Union battles play a big role in new video game (Crane Wars free online)

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/gamereview/article/657837

Jun 28, 2009 04:30 AM


SUPPLIED IMAGE
Organized labour (the hefty guy, left) competes with non-union construction workers (right) in Crane Wars, online at Blurst.com. (June 28, 2009)

Darren Zenko
Special to the Star

The basic conflicts of video games are well established – cops vs. robbers, marines vs. monsters, space marines vs. space monsters, ninjas vs. every living thing in their path, etc. – and familiar. But, as a strike leaves Toronto standing knee-deep in summertime swill (and after the threat of another one put even the ready availability of sweet, worry-suppressing booze at risk), one wonders: where are the games reflecting one of the great conflicts that shaped modern history, the battle of Unions vs. Scabs?

Enter Crane Wars, from Arizona-based developers FlashBang Studios. Free to play on Blurst.com, Crane Wars puts players in the role of a union-stalwart crane operator, racing against time and budget to complete office buildings and, more importantly, outperform the dastardly non-union outfit operating across the street.

Labour rhetoric and trash-talk from both sides flies hot and heavy, but so are hotter and heavier things: Crane Wars allows you to use your crane to pick up construction vehicles and building materials and fling them, trebuchet style, at the non-union site, monkeywrenching their operation in spectacular style.

"It always amuses us to put in some sort of underlying message, if the player wants to read it," comments game designer Steve Swink, whose political-science degree and interest in 20th-century labour movements informed the game. Though the setup and player point-of-view – safety-conscious (in word if not in deed) all-American Joes with the workers' welfare at heart against craven, profit-before-people Scabs who don't even require hard hats – comes across at first as stridently pro-Union, the game mechanics take it deeper.

"Everyone sees things through the lens of their beliefs, experiences, and preconceptions," programmer Matt Mechtley explains in email interviews with staff. "So, yes, the scab is a bit Dick Dastardly, but he rarely throws things at you unless you throw things first. (He) believes the Free Market will win out, and that the Union is simply wasting resources. The Union operator clearly believes his safer, heavily regulated way is right. They both build things successfully, so the overall message is that the only important thing is action. The scabs and union can choose to ignore each other and just do their jobs. In that case, more buildings get built, to general benefit."

The workers' struggles in games usually, of course, take more confrontational form. In this year's Red Faction: Guerrilla, the latest in the Red Faction series sees our Martian hero working with a militant labour group intent on breaking Earth's repressive control. The tactics: Blow up everything is sight, and sell the scrap metal to buy more and better explosives. In 2002's memorable State of Emergency, the player must lead a grassroots urban revolt against the heavy hand of the monolithic Corporation. The tactics: Incite massive riots to cover guerrilla operations.

"We're soft on the Union for sure," Swink adds, "but we make coy little jabs at both sides. Your money, for instance, is constantly decreasing to the point of motion blur to remind you that you're running a Union shop, and doing work is EXPENSIVE." In fact, through its tricky gameplay and steepish learning curve, Crane Wars expresses a viewpoint that's generally pro-worker, whether organized or not.

FULL story at link.