I'm a geek, and I love video games. They give me a chance to empty my mind, get rid of frustration, distract me from anything bad going on, and make up for the lack of role playing games in my life. They are also a great devotional to the Theoi, if you pick something to play with Them in it. For one, it just sets your mind in the Hellenistic mood; even if the mythology is bad, you are still thinking of the Theoi, trying to find the flaws, and smiling at inside jokes made by the creators of the game. This is why I'll share with you my top five Hellenic mythology inspired computer games.
Rise of the Argonauts is an action role-playing game surrounding the myth of Iásōn and his Argonauts as he searches for the Golden Fleece. As taken from Wikipedia:
"In Rise of the Argonauts, the player assumes the role of the protagonist, Jason, a Greek king. Jason's bride, Alceme, is assassinated and Jason avenges her by killing the assassin. He seals her body in the temple where they were supposed to marry, which becomes her mausoleum. After that, Jason discovers the only way to bring back his wife is to obtain the Golden Fleece, which can restore the dead. Traveling to Delphi, Jason learns from the Oracle that the only way to tread the road to the Fleece is to find three descendants of three of his patron gods: Hermes, Ares and Athena. The descendant of Hermes is found on Saria, Athena's on Kythra, whereas Ares' is located at Mycenae.
I'm not really a God of War fan myself, but as it's so solidly set in the right mythological universe, you can't really leave it out, right? The game is--very loosely--based on Hellenic mythology, and is set in Ancient Hellas. The player controls the protagonist Kratos, a Spartan warrior in the service of the Olympian Gods. Kratos is tasked by the Theos Athena to kill Ares, the God of War, who, it is revealed, is responsible for Kratos accidentally killing his wife and child. As Ares ravages Athens, Kratos embarks on a quest to find the one object capable of stopping the god: the legendary Pandora's Box. There are several expansion packs: God of War II, God of War: Betrayal, God of War III, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, and God of War: Chains of Olympus.
Age of Mythology is a real-time strategy game, which means you need to build towns, gather resources, create armies, and ultimately destroying enemy units and buildings. Age of Mythology follows an Atlantean admiral, Arkantos, who is forced to travel through the lands of the game's three cultures, hunting for a cyclops who is in league with Poseidon against Atlantis.
Official product description: "Zeus: Master of Olympus is the sixth game in the award-winning Impressions City Building Series, which has sold over two million copies worldwide. Zeus: Master of Olympus, set in a mythological ancient Greece, serves up a world filled with the likes of Hercules, Athena, Ares, Medusa, the Minotaur, and many others. Players build and rule Greek city-states while summoning heroes and gods to protect their land from monsters and other Greek cities.
Is it the best game of the bunch? No, probably not, but it is the game I have had the most fun with. Titan Quest is an action RPG in which you can play as either male or female (which is a big deal for me). In Titan Quest, the world has been overrun by beasts and creatures--drawn largely from mythology--that are terrorizing the countryside wrecking harvests, burning temples, invading villages etc. Communication with the Theoi has been cut completely and can only be restored when the monsters are driven off. In the expansion pack, you get send to the Underworld by Zeus, to defeat Hades (and that's bloody difficult!)
5. Rise of the Argonauts (PlayStation 3 / XboX 360 / PC)
Rise of the Argonauts is an action role-playing game surrounding the myth of Iásōn and his Argonauts as he searches for the Golden Fleece. As taken from Wikipedia:
"In Rise of the Argonauts, the player assumes the role of the protagonist, Jason, a Greek king. Jason's bride, Alceme, is assassinated and Jason avenges her by killing the assassin. He seals her body in the temple where they were supposed to marry, which becomes her mausoleum. After that, Jason discovers the only way to bring back his wife is to obtain the Golden Fleece, which can restore the dead. Traveling to Delphi, Jason learns from the Oracle that the only way to tread the road to the Fleece is to find three descendants of three of his patron gods: Hermes, Ares and Athena. The descendant of Hermes is found on Saria, Athena's on Kythra, whereas Ares' is located at Mycenae.
After convincing all of them to join him, Jason travels to Delphi again and learns that the Fleece is in Tartarus, the Hell of the Greek Underworld. After obtaining it, Jason sails home to revive Alceme. He confronts Pelias, his traitorous uncle. During the course of the game, Jason will face Blacktongues, who are behind Alceme's assassination, Ionians mercenaries, mythical beasts and other characters, but he won't be alone."
So, not mythologically accurate at all, but definitely fun to play.
4. God of War (PlayStation 3)
I'm not really a God of War fan myself, but as it's so solidly set in the right mythological universe, you can't really leave it out, right? The game is--very loosely--based on Hellenic mythology, and is set in Ancient Hellas. The player controls the protagonist Kratos, a Spartan warrior in the service of the Olympian Gods. Kratos is tasked by the Theos Athena to kill Ares, the God of War, who, it is revealed, is responsible for Kratos accidentally killing his wife and child. As Ares ravages Athens, Kratos embarks on a quest to find the one object capable of stopping the god: the legendary Pandora's Box. There are several expansion packs: God of War II, God of War: Betrayal, God of War III, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, and God of War: Chains of Olympus.
Age of Mythology is a real-time strategy game, which means you need to build towns, gather resources, create armies, and ultimately destroying enemy units and buildings. Age of Mythology follows an Atlantean admiral, Arkantos, who is forced to travel through the lands of the game's three cultures, hunting for a cyclops who is in league with Poseidon against Atlantis.
Arkantos advances his tribe through four Ages: starting in the Archaic Age, up to the Classical Age, the Heroic Age, and finally, the Mythic Age. There are three playable civilizations in Age of Mythology: the Hellens, Egyptians, and Norse. Each civilization has three deities such as Zeus, and Aphrodite. You choose your 'Major God' at the start of the game and pick a new 'minor' one when you advance an age. It's a great game, but not as historically and mythologically accurate as Zeus: Master of Oplympus (see below).
Official product description: "Zeus: Master of Olympus is the sixth game in the award-winning Impressions City Building Series, which has sold over two million copies worldwide. Zeus: Master of Olympus, set in a mythological ancient Greece, serves up a world filled with the likes of Hercules, Athena, Ares, Medusa, the Minotaur, and many others. Players build and rule Greek city-states while summoning heroes and gods to protect their land from monsters and other Greek cities.
Build and rule beautiful city states to help Hercules defeat the Hydra or help Odysseus win the Trojan War. Make powerful allies, get involved in the affairs of immortals of the Greek Pantheon and even meet Zeus, the Father of the Gods himself! You have the power to build cities, summon heroes, and complete mythological adventures in ancient Greece."
If you like city-builders, this title is for you. It gives a fairly decent look at ancient Hellenic life and the mythology is also (pretty much) spot on. The expansion pack Poseidon: Master of Atlantis focusses--you guessed it--on Atlantis and daily life there.
Is it the best game of the bunch? No, probably not, but it is the game I have had the most fun with. Titan Quest is an action RPG in which you can play as either male or female (which is a big deal for me). In Titan Quest, the world has been overrun by beasts and creatures--drawn largely from mythology--that are terrorizing the countryside wrecking harvests, burning temples, invading villages etc. Communication with the Theoi has been cut completely and can only be restored when the monsters are driven off. In the expansion pack, you get send to the Underworld by Zeus, to defeat Hades (and that's bloody difficult!)
So, there you have it: my top five Hellenic mythology inspired computer games. Are your favorites amongst them, or did I forget some?
4 comments:
I loved Rise of teh Argonaughts, wish teh they could do more. The God Of War series is ok, but it does take some of teh myths out of context but overall teh storylines are good. Age of Mythology is also good, but my favourite game of all is definitly Rise of teh Argonaughts
Glad to see you agree ;)
I commented on your youtube replies (that was you, right?) and will post more information about the incenses on Saturday.
Thanks for your comment!
I wonder, as God of War may involve the main character killing off Olympic gods, if you might find that game blasphemous?
I also loved Age of Mythology as well, as I might command civilizations armed with mythical creatures and create scenarios with them.
@Samuel: You know what, I think about things like that a lot, actually. I wonder about it when watching some TV show which does something horrid with the Theoi or play a game or whatever. Is this blasphemous? And then I read some of the ancient plays and remember that even the ancient Hellenes had no issue at all with using representations of the Gods for their amusement. And the Gods never seemed to mind. There is a difference between the Gods and the characters in these games, movies, and series. Those characters are not my Gods. I think, in general, that distinction is very important to remember.
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