Misja: epidemia. Strach przed mutacją jako podstawa światotwórcza gier z trylogii StarCraft II

Abstract

In the chapter Mission: Outbreak. A Fear of Mutation as the World-building Basis for the StarCraft II Trilogy, Krzysztof M. Maj recognizes the postmodern reinterpre-tation of the figure of the zombie in real-time-strategy-based world-building. Having considered a zombie-centric narrative as central to both the game mechanics (survival scenarios in zombie-infested gameworlds, fortification and last-stands design in tower defense games etc.) and to the retroactive nature of post-apocalypse (zombies as remi-niscence of a former human form), the author proceeds with a detailed analysis of the two major aspects of the StarCraft II storyline: the anthropocentric fear of muta-tion and xenonological need for evolution through assimilation. All things consid-ered, the chapter invites a critical reading of postcolonial and paradigmatic discourses that allows Terrans and the Protoss to reduce the Zerg’s xenobiological ability to evolve through infesting other lifeforms and absorbing their genetic material to a mere parasitism and a travesty of the process of natural evolution. Interpreted as zombie-like xenomorphs, the Zerg seem to reveal an unexpected depth in their design which all the more contributes to a better understanding of how the myth of zombism may influence science fiction and fantastic world-building.