Title (eng)
Gradual Disappearance of the Old. Apocalypse in Eastern European Landscapes
Author
Description (eng)
This paper examines the representations of Eastern European landscapes in local video games
with post-apocalyptic settings. To have an emotional impact, the whole genre needs to be
anchored in our lived world or resemble it at least and landscape representation is an effective
tool to show some of the changes brought about by the more or less specified catastrophe.
Those changes can also constitute new relationships with nature as we usually see, for example,
cities overgrown with vegetation, which can represent motives of hope in this kind of games.
However, since games, like any cultural artifact, are shaped by societal conditions, this paper
considers the post-apocalyptic games S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, Metro 2033 and
DayZ made and set in Eastern Europe. This region is not the traditional centre of the video
game industry and therefore the approach to those themes can be different. Concerning their
specific geopolitical position and based on close reading I state that those games’ landscapes
mirror the state of constant transformation of post-communism.
Keywords (eng)
landscapeEastern Europepost-communistenvironmentthe West
Type (eng)
Language
[eng]
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Title
Gaming the Apocalypse
ISBN
978-3-903470-30-9
Publication
University of Krems Press
Publication
University of Krems Press
Date issued
2025-11-14
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