Playdead’s Inside and Id Software’s Doom were lauded on release for smart game design, sharp aesthetic execution, and for some pretty clever mechanics. But both also have something to say about the way we recklessly allow technology to consume ourselves in the name of progress.
Over the last century, new technologies have again and again transformed the daily lives of billions of people in positive ways. But along the way, those technologies have also left wounds in the earth—wounds that are often a little too easy to ignore, footprints left behind by humanity’s rapid development.
It shouldn’t be too surprising that Inside and Doom both find ways to address these issues—after all, sci-fi has a long history of intertwining unbelievable worlds with familiar problems. Even though one is a quiet game of reflection and the other is a metal-filled murderfest, both Inside and Doom offer analogies to the real-life workplace hazards and environmental degradation that come along with modernization. Both also allude, through their characters and setting, to the ways in which environmental disasters impact society’s have-nots most. …continue reading on Waypoint