The difference is my six-year-old daughter isn’t going to be playing Spec Ops: The Line or Call of Duty.

The issue isn’t the use of conflict as a dramatic device per se; it is essentially forcing the player(s) to perform a seemingly unnecessary and unpleasant action against their will.

The fact that both main characters in the game appear to immediately decide that violently murdering their child’s favorite toy is the only course of action and that no alternative is offered is really jarring. Giving the player some agency in choosing an alternative way to to go about it would have solved the problem completely.

Thanks for the explanation, although I don’t find it a particularly acceptable one. The sequence wasn’t funny enough to justify the dramatic shift in tone in an otherwise family-friendly game, IMO. Also, making the protagonists unlikable in a game where you’re supposed to find them sympathetic is a very weird design decision.

Yeah, that part was a distinct bum note in an otherwise enjoyable game. Why the developers thought it was good idea, I’ll never know.

Just to be clear, these are the most popular metal bands from each country, according to worldwide listening stats, correct?

Sabbath > Maiden any day of the week.