If there’s one factor that the Grand Theft Auto collection isn’t any stranger to, it is American politics. There was a time when attorneys and politicians had been virtually tripping over one another in an try and denounce Rockstar Video games for any variety of causes.
Very similar to how rock and roll and Dungeons & Dragons had been thought of countercultural at greatest and outright satanic at worst, GTA was seen as one of many faces of an trade that was corrupting youngsters and turning them into violent criminals.
Fortunately, these days are successfully gone. The rise of contemporary web tradition, ageing demographics, and a greater understanding of video games as a complete actually contributed to the normalization of Rockstar Video games’ picture. Nonetheless, Grand Theft Auto 5 nonetheless managed to draw its personal justifiable share of controversies.
Whereas Grand Theft Auto 4 did contact on political points like immigration, GTA 5 turbocharged the political messaging by actually placing it in your face. Most individuals most likely do not must be reminded how a complete arc of the sport addressed the style through which the USA utilized torture, home spying packages, non-public navy corporations, and lots of different dubiously ethical means to guard “freedom” and “democracy.”
Grand Theft Auto 5’s Edgy Satire Loses Its Edge
After all, GTA 5 is merely a recreation, so its exploration of sociopolitical points was largely restricted to surface-level analyses. As surprising and uncomfortable as GTA 5’s torture mission was, it wasn’t actually advancing a revolutionary viewpoint to say that torture is unhealthy.
If something, the sport’s criticism of the U.S. Battle on Terror and home police insurance policies had been wholly unoriginal by the point it launched in September 2013. Working example, Spec Ops: The Line got here out in 2012 whereas Metallic Gear Rising: Revengeance got here out in February 2013.
The identical may very well be stated of GTA 5’s portrayal of society. It is enjoyable to snort at social media, celebrities, and actuality exhibits, however the recreation is not offering any new commentary. More often than not, you’d get some grade-school sexual innuendo earlier than being whisked away to the following joke. Consequently, the viewers is never left with a deeper message.
The biggest casualty of this by far is Michael’s household. Everyone seems to be an unlikable strolling caricature, and their story arc concludes in such a method that it might as effectively be lifted from a actuality present. The depiction of the household virtually fails to be satire as it’s neither intelligent nor enlightening and solely barely manages to be humorous.
GTA On-line doubled down on the absurdity, culminating within the notorious flying assault motorbike. In all equity, the multiplayer portion was by no means anticipated to be critical or grounded in actuality, besides it is laborious to think about that anybody was anticipating such a wild flip.
That is to not say that each recreation must be a posh and critical deconstruction of contemporary society. GTA 5’s method to political matters is barely value mentioning as a result of it is virtually juvenile while you take a look at Rockstar’s earlier video games.
L.A. Noire for instance is a somewhat critical story about PTSD, corrupt cops, society’s therapy of warfare veterans, and big fraud. Max Payne 3 options extra corrupt cops with ties to an organ-harvesting ring, set to a backdrop of political corruption and normal class battle. Pink Lifeless Redemption had a narrative and themes that, although not wholly unique, had been at the least introduced in a comparatively distinctive method by advantage of the setting.
Grand Theft Auto 6 and the “New” Rockstar
If Grand Theft Auto 6’s trailer is any indicator, Rockstar goes to proceed satirizing the extra unflattering features of contemporary American society. The trailer itself had quite a lot of scenes that seemed like punchlines to the Florida Man meme.
Amusing as it might be, there is a high-quality line between basically placing a widely known joke right into a recreation and a billion-dollar firm punching down at individuals who cannot defend themselves proportionately.
There’s additionally the query of how Rockstar will method criticisms of companies and shopper tradition. GTA 5 allowed you to show a CEO’s head into on the spot ketchup on stay TV and relentlessly mocked Fb and Apple, but GTA On-line’s success can simply be attributed to the identical vapid consumerism that enabled these fashionable tech corporations to thrive.
One may go as far as to say that the second GTA On-line grew to become profitable is the second that Rockstar become one of many societal points mocked by their very own video games. It is satirical in and of itself that an organization, which advantages from the established order, would have a flagship product that is basically “Society Sucks, Do Crime.”
Coincidentally, a parody recreation in GTA 5 has additionally turned out to be prophetic. The preliminary goal could have been the Name of Obligation collection, however seeing as how GTA 5 was re-released a number of instances and have become bloated with microtransactions over the previous decade, the joke hasn’t precisely aged effectively.
With the Subtlety of a Rockstar
To their credit score, Rockstar’s writers are nonetheless fairly sharp relating to political points. Pink Lifeless Redemption 2 virtually beats you over the pinnacle with its political messaging by the top, pitting you in opposition to capitalism in a figurative and literal sense as you battle in opposition to each Pinkertons and the U.S. authorities.
That being stated, on the finish of the day Rockstar poured all of its sources again into GTA On-line when it was clear that Pink Lifeless On-line was not as fashionable. Unsurprisingly, an organization goes to chase what’s fashionable as that is the place the cash is, and cash is their precedence above all else.
What this implies for GTA 6 is unclear at the moment, but it surely presents a worrying chance. It isn’t out of the query that Rockstar may take GTA 5’s over-the-top satirical tone into GTA 6 and crank it to eleven. Every part is a joke as a result of that is what sells, despite the collection’ inherent sociopolitical undertones.
By the way, this is able to flip the sport into the identical corporate-approved edginess parodied within the fashionable GTA video games, serving as a extra correct parody of society by its mere existence than what any recreation can hope to attain.
