Bit of an explanation as to what prompted me to make this post: I recently played through Sniper Ghost Warrior: Contracts 1 and 2 and I just felt off. I've slaughtered hundreds of innocents for my amusement in games like Fallout and TES, I play through No Russian with a grin, but for some reason, I refrain from killing bad guys in SGW? The first one has you hunt down Russian oligarchs and war criminals, while the second one is about Middle Eastern terrorists and this is the game where I feel bad about killing? There's just something about the soldiers talking about their daily problems like making no money, uncomfortable boots and sweating too much, or showing eachother pictures of their dogs, not to mention the absolute horror when you've got a knife against their throat or when they find a body. I hope this isn't weird, but I've never experienced remorse for killing a video game enemy, and I've played a lot of different games. I'd like to hear about your experiences, and which games do a good job humanising common enemies, the concept intrigues me.
Metal Gear Solid 3. The sorrow makes you face the ghosts of all the soldiers you've killed. Some of them are screaming, some of them are on fire, and (possibly the saddest) some of them are just confused as if they're lost and don't know they're dead.
No no no. Kojima had overdone it. He's trying to guilt trip the player sad bad, it turns into a cringe. And then in MGSV he also does same shit, by making you grow horn and giving that permanent blood paint when you kill too much. Bitch, here's the deal: when I catch you and tell you to "freeze" and you do, I might spare you, I might just knock you out. Enemy soldiers tho? They start shooting. They go for the kill IMMEDIATELY. I have all my reasons to kill the fuck out of them.
I think the point of the guilt-trip is that you didn't have to kill them, and if you were good at stealth you would have no need. They're not supposed to know you were ever there. Hard to do with an M60.