TAKE THAT NICHOLAS SPARKS!!!
But in all seriousness, Halo is probably not a game where you think about romance—especially when you are playing it. Top it off with the fact that we barely know anything about the Master Chief (nor have we seen much of his face), and Cortana is, more often than not, just a voice in the background as we demolish wave after wave of aliens.
And yet, many gamers connect to their relationship! Of all the romantic plots within video games, the one involving an antisocial superhuman and an artificial intelligence is one of the most…organic.
For the longest time, I did not know what to make of their relationship. That is, until Halo 4. SPOILERS AHEAD! See, in Halo 4, the Master Chief has two objectives: save the world from an ancient evil (par for the course by now) and save Cortana from rampancy by getting her back to Earth (A.I’s go mad after 7 years and “think” themselves to death in Halo lore).
At the end of the game, the Master Chief is willing to sacrifice himself to save humanity, to which Cortana counters by sacrificing herself in order to save the Chief.
With Cortana gone, the hero of humanity is shaken to his core, possibly for the first time in the series. It is pretty powerful, considering the history these two have had.
I thought so, anyway. I know quite a few people who didn’t like Halo 4, and I get that. As for me, I had a death in the family and simultaneously went through a break-up when I was able to play the game, so seeing the Chief in a similar boat added a new layer of respect and camaraderie. For once, I actually felt like I was in Master Chief's shoes.
As hard as it was to accept, Chief and Cortana—man and machine—failed to live happily ever after.
So what does this tragic love story have to do with Christianity?
Nothing. I just wanted to talk about Halo and compare myself to Master Chief…
Just kidding! In order to look at this properly, we need to look at the forerunner of love, God himself and his Triune nature.
God the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit are all different, yet one and the same. Tim Keller describes the Trinity like a dance, and God wants to pull us into the mix and become one with Him (The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, chapter 14). God further proves his relational mentality by bringing in every tribe, tongue, and nation into one glorious kingdom (Revelation 7:9).
Romantic involvement, then, as created by God, follows that same relational premise: the two different sexes need to become one. That’s what makes it beautiful and worth striving for.
Interestingly enough, the best non-religious definition of love that I've heard actually comes from an assassin droid (the machines are just on top of it today, what can I say?), though his interpretation is quite hilarious!
But in all seriousness, Halo is probably not a game where you think about romance—especially when you are playing it. Top it off with the fact that we barely know anything about the Master Chief (nor have we seen much of his face), and Cortana is, more often than not, just a voice in the background as we demolish wave after wave of aliens.
And yet, many gamers connect to their relationship! Of all the romantic plots within video games, the one involving an antisocial superhuman and an artificial intelligence is one of the most…organic.
For the longest time, I did not know what to make of their relationship. That is, until Halo 4. SPOILERS AHEAD! See, in Halo 4, the Master Chief has two objectives: save the world from an ancient evil (par for the course by now) and save Cortana from rampancy by getting her back to Earth (A.I’s go mad after 7 years and “think” themselves to death in Halo lore).
At the end of the game, the Master Chief is willing to sacrifice himself to save humanity, to which Cortana counters by sacrificing herself in order to save the Chief.
With Cortana gone, the hero of humanity is shaken to his core, possibly for the first time in the series. It is pretty powerful, considering the history these two have had.
I thought so, anyway. I know quite a few people who didn’t like Halo 4, and I get that. As for me, I had a death in the family and simultaneously went through a break-up when I was able to play the game, so seeing the Chief in a similar boat added a new layer of respect and camaraderie. For once, I actually felt like I was in Master Chief's shoes.
As hard as it was to accept, Chief and Cortana—man and machine—failed to live happily ever after.
So what does this tragic love story have to do with Christianity?
Nothing. I just wanted to talk about Halo and compare myself to Master Chief…
Just kidding! In order to look at this properly, we need to look at the forerunner of love, God himself and his Triune nature.
God the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit are all different, yet one and the same. Tim Keller describes the Trinity like a dance, and God wants to pull us into the mix and become one with Him (The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, chapter 14). God further proves his relational mentality by bringing in every tribe, tongue, and nation into one glorious kingdom (Revelation 7:9).
Romantic involvement, then, as created by God, follows that same relational premise: the two different sexes need to become one. That’s what makes it beautiful and worth striving for.
Interestingly enough, the best non-religious definition of love that I've heard actually comes from an assassin droid (the machines are just on top of it today, what can I say?), though his interpretation is quite hilarious!
Observation: Maybe getting love advice from this droid is the reason why I'm single...
Proud Statement: Then if loving HK-47 too much is wrong, then I don't want to be right!
However, we live in a fallen world, and we often look for ways around God’s way. Hence the existence of porn, masturbation, prostitution, friends with benefits, casual sex, etc. The focus becomes less on creating a covenant bond and more on the thrill and pleasure (often turning the other person into an object, I might add).
Does that all make sense? There are many sermons and books on this topic by people who know much more than I ever will, so check them out if you are able. In the meantime, let us bring video games back to the forefront!
Much like violence, having romance in most video games does not seem bad in-and-of itself. It can add to the experience, if used wisely. Key word: wisely. Romance, in any medium, is a great way to humanize a character. In games like Mass Effect or Skyrim, by giving your character a lover or a spouse, then you naturally become more invested in his or her happiness.
But remember, video games have that unique element of interactivity, and games have been known to exploit that interaction for cheap thrills in what can be summed up as fantasy fulfillment.
In all my years of gaming, most romance options have three elements that further show fantasy fulfillment:
1) You can tell who is "romance-able" by whoever is the most over-sexualized (especially the females).
2) The pinnacle of pursuing a relationship in these games is sex. That's it. There is rarely anything past that point.
3) Once you sleep with them, you often get an achievement?! ("Heavy risk... But the priiiize..." ACTUAL quote from a game).
In some ways, the gamers (especially male gamers) are the ones being "played".
Many developers take your relationship or sexual fantasies and use them either as a crutch for the rest of the game (hoping you will give them a pass for crappy gameplay) or as a selling point. Whether it is purely eye candy (Dead of Alive), full on nudity (Witcher), foreplay (Catherine), innuendo (Bayonetta), “realism” (Heavy Rain), convenience (Dragon Age—“Hey! Let’s give the player a picture of a heart for every dialogue choice that furthers the romance, so it’s hassle-free!”), etc. The list goes on and on, and will continue to go on and on.
Fun side fact: I kept Ashley Williams—my romance option in Mass Effect—alive and turned down her offer to sleep together right before we went to the planet Ilos, and the game did not know what to do with it. Come Mass Effect 2 and 3 where it transfers your save data from game to game, it just assumed that sex was the logical progression. Ashley and other companions kept bringing up that night as if something happened, which I found awkward and hilarious. Nonetheless, I feel like this little oversight helps prove my point that you are expected to fulfill your fantasies.
My only fear is that too much of this (or at least too much emphasis on both the developer side and the consumer side) could lead to unrealistic expectations in the real world and in real relationships. Too much fantasy fulfillment and you begin to crave it and anticipate it. That, I believe, is why people get addicted to porn, masturbation, sex, etc. They find an easier way than God’s way and begin to rely on it, bypassing the intricacies of “oneness” involved in a deep relationship. Worse, it might even lessen the beauty and joy that comes from real relationships (granted, this is an extreme case).
Again, romance in video games is fine in my opinion as long as you know your limits and find a way to stay accountable. I personally have always had to err on the side of caution by forgoing or minimalizing romantic subplots in games because, like Cortana, I often “think” myself to death, so the images I see stay in my head for far longer and are analyzed much more in depth than everyone else (so it seems, anyway) to the point where I fall to sin. That is why I wanted to touch on this subject specifically.
So as we go about from video game to video game, keep in mind that none of those perfect love interests are real, no matter how “organic” it seems. Whatever pleasure gained from those interactions is moot in the end.
No matter how hard you try, there is no happily ever after with these characters.
And whether it comes from a magazine, the internet, or a gaming machine, too much fantasy fulfillment could very well lead you into addiction. And in some sense, addiction leads you to constantly repeat acts to the point where all emotional pull and--to put it bluntly--humanity is lost.
See the connection? I firmly believe that God didn't intend for us to "become one" with a machine.
Funny… “She said that to me once…About being a machine…”
Proud Statement: Then if loving HK-47 too much is wrong, then I don't want to be right!
However, we live in a fallen world, and we often look for ways around God’s way. Hence the existence of porn, masturbation, prostitution, friends with benefits, casual sex, etc. The focus becomes less on creating a covenant bond and more on the thrill and pleasure (often turning the other person into an object, I might add).
Does that all make sense? There are many sermons and books on this topic by people who know much more than I ever will, so check them out if you are able. In the meantime, let us bring video games back to the forefront!
Much like violence, having romance in most video games does not seem bad in-and-of itself. It can add to the experience, if used wisely. Key word: wisely. Romance, in any medium, is a great way to humanize a character. In games like Mass Effect or Skyrim, by giving your character a lover or a spouse, then you naturally become more invested in his or her happiness.
But remember, video games have that unique element of interactivity, and games have been known to exploit that interaction for cheap thrills in what can be summed up as fantasy fulfillment.
In all my years of gaming, most romance options have three elements that further show fantasy fulfillment:
1) You can tell who is "romance-able" by whoever is the most over-sexualized (especially the females).
2) The pinnacle of pursuing a relationship in these games is sex. That's it. There is rarely anything past that point.
3) Once you sleep with them, you often get an achievement?! ("Heavy risk... But the priiiize..." ACTUAL quote from a game).
In some ways, the gamers (especially male gamers) are the ones being "played".
Many developers take your relationship or sexual fantasies and use them either as a crutch for the rest of the game (hoping you will give them a pass for crappy gameplay) or as a selling point. Whether it is purely eye candy (Dead of Alive), full on nudity (Witcher), foreplay (Catherine), innuendo (Bayonetta), “realism” (Heavy Rain), convenience (Dragon Age—“Hey! Let’s give the player a picture of a heart for every dialogue choice that furthers the romance, so it’s hassle-free!”), etc. The list goes on and on, and will continue to go on and on.
Fun side fact: I kept Ashley Williams—my romance option in Mass Effect—alive and turned down her offer to sleep together right before we went to the planet Ilos, and the game did not know what to do with it. Come Mass Effect 2 and 3 where it transfers your save data from game to game, it just assumed that sex was the logical progression. Ashley and other companions kept bringing up that night as if something happened, which I found awkward and hilarious. Nonetheless, I feel like this little oversight helps prove my point that you are expected to fulfill your fantasies.
My only fear is that too much of this (or at least too much emphasis on both the developer side and the consumer side) could lead to unrealistic expectations in the real world and in real relationships. Too much fantasy fulfillment and you begin to crave it and anticipate it. That, I believe, is why people get addicted to porn, masturbation, sex, etc. They find an easier way than God’s way and begin to rely on it, bypassing the intricacies of “oneness” involved in a deep relationship. Worse, it might even lessen the beauty and joy that comes from real relationships (granted, this is an extreme case).
Again, romance in video games is fine in my opinion as long as you know your limits and find a way to stay accountable. I personally have always had to err on the side of caution by forgoing or minimalizing romantic subplots in games because, like Cortana, I often “think” myself to death, so the images I see stay in my head for far longer and are analyzed much more in depth than everyone else (so it seems, anyway) to the point where I fall to sin. That is why I wanted to touch on this subject specifically.
So as we go about from video game to video game, keep in mind that none of those perfect love interests are real, no matter how “organic” it seems. Whatever pleasure gained from those interactions is moot in the end.
No matter how hard you try, there is no happily ever after with these characters.
And whether it comes from a magazine, the internet, or a gaming machine, too much fantasy fulfillment could very well lead you into addiction. And in some sense, addiction leads you to constantly repeat acts to the point where all emotional pull and--to put it bluntly--humanity is lost.
See the connection? I firmly believe that God didn't intend for us to "become one" with a machine.
Funny… “She said that to me once…About being a machine…”
Farewell, good hunter. May I see you return next week!