The idea of a game playing the player is also explored in Spec Ops: The Line where (according to the developers) a valid response to the atrocities in the game is to simply stop playing the game, giving up before completing it.
Oh man, Spec Ops is one of my top games, but I've only played it once. Same feeling as watching Requiem for a Dream--once is enough. It's difficult to recommend it to people without giving away the experience of walking in to it thinking "it's just another mideast shooter".