The week that was: Controversy over Assassin’s Creed, And God of War. PETA whines about fake whale violence, and a God of War trophy that made a couple of people go “woah”.
Ah, what a week we had in the world of video games. Once again, video games were the subject matter of controversy. This time the controversy centered around Assassin’s Creed, and God of War. What about? Why violence, of course!…and the name of a Silver Trophy in God of War: Ascension.
First, let’s get to the Assassin’s Creed controversy, since that was the first game this past week that came under fire. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was announced last Monday and it’s set in the early 18th century. During the 1700’s whaling was a prevalent and profitable industry. So, obviously, as an artist with a vision you want to be as historically accurate as possible. With Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag being set in the 1700’s whaling will be featured, so there’s no problem, right? Enter PETA.
PETA had to make a statement on this matter:
Whaling- that is, shooting whales with harpoons and leaving them to struggle for an hour or more before they die or are hacked apart while they are still alive – may seem like something out of the history books, but this bloody industry still goes on today in the face of international condemnation, and it’s disgraceful for any game to glorify it.
PETA encourages video game companies to create games that celebrate animals – not games that promote hurting and killing them.
Ubisoft responded to the statement with a statement of their own.
History is our playground in Assassin’s Creed. Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag is a work of fiction that depicts the real events during the Golden Era of Pirates. We do not condone illegal whaling, just as we don’t condone a pirate lifestyle of poor hygiene, plundering, hijacking ships, and over the legal limit drunken debauchery.
Obviously, PETA is in the wrong in my eyes. I’m not for whale killing myself, or any type of animal violence, but Assassin’s Creed is a video game. The whales killed in Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag aren’t real, and no whales were harmed in the making of Assassin’s Creed. If I were PETA I would focus more time on real whales getting harpooned, and other real animals getting abused in some sort of fashion.
Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag comes out October 30th in North America and November 1st in Europe on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC. There will be a PlayStation 4 release as well, but no date, presumably it’ll be on the Next-Box as well. If you buy it, kill all the whales you want, have fun, it’s a video game.
The next order of business is God of War: Ascension. Now, you might be thinking, “This might be some heavy duty violence.” But, surprisingly enough, it isn’t. In fact, it has nothing to do with violence. It has all to do with a saying, a joke. In the game, without any spoilers, there’s an action sequence, something happens, and *ding* (that’s supposed to be the Trophy pop up sound) a Silver Trophy by the name of ‘Bros before Hos’ pops up….and apparently, this has offended some people. This has offended people so much that Sony Santa Monica is just going to change the Trophy title name. Everything else is the same, just a name change.
Sony Santa Monica had this to say in a statement:
We have created and will soon push out a patch for God of War: Ascension that alters the title of one of the game Trophies. The text was offensive to some members of our community and impacted their enjoyment of the game. We are endlessly committed to ensuring that our community can fully enjoy the experiences the team has created. As such, we’ve addressed the feedback and amended the Trophy in question.
Again, nothing will be changed except for the Trophy name title. Instead of “Bros before Hos”, it’ll be ‘Bros before 
Foes’.
So, there we have it. We have an organization getting up in arms over some fake whales, and a joke saying that has offended some people. I’m not sure if I’m in the minority or majority anymore, but I’m for the vision of creator’s not being restricted. I don’t think it’s right that art becomes restricted because a few people might get offended over it. Anyway, I won’t ramble too much on it. For those reading, what do you think? Do you agree or disagree with me? Do you agree with PETA?
Do you prefer Bros before Hos or Bros before Foes? Whatever the case may’be, feel free to leave a comment below.
