The Desert of the Real in Spec Ops: The Line. A Study of Simultaneous Hyperreal Experiences by Protagonist and Player : A Study of Simultaneous Hyperreal Experiences by Protagonist and Player

As an anomaly on the market of military shooters of the 21st century, Spec Ops: The Line entails a journey of undetermined realities and modern warfare consequences. In this study, the narrative is analyzed from the perspective of Jean Baudrillard’s idea that simulations have replaced our conception of reality. Both the protagonist and the player of Spec Ops will unavoidably descend into a state of the hyperreal. They experience multiple possible realities within the game narrative and end up unable to comprehend what has transpired. The hyperreal is defined as the state in which it is impossible to discern reality from simulation. The simulation of reality has proliferated itself into being the reality, and the original has been lost. The excessive use of violence, direct approach of the player through a break with the 4th wall and a deceitful narrator contribute to this loss of reality within the game. Although the game represents simulacra, being a simulation in itself, the object of study is the coexisting state of hyperreal shared between protagonist and player when comprehending events in the game. In the end, neither part can understand or discern with any certainty what transpired within the game.

"It could be one thing or another" - on the construction of an archaeological category

This article explores the history of the archaeological category Sámi circular offering sites, which refers to certain dry wall structures in Finnmark and Troms in northern Norway. In recent years the term has been used more frequently outside this geographical area too, at times to refer to structures vastly different from those originally labelled as circular offering sites. Such interpretations may be questioned, but perhaps it is the category itself that needs to be re-evaluated; a study ofthe research history suggests that the term is a result of a mid-19th century hypothesis that was established due to a lack of other plausible explanations rather than based on indicative finds or on local traditions. This interpretation has later been adopted by key researchers and has never really been challenged by any alternative hypothesis. This article proposes that the stone structures in question could represent other cultural phenomena, and that this needs further investigation.