>
> You're looking in the wrong genre. If you're looking for plot, I would
> recommend adventure games rather than shooters. Especially the horror ones.
> The Lost Crown really, really impressed me. It was brilliant.
>
> Or any of the Benoit Sokal games. They're too cute to hold my attention,
> but they are certainly well done.
>
Its not just plot I'm talking about though. I think computer games have the ability to be fun, tell a good story and teach the player something. You can find elements of each of these in specific games, but its rare. Its also rare that you come across a computer game that really hooks you in, how should I put it... on a personal level, like a good book or film. But again, I don't mean simply from the standpoint of a good storyline. Given that in games you actually interact with the surroundings, as opposed to observing them, there is so much potential.
Okay, I mentioned making genuine ethical decisions with ambiguous outcomes - which, again, I've only really seen in the old Fallout games, which, incidentally, I'd highly recommend, they're pretty cheap these days. For example, in Fallout 2, set in the ruins of a nuclear war, at one point the player is confronted with a city that is far more advanced than the surrounding cities, however, the catch is that the only "outsiders" allowed in are those which are to work as slaves (they even make the president of the city black which adds to the ambiguity!). Not only is the player able to engage people in the city in conversations regarding this state of affairs, where he learns, quite rightly, that the slaves are better off than they are outside and that were the leaders to allow everyone access the city would fall apart; the player is also able to meddle in the politics of the region and attempt to either prop up or facillitate the downfall of the city.
I think if you were looking for a leftist version of computer games this is where to find it. It seems to me to move beyond the Benjaminian thesis that modern reproducible art should "instruct the masses" - which I always found extremely dubious - and into a sphere where people using these media are actually forced to independently evaluate and question circumstances...
Oh yea, and for all the budding Marxist-Leninists amoung us, its not great and certainly doesn't incorporate any of the elements which I'm talking about, but...
http://www.eidosinteractive.co.uk/gss/republic/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novistrana#Setting
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/republictherevolution/index.html