A Tale of Morality

Last Updated on Monday, 01 February 2010 01:02 Written by Jak Dyehouse Thursday, 28 January 2010 00:05

Note: This entry contains SPOILERS for Fallout 3 expansion: The Pitt.

Morality choices in games don't usually affect my feelings in the real world. I generally play the good character, because the rewards tend to be better in the end, and it's more inline with my own personality, so it's easier to opt for what I would naturally.

Self-righteous boasting aside, it isn't helped that most choices are pretty clear cut. We've all heard exaggerated examples to illustrate the point - a trend which I attribute to Yahtzee's Bioshock review by the way - but still, the fact remains that most moral choices are usually pretty clear: kill the bad guy or join the bad guy, blow up the town or don't blow up the town. I've yet to come across a game which has a subjective-morality system ( I'm not sure if that would even be workable option), so it tends to be pretty obvious as to which "side" each option belongs.

Not so with Fallout 3 DLC: The Pitt, which features one of the best morality choices I've ever come across in a game. For those of you who didn't take heed of the warning above, prepare to have the storyline ruined for you.

Now normally, I think of myself as a practical man. As a wise Vulcan once said, "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," and I tend to stick by that.

...

Yeah I totally choked. When the scientist told me that she wouldn't dare harm her daughter in finding the cure, I left thinking that the situation would be solved without my intervention. I wasn't about to become a cradle snatcher (though given the design of the cradle and the world in which it resides, I'd be apprehensive about even touching it), even if it did mean saving the odd slave who was already on his way out and anyway he'd probably always had that cough. I'm sorry, what more can I say? In fact I apologised to every slave I came across as I carved them up with my Auto-Axe.

A nut to the head, and an axe to the nadgers. Beautiful.

Getting a dressing down from Midea made me feel even worse. Her stoney facial-animation couldn't mask the fact that she was angry, and deep down, a little disappointed. I'd braved the trog-ridden steelyard, battled through the arena and even made it to the bastion of the Slave Master himself! Hell, I travelled all the way to the edge of the map just to address Werhner's distress signal. Yet here I was, threatening to kill her if she didn't tell me where he was hiding out.

Needless to say, I did the deed and did it good. Aside from the visceral pleasure common with any Fallout related splattering, it was really a very soulless affair. No long speech about how I was supposed to bring balance to the force, or how the voice of the slaves would never die: he just opened fire on me. That's good though, because then it counts as self-defence on my part, and then I'm not at fault! I was provoked! See, I'm still Paragon of the Wastes! You can still trust me, and besides, Pittsburg is a long way away, through a tunnel in fact! It's not like anyone will ever know...and what you don't know can never hurt you right? Right?!

This suit? I'm one of those trendy Paragons.

As I descend into my madness, I leave with a question for you ONMixers: are there any moral choices presented in gaming that particularly stand out for you?

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