5 Weird Places No Video Games Should Go

1. Torture

Torture, by all accounts is not good. No one wants to be tortured, and I doubt many people would have the stomach to be the torturer. It's been banned as a method to ply information from prisoners by most countries, regardless of whether they comply or not. Basically it's the worst thing you can do to another human being. There's even plenty of evidence that suggests that it's not even reliable way to get information anyway.

Now there has been torture in games before. Straight away the electro-rack from Metal Gear Solid comes to mind, but that was pretty tame. Then there's implied torture, for instance in Modern Warfare 2 where Soap looks like he's going to get busy with some clamps and batteries as you run through the favela.

It can be an effective plot device if used right. It makes you hate your captors even more and propels you forward to seek revenge/retribution/a psychiatrist. What if the roles are reversed though? What if the game tasked you with torturing someone? I don't just mean flipping a button and electrocuting someone. I mean proper, hardcore pliers to fingernails and teeth. The helpless victim screaming up at you. Most of the time when playing as a bad guy, it's over the top, so it never really ends up with you inserting electrodes up a urethra. Or sometimes the player doesn't realise they're the antagonist until the surprise twist at the end. So that's ok. Torture just doesn't come up.

Now, remember Little Timmy from earlier? Let's tie him to a slap and go to work on him with a hammer and nails.

That's a dark path we should probably avoid taking.

So what do you think? Am I being to namby pamby or are there limits to what we should be allowed to interact with on screen?