At first glance, the trio of MLB The Show 23, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage share very little in common. Sure, all three games launched in 2023, and both Spider-Man 2 and Assassin’s Creed Mirage feature dense open worlds, but other than what you might call broad similarities, they’re almost entirely disparate from one another. That is, except for one surprising commonality: They all taught me something new about the past.
From a packed ballpark in 1920s Kansas to the comic-book streets of New York City and a bustling ninth-century Baghdad, each game adopts a different approach toward educating its players on specific people, moments, and places from human history. When I look back on 2023–a year stacked with exceptional video games–this unlikely trio of AAA games stands out because of the various ways in which they use the art form to shine a light on underrepresented cultures and the pivotal impact they had on our history–doing so in a way only an interactive medium like video games can.
Innovative Storytelling in MLB The Show 23
In MLB The Show 23, this takes the shape of a new mode called Storylines. Many sports games have ventured into the past before, but none have done so in such a lovingly crafted way as San Diego Studio’s ode to the Negro Leagues. Storylines is essentially a series of playable documentaries, with each one combining archival footage, eye-catching hand-drawn art, and the spellbinding narration of Bob Kendrick–president of the Negro League Baseball Museum–to explore the lives and careers of eight legendary baseball players from an era before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. It’s impossible to be a fan of baseball without knowing the story of Robinson and his iconic 42, but MLB The Show 23 taught me about other incredible players I knew next to nothing about, including Satchel Page, Hilton Smith, and Hank Thompson.
Embracing Diversity in Video Games
Each of the eight players is given a one- to two-hour documentary filled with reverence, striking attention to detail, and the gravitas needed to tell the enthralling story of people triumphing in the face of prejudice and hate. These documentaries are as much about sports history as they are about American history and the civil rights movement, giving these players the long-overdue recognition they deserve after being overlooked or completely forgotten due to segregation. Storylines doesn’t just give you a better understanding of who these people were either; it lets you experience why someone like Satchel Page was so transcendent.
Musical History in Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2, on the other hand, takes a different approach to its historical veneration. Partway through the blockbuster sequel, protagonist Miles Morales is given a task by his mom, Rio, to help the curator of the Harlem Cultural Museum. She’s been locked out of the building when a donor arrives to pledge essential funds to keep it open. What initially seems like a reasonably low-stakes task–doing nothing more than lending the game a taste of that friendly neighborhood Spider-Man–quickly transforms into a questline that carries much more weight. As it turns out, the reason the curator was locked out of the museum is because it was being raided by a gang of thugs who made off with an impressive collection of jazz memorabilia. A series of missions follow as Miles attempts to recover the stolen instruments. The stakes never increase beyond this; it’s a questline that grounds the rest of the game and underlines how much Spider-Man means to the city of New York. Miles is also invested because he cares about his community, even when supervillains and world-ending events aren’t threatening it.
Reviving a Golden Age in Assassin’s Creed Mirage
The same can be said of Assassin’s Creed Mirage and its focus on Middle Eastern history. The latest game in Ubisoft’s long-running series is set during the Islamic Golden Age of Baghdad when the Abbasid Caliphate ruled the city. This part of the world, especially in historical terms, is rarely represented in popular culture unless it’s a backdrop for modern warfare, regularly dehumanizing Muslim and Arab people in the process. For most Westerners, the capital of Iraq is associated with the War on Terror, but with Mirage, Ubisoft is taking a small step to rectify this by delving into the medieval city’s complex past. As protagonist Basim, you’re able to uncover 66 historical sites by exploring Baghdad, with each one unlocking an article pertaining to various aspects of the city, from the daily life of its citizens to the role of the government and its burgeoning art scene. It’s an eye-opening look back at a city that influenced the world, yet one that so many know so little about.