6 votes

Sorry, wrong apocalypse: Horizon Zero Dawn, Heaven’s Vault, and the eco-critical video game

1 comment

  1. Whom
    Link

    As we have seen, the tremendous size and scope of climate change can be extremely difficult to capture narratively. Cli-fi stories require more than just the window dressing provided by an environmentally conscious theme if they are to capture the enormity of the problem or to inspire the revolutionary changes that will have to be made if we are to have any hope of solving it. Rather, we must invent new storytelling formats that are capable of explicating the radical interrelatedness that exists between human beings, other living creatures, and the Earth itself. Videogames have the potential to serve as one of these new storytelling formats, but only if we are willing to move beyond combat as a core mechanic and explore other ways of relating to the digital worlds we create. For it is through these alternative explorations that we can begin the process of imagining new ways of relating to our planet before it is too late.

    1 vote