Well, after having completed this again, I’ve come to a realization: The Disruptor is the stupidest Elusive Target WoA has ever had. I make this claim for several different reasons, some of which I hadn’t even thought of until playing it again this evening.
We all know the four big things that we’ve discussed at length that we already knew were stupid about it:
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It’s a celebrity ET based on a guy who is an asshole at best, and has been credibly accused of multiple instances of sexual assault at worst.
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The primary supporting character of the mission, Tim Quinn, isn’t even supposed to be in the position he’s stated to be in anymore, according to Untouchable, making what was supposed to be another canon ET questionable, to put it mildly.
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To say that the ending cutscene is controversial for about four or five reasons, is to say that the Pacific Ocean is damp.
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The awful attention-grabbing/hand-holding mechanics of the mission, telling you exactly where the target is and exactly when, practically setting you on a rail line to fight him directly, exiting you from the mission just by winning the match. It’s almost pathetic in its simplicity.
But as I said, many more reasons occurred to me today, so here’s the new entries to that list:
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This is the only ET who doesn’t have an actual name, just a title, which is both an in and out of universe gimmick that seems incredibly pretentious and meaningless. Even The Fugitive and The Serial Killer had names that were confirmed, and if any two ETs made sense to just go by their titles…
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Why is the target described as a multi-billionaire? What exactly did this guy do to get that status? He doesn’t strike me as being either technologically-minded, nor hailing from an Old Money empire, so where’d his billionaire status come from? I could understand millionaire, based on his athletic success, but a billionaire?
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If he’s a billionaire, what’s his issue with Quinn? Shouldn’t he be more accepting of another rich guy taking up the sport? Sure, the guy’s a joke, but you don’t get to feel offended by a shrimpy rich dude joining your sport when you yourself are a billionaire who has nothing in your background (whatever that is) in common with the other fighters in your sport, just because you’re all buff and tatted.
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Why would the Ark Society host this event? Did we miss something where they went public after Providence fell? How the hell would they be able to explain it when a very public feud between two celebrities ends because of the announcement that one has died, and what are the odds that the coroner’s report details will be kept secret? What are the odds that The Disruptor would keep his mouth shut about it? Fighting to the death would have been illegal in the first place in most countries, right, so the scrutiny around such an event is a scandal in itself. What the hell was the Society thinking?
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Considering what the whole thing is based around, wouldn’t it just be easier for Quinn’s backers to just hire someone to break his arm to the point that he can never fight again and avoid the whole thing? Was counter-killing the assassin-by-default in the match really the only recourse?
I’m sure there’s others I’m not thinking of right now. But to reiterate in summary: yeah, this ET was stupid. Literally the most stupid one to have been released, both in a gameplay and story sense. It’s got a little bit of charm to it, mainly acknowledging that we’ve gone back to Isle of Sgail, and the references to 47’s fight with Sanchez, including 47’s line about it not being his first time engaging in such a match, but beyond little stuff like that, this just isn’t one for IOI to be particularly proud of.