Earth – Classic Space Invaders Styled Gameplay with a Message
December 11, 2009 | Geoff Gibson
Can classically styled games like Space Invaders have profound messages attached? I’d say so with a new game entitled Earth. As part of the Experimental Gameplay Project, Earth was released today — in rough fashion — telling a different sort of story based on the very same Space Invaders gameplay many have loved for decades. While the game is definitely a bit more “artsy” than I’d usually care for, the message underneath is one that’s so simple that I’m honestly surprised I haven’t seen this type of remake before…
The game opens up with little intro and immediately thrusts you into a Space Invaders-like scenario. Upon my first play-through I decided to just starting blasting away, not really knowing what I was doing. I mean, come on… it’s Space Invaders! Right? Not really, actually.
Spoilers ahead. If you are interested in the game I’d wager you play it before reading on. [Earth]
As it turns out, and what I realized about half-way through was that I wasn’t stopping an invasion force from attacking Earth. I was genociding an entire race of aliens that were looking for a savior. This becomes ever apparent when the phrase at the bottom changes from “Killed (x amount) Invaders” changes to “Genocided (x amount) Invaders” about half way through.
It brings to light some serious questions. What would we do if an alien force just appeared out of nowhere? Would we fight back against them immediately or would we question why they were here and offer aid in case of turmoil amongst their ranks? This may seem like a silly question to be asked by from such a simple game, but it certainly calls into question just whether or not those “invaders” from Space Invaders really were invading Earth in the first place…
The high score holders of that particular arcade game may have a lot more blood on their hands than they know…\
[download via Earth]
