Far Cry 5, American Right-Wing Terrorism, and Doomsday Prepper Culture

Abstract

The article explores Far Cry 5’scommentary on the rise of the radical right, domestic terrorism, and extremism in America. The game's two primary modes for this narrative critique involve its use of Christian symbolism and its exploration of doomsday prepper culture. What emerges from this analysis is that Far Cry 5 provides a harrowing reckoning in the rise of extremist thought in this country and its ramifications, one that is a timely reflection of current American culture. In Far Cry 5, America becomes the next great empire poised to fall throughout the game and finally, in its tense final sequences, succumbs to nuclear annihilation.

Right-Wing Extremism in Mainstream Games: A Review of the Literature

“…Such games are characterized as applauding settler colonialism and promoting Western conceptions of progress where “it is presumed that technological modernity is the ideal state of human society, and its pursuit justifies annihilation of the game's ‘unproductive’ minor tribes” (Salvati, 2019, p. 161). Even games like Far Cry 5 , designed to critique right-wing radical trends in modern politics, may have helped these groups by depicting them as “inept and ineffective” rather than outright condemning their beliefs (Green, 2022, p. 1033). Such white-centric perspectives in mainstream commercial games may normalize and soft-sell right-wing extremist views to millions of players.…”

Transformasi Desain Video Game Dari Media Bermain Menjadi Media Ekspresif

“…Dari berbagai aspek negatif mungkin yang paling banyak mendapatkan perhatian adalah pengaruh konten kekerasan dari Video Game terhadap penggunanya. Aspek Negatif tersebut sulit dihindari karena kekerasan ekstrim, bahkan ideologi radikal yang terdapat di dunia nyata ikut menginspirasi konten dalam Video Game dalam bentuk-bentuk gambaran kekerasan virtual menjadi kontras yang sangat kuat dari aspekaspek positif dari Video Game, dan bahkan mulai membuka ruang diskusi dibidang Ideologi, Sosial Budaya dan bahkan Pertahanan dan Keamanan (Al-Rawi, 2018;El Ghamari, 2017;Green, 2022;Schulzke, 2013;Stahl, 2006). Disisi lain Video Game juga ditemukan konsistensi terdapatnya aspek positif dari Video Game seperti yang dapat dilihat diberbagai penelitian (Adachi & Willoughby, 2017;Alonso-Díaz et al, 2019;Granic et al, 2014;Liang et al, 2014).…”