Comic for Friday 10/4 (Early High Res) (Patreon)

Breakpoint is not quite what I was hoping it would be. Don't get me wrong, I love me some good military porn, and the Tom Clancy games usually deliver regardless. But I'd been hoping Breakpoint would veer a little more tactical/realistic like the old Ghost Recon games, and instead it went the other way. More arcadey with a dash of RPG.

Nevertheless, as much as I enjoy these types of games, I also always feel a little weird when I play them. I like playing as the elite soldiers in these (mostly) grounded-in-realism Tom Clancy games, but they always exemplify a personality type and culture that is so drastically different than my own.

Games are great for escaping our reality and letting us roleplay other experiences, of course. But I can play as a mute Hylian boy with a fated sword and penchant for lawn maintenance without having to think about actual mute Hylians out there risking their lives for a princess. Whereas there are people that really live (at least some facsimile of) the experiences depicted in games like Tom Clancy.

I have the utmost respect for members of the armed forces; they do a job that I was not willing to do. But I have never said "hooah" and meant it. I have never bearded up and worn a t-shirt under a bulletproof vest somewhere I might get shot at. I've never worn one a shemagh, and in fact I had to Google "black and tan middle eastern scarf thing" to find out what it was called. I have never so much as touched a real gun, and frankly I have no interest to.

What I'm getting at is, that sometimes when I play these military-esque shooters, it almost feels like I'm trespassing in a weird sort of way. Like it's not for me, like I don't belong, but I've sort of snuck in anyway.