You might recall my post about the Iran-based digital artist Soheil Danesh. Soheil has in recent years been working on a game called “Garshasp“, a game that is as the title suggests built around the Iranian character by the same name and the Persian mythology. The game looks aesthetically decent and even though it wont meet much of the current standards of the Western game industry it is nonetheless a brave attempt by a small Iranian company with limited capital and resources.
However what is interesting is that while Iranians are always ready to rip the throat of any Westerner who has the nerve to somehow adopt the Iranian history or Persian mythology with even the slightest alteration, let alone discrepancies (I have been waiting a couple of years now for the massive mob that the Prince of Persia movie premier will raise by the end of this month!lol) have themselves completely neglected these elements and essences in the game about Garshasp! Garshasp and his world do not look and feel Iranian, instead everything about it looks and feels like a low quality copy of a game the westerners might base on their re-imagined Iranian mythology.
Garshasp looks even less Iranian than the Prince of Persia, for God’s sake!lol Its a hodgepodge mix of elements from various fantasy sagas such as Lord of the Rings and the World of Warcraft games. Anything but references to our own visualizations which exist as miniatures and the traditional tea-house murals (this video is a perfect example of an adequate modern adaptation of such artistic heritage). Meaning that in their attempt to take this concept back to where it belongs they have taken it yet a step further away from home! Ironically. And what is funny and very typical for the Iranian mentality is that this game will probably not raise a single eyebrow (except for my thick ones), let alone provoke and mobilize masses like “300″ did (the wrath which had Frank Miller almost suffering the nationalistic equivalent to a Fatwah!lol).
