The Moral Decision

Game developers believe that they can create environments in game which force gamers to make moral choices which will affect the outcome of a game. However, I don't believe that these simulated environments successfully manage to create the same basis for moral choice as we face in life. The reason for this being that these so-called moral choices have no forcible impact on our lives. While they may affect the outcome of the game it is possible to replay the game while taking a different path and experiencing the story line applied by making different "moral" choices. Bioshock is one such game which will attempt to give gamers the opportunity to experience a world of moral choice. Ultimately, I don't believe that these games really provide much of an impact on a gamer's life beyond the time spent playing them in the first place.

A game which has been released of late which offers gamers the notion of consequence based on choice is Flat Out: Ultimate Carnage. You may be surprised to hear someone say that but this is very true. The choices which you make in Flat Out: Ultimate Carnage are not moral choices but they are choices which can directly affect you winning or losing a race.

I wouldn't have said that this was the case for previous versions of the Flat Out franchise. For the first time in the series impacts with objects and with other vehicles in the game actually can impede your progress more than helping it. The in game objects actually do appear to carry some weight to them. Hitting a large piece of metal scaffolding can slow your car down significantly. While impacting with objects and other vehicles can provide you with a nitro boost the actual impact can slow your vehicle down more than then nitro boost will speed you up. This creates a constant form of decision making process involved in the game. You are constantly deciding whether picking up a little bit of nitro boost now will provide you with a greater benefit for later in the race, or, whether the speed you will lose based on the impact with the objects will be more detrimental to your overall progress.

This is an immediate process of determining whether the pros and cons of your actions will have a positive or negative impact on your overall position in the race when you finally cross the finish line. If you don't win the race you may have trouble progressing through the game. I have found this to be a far better means of implementing a "cause and effect" based system within a game rather than the high moral ground associated with "moral choice" in game. The basis of your decisions can immediately affect the outcome of the race you are in.

Unfortunately, the physics system in Flat Out: Ultimate Carnage was not effectively implemented. As the heavy objects seem to have far greater impact on the cars you start with and less impact on more expensive cars that you can purchase later in the game. This is a shame as the difficulty later is easier based on the cars you purchase. It would have been nice to have a consistent process throughout the entire game.

I don't believe that making games which are devoid of moral choice are a good idea, but the way in which cause and effect affects in game moral choices are poorly implemented and of little impact on games overall. At least, with Flat Out, the decision making process has an immediate impact on the outcome of a race and gamers can find themselves making Pros Vs Cons decisions many times throughout the course of a racing event.