious purposes. Deus Ex: Human Revolution. However, there is also the other extreme, in which people who are augmented are ostracized and outcasted by humans who believe augmentation is a sin against nature or their religion.
2 The Last Of Us Part 2
Naughty Dog Points Out The Flaws In Hero Complexes And Revenge
The Last of Us Part 2
- Released
- June 19, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Naughty Dog
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
While there are some social commentary aspects in the first game, The Last of Us Part 2 takes it even further with a consistent message about how vengeance is a self-destructive cycle. It’s revenge that makes Abby commit many atrocities, thus making Ellie follow a similar path, willing to do anything to get to Abby, blurring the lines between good and evil.
The Last of Us Part 2 also features a bold choice by the developers where half of the story is spent playing as Abby, who can be considered the main villain. However, this is the story’s way of showing that one person’s hero can be another person’s villain and vice versa, showing that life is not always black and white as people tend to think it is, especially in an apocalyptic scenario like in The Last of Us.
1 Spec Ops: The Line
Proof That War Violence Is Too Glamorized
Spec Ops: The Line
- Released
- June 26, 2012
WHERE TO PLAY
Spec Ops: The Line came out at a time when military shooters were everywhere, glorifying the violence of war as something like in Michael Bay action movies. So, gamers were shocked that the game turned out to be more of a psychological thriller inspired by Apocalypse Now, which comments on the trauma that soldiers go through on the battlefield and how it can shape them.
The big twist of Spec Ops: The Line is that the main hero is the villain, who causes so many horrific deaths and mutilations that it is causing him to live out a fantasy. It is meant to show the reality that war is brutal and vile, and not all soldiers come back the same person. Violence is not something that should be cheered, and the game makes the player ask if they feel like a hero.
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