Minotaur Monday: Gods of War Minotaur

In the video clip you are about to watch there is one fierce fuckin' fire-breathing minotaur. The God-like warrior looks like a pencil-necked pipsqueak in comparison. 

The minotaur in the clip isn't remotely as happy to see you as this big guy. In fact, just to get by, you will labor to kill him. And that, sadly, is how minotaurs are regarded in most mass-pop cultural exercises. Poor beastie boys never get a fair shake or a 'howdya do?'. 

Art by Logan:

I was watching this hyperbolic clip and wondering how much the composer gets paid for this kind of work. These games cost millions to develop. Hopefully, he has a decent check on payday. The music is so dramatic and overwrought it forces you to either get caught up in the violent action or quickly adjust the volume. It isn't designed to be unobtrusive, but is a good match for the intensity of the action and the characters interplay.

Sometimes I regret that I never learned how to play some of these computer games, but most of the time I find them more about manual dexterity and rapid eye-to-hand coordination than about anything mentally stimulating. 

The point of most of these games to go on a killing spree to gain points and needed tools (weapons, potions, etc.) on your journey. For me the whole experience just bogs down in rote slicing and dicing, goring and boring after a while. 

Art by The 3D Artist:

I like the mythological settings and the use of manimals, but unless you get involved in a MMORPG you cannot take a manimal as an avatar and wind up playing a character who kills them instead. That's not exactly my cup o' meat.

I hope they develop a good one of these for Macs someday where I'll be able to play a centaur warrior instead of a wimpy human. An adult-oriented game with added simulated sexual components (gay, straight, and bi player options would be crucial) would be a blockbuster IMHO.

Right now you have limited choices as for actual game themes. The settings and character styles are legion. While the content is always limited to just a few basic game styles. Primarily, there are super violent games aimed at teenagers and young adult males. Then there are games like the "Sims" based on the idea of setting up homes and building communities. Then there are the MMORPG like "World of Warcraft" where you can do both the warfare and the establishment of groups. 

Beyond those, I haven't quite found anything I really enjoy or has satisfied my particular interests. Becoming adept at incapacitating foes has never appealed to me (no matter how much I like Chinese Martial arts films). Just covering different terrains doesn't move me much either, regardless of the inherent traps and diversions.  

This is a cool minotaur figure I have made by Safari Ltd.:

I don't think I am extraordinarily hard to please. I just fall into a segment of the population that would like to be entertained, educated, informed, and, on occasion, play sex roles as well. Establishing military maneuvers and determining warfare strategy is not beyond my abilities--it's beyond my level of interest and, because of the bloodshed component, far removed from my tolerance and amusement levels, too.

"Gods of War", like another somewhat similarly themed game,  "Gods and Heroes", has a Greco-Roman mythological setting with manimal opponents. Here is a contest between a warrior and a giant minotaur. You will probably tire of the thing as rapidly as I did, but the graphics are fairly impressive and worth a look. Especially, if you like giant monstrous bullheaded fiends.