War games

[Shnay]

Over the last few years, the videogame industry has been releasing more and more games based on real-life wars or conflicts. As audio and video technology in games continues to improve, developers are better able to realistically depict a situation. And while a game about a far away planet or a medieval fantasy world can offer a fun escape, a game based on a real war may offer something a bit different.

Up until last year or so, game companies relied almost solely on World War II as the source material for war-based games. This seems to be a lot more "acceptable" as WWII is considered to be a fairly "simple" war, in terms of interpretation. The Allies are the good guys and the Axis are the bad guys, and everyone seems pretty satisfied with that. So, when the player runs through a level in Medal of Honor, shooting countless Nazis in the face, he won't think much of it. Not any more than he would about shooting demons in Doom, or slashing skeletons in a fantasy game.

But developers tapped the WWII well dry, and have now moved on to other wars. Lately, games based around wars such as Viet Nam and the Gulf Wars have begun to emerge. This brings to light the issues that may have been ignored when the WWII games were being released because that is an older and more clear cut war.

But what happens when you release a game based on Viet Nam, a war that remains fresh in the minds of many Americans and is remembered as being a very morally ambiguous conflict? Some games, like Shellshock: 'Nam '67 attempt to capture the true nature of the war, as serious war movies have done in the past. It can be argued that games can capture an immersive feeling that movies can't, since you're taking part in the action, and thus could theoretically give a very powerful perspective on something like war. However, this still leaves the fact that, at the core, it is a "game," where people have fun pretending to act out the real-life horros and mortal danger that actual soldiers experienced.

And what about the several games that have come out depicting the wars in Iraq in Afghanistan? These are conflicts that are still killing real people every day. Can we have fun playing games like these without feeling a bit weird? Can companies sell them at $50 a pop and enjoy their profits with a clean conscience?

These games will continue to appear as long as they continue to sell. So what do we, as gamers, see in them? Do we enjoy playing the role of a heroic soldier in the comfort of our living room? Do we feel that games like Call of Duty offer an immersiveness that Saving Private Ryan lacks? Do we just like realistic settings?

Do you feel weird playing these games knowing that people around you may have fought in wars the games are based on? Would you feel odd telling a veteren about the fun you had with one of these games? What are your thoughts in general about games based on real wars?

[g_UnIt_GaNsTa]

I told my Grandfather (http://www.adsrve.com/linkredirect.php?h=26,31755573,toonzone.net,0), a vet of the Pacific Theater of WW2, that I enjoyed Battlefield 1942. He watched me play it and actually liked it a little bit, mostly because of the realistic plane cockpits (He was a pilot) and the level of realism.


I don't know about the WW2 well being tapped dry, there's Brothers in Arms, MOH series (Going strong.), Countless Strategy games (Soldiers: Heroes of WW2, Sudden Strike Series, Codename Panzers, Combat Mission, ETC.), tons of simulators (IL-2 Sturmovik comes to mind), and a ton of shooters that I haven't mentioned.

I enjoy war games and don't think too much of them being "bad", but I'm glad that games are finally coming out that show war as bad, I remember a few people at the Gamefaqs.com forums that said war was fun. I've always wanted to create an EXTREMELY realistic WW2 game, to finally show the kids that war is not fun, but the extent of the violence (Think Saving Private Ryan) would probably not be accepted by many people, especially the same people who write in Newspaper columns about Postal 2 being "More bad than fun" because they'd miss the point.


A lot of people blame shooter games on violence, especially war games, but I won't blame Videogames on violence until somebody kills a baby with an XBOX.

[Shnay]

I don't know about the WW2 well being tapped dry, there's Brothers in Arms, MOH series (Going strong.), Countless Strategy games (Soldiers: Heroes of WW2, Sudden Strike Series, Codename Panzers, Combat Mission, ETC.), tons of simulators (IL-2 Sturmovik comes to mind), and a ton of shooters that I haven't mentioned.You're right, that was bad wording on my part. What I meant to say was that it seemed like many gamers began to get sick of the WWII setting because of the over-saturation of the market during the last two or three years. They used to be a dime a dozen, but now it seems that most developers are looking to change things up a bit when it comes to war based games.



I enjoy war games and don't think too much of them being "bad", but I'm glad that games are finally coming out that show war as bad, I remember a few people at the Gamefaqs.com forums that said war was fun.
I enjoy them as well. However, they have given me pause to think about the moral issues involved, which no other games really do. I think we're in agreement that the idea of creating a "fun game" based on real war (which is about as far from "fun" as one can get) is a bit odd.

Like any medium that depicts real events, there are varying levels of respect in which the manner is handled. I think games like Call of Duty or Medal of Honor generally treat the realities of war with an acceptable amount of respect. However, games like Viet Cong or Conflict: Desert Storm (although, admitedly, I've never played either) seem like an attempt to cash in on a "realistic" combat setting without giving any thought to the effects those wars actually had.

I think it all comes down to whether or not the developers seem to be trying to use the videogame medium to show a different perspective of a very serious matter, or if the game boils down to "Have fun killing your nation's enemies without having to leave your house!"

(Then there's also the issue of military training simulators being turned into commercial games, which just leads to all new implications to consider.)

I think it's a complicated issue, and one that most people seem to kind of ignore. As I've said, I play and enjoy many of these games. However, I do think it is important when playing a game based around something so serious to stop and think for a moment about what it means to play such a game.