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Opinions 04 December 2014, 12:51

author: Jakub Mirowski

Veterans versus war games – how do real soldiers perceive virtual conflicts

For many - innocent military entertainment. For others – a reminder of traumatic events from the front. What do real life soldiers think of war-themed video games?

No matter how much You adore the Fallout franchise, You must admit that the timeless one-liner: ‘War… war never changes’ is far from the truth. When comparing conflicts in video games, especially those in modern games, and those in games from the previous century, the differences are quite substantial. Some aspects, however, remain untouched throughout the years – like the fact that war always gives our culture countless stories – both of heroism and human cruelty. Soldier characters have always found their place in literature or film. The same was with games – since the heyday of virtual entertainment, We’ve been literally flooded with titles that let us put on a uniform, grab a weapon and head for the front. Titles both good and bad, and sometimes even controversial enough, that those who have lived through the horrors of war, could not walk past them indifferent.

Controversy did not stop Cannon Fodder from becoming a cult classic. - 2014-12-04
Controversy did not stop Cannon Fodder from becoming a cult classic.

Although this article focuses mostly on modern incidents, it is worth remembering that one of the first games to cause voiced discontent of combatants, is nearly two decades old. Cannon Fodder is a classic mix of an arcade game and tactical elements, in which we lead a single squad of soldiers against overwhelming enemies. Despite the fact that the game made by Sensible Software was released back in the day when games were considered to be merely a simple form of entertainment for adolescents, the developer has managed to get the attention of the media and the public. And oh boy, was it notorious.

What in this, surprisingly simple in its’ concepts, game could have spawned controversy? Well…apparently everything. Starting from the title, to the catchline, claiming that war was never this fun before, and finally the game concept itself – the outcome of war was summed up by a score between ‘hosts’ and ‘guests’, were every slain enemy was summed up by a single point. This obvious, anti-war satire with pixelated soldiers has caused a commotion - the Daily Star newspaper featured a call to boycott the game, accusing the creators of glorifying hatred. Ironically enough, the greatest debate regarded the usage of the poppy flower symbolic by Sensible Software. The poppy being a symbol of fallen soldiers, was the one that caught the attention of the British Royal Legion, which called the game ‘appalling’ and forced the creators to remove it from the box cover. However, that didn’t stop Cannon Fodder from becoming an undeniable hit – in the video game press at the time, the game was receiving scores around 90%.

Games such as Medal of Honor are accused of trivializing war, while an another average movie doesn’t cause commotion. - 2014-12-04
Games such as Medal of Honor are accused of trivializing war, while an another average movie doesn’t cause commotion.

15 years later, an American studio Atomic Games wasn’t that much luckier. When it has been announced that the studio will develop Six Days In Fallujah – a tactical FPS, based on a battle that took place in Iraq in 2004, the response from groups associating combatants was unanimously critical. Reassurance that the idea to depict the battle came from soldiers, and the studio itself is trying its’ best to objectively depict war and the relations between the fighting, civilians and even rebels wasn’t enough. Atomic Games was under fire. Colonel Reg Keys of the British army, whose son died on duty in Iraq, called for banning the game from sale. „Those horrible events should be written down in history books, rather than become trivial entertainment for those looking for a good time” – he said. The most common criticism was that the game was announced too soon after the battle – Six Days in Fallujah was announced barely 5 years after the battle in which nearly 100 coalition soldiers and 1500 insurgents have perished. The storm that had hit the media, involving the veterans’ support of course, was too severe for the development team, and Konami has abandoned release plans the same year. Since then, Atomic Games wasn’t able to find anyone willing to publish the game.

One of the biggest controversies regarding Six Days In Fallujah, involved the details of the battle itself. Some reports were indicating, that the American army has used white phosphorus against civilians – the peculiar phosphorus variety being a chemical weapon that causes severe burns, often resulting in death. If Atomic Games were to release the game, they would have to take a stand regarding the issue. As the game didn’t hit store shelves, a different game tackled the subject matter – Spec Ops: The Line which was released in 2012. The usage of white phosphorus in a certain scene made it one of the most shocking moments in video game history.

Another controversy wasn’t that long in the making – veterans have already opposed another game in 2010. This time around, the creators of Medal of Honor were targeted. The game released by Electronic Arts strove from the World War II setting the series was known for, while the creators treated us to a singleplayer campaign based on a still unresolved conflict in Afghanistan. The topicality of the conflict wasn’t the issue anymore, the chance to play as the Taliban in multiplayer was the cause of concern. A ban on selling the game to American military bases was only the tip of the iceberg – due to involvement of veterans from the UK, Canada and Denmark, the governments of the mentioned countries took a stand soon after. The British minister of defense, Liam Fox called the game ‘shocking’ and called for a boycott of the game by store owners. His Canadian counterpart, Peter MacKay accompanied him in saying that: ‘It is inappropriate that anyone, especially kids, should play as jihadists’. EA representatives tried to defend against the criticism, pointing out that in any form of competitive multiplayer someone always has to be the ‘bad guy’. In the end, EA gave in to the pressure, and removed the option to play as the Taliban, exchanging them for the more neutral ‘opposing forces’. That still wasn’t enough to appease all however, and several military shops, despite the changes made to Medal of Honor, didn’t sell the game. General Bruce Casella advocated this decision by claiming, that they are respecting the feelings of those touched by the war in Afghanistan.

A chance to play as the Taliban in Medal of Honor has caused the reaction of ministers of defense of both Great Britain and Canada. - 2014-12-04
A chance to play as the Taliban in Medal of Honor has caused the reaction of ministers of defense of both Great Britain and Canada.

Unsurprisingly, a game which concept involves promoting the military career had its’ own share of controversy. America’s Army was a game financed by the United States Army, which apart from being entertaining, was intended to encourage potential soldiers to pursue a military career. Despite popularity and great reviews from the video game press, in august of 2007 the game was targeted by peace and veteran organizations. Approximately 90 members of such groups took to the streets of St. Louis to protest. Dressed in black, the veterans sang songs about war not being merely a child’s play, and accusing the creators of undermining the horrors of war and disrespecting those who gave their life on duty.

Atomic Games, a relatively unknown studio, has, in opinion of many, showed quite a lack of respect, announcing Six Days In Fallujah nearly half a decade after the battle took place. However when compared to Sony, the American developer has nothing to be ashamed of. The Japanese giant has patented a game named Shock and Awe nearly a day after the invasion on Iraq has begun (Shock and Awe being at the time a popular term regarding the military doctrine applied by the United States during the offensive in 2003). The controversies that arose from the fact that Sony wanted to shamelessly cash in on the conflict forced the company to pull the game from production almost instantly.

A year later, America’s Army has caused commotion once again – due to being given the ‘T’ for teen rating by the ESRB, which meant that even teenagers could enroll in the virtual army. This all resulted in protests in front of Ubisoft headquarters, as the French company was responsible for the console release. Some of the protesters present even accused the United States government of breaking international law, prohibiting from urging the adolescent to take up military service. Others, like then 24-year old Iraq veteran Ryan Lockwood objected to the game’s financing: ‘ It’s just a recruitment tool, and the fact that it is funded by the federal government and sustained by the tax-payers money makes it illegal!’.

The Call of Duty series had its’ own share of controversy over the years. The trailer for Modern Warfare 3 was no exception. - 2014-12-04
The Call of Duty series had its’ own share of controversy over the years. The trailer for Modern Warfare 3 was no exception.

The combatants dissent however, was not only caused by particular titles, but by the entire genre. While most of the games were accused of undermining the subject matter, some of the criticism regarded something else entirely. An Iraq veteran, and the co-founder of the March Forward organization, Mike Prysner points out how games depict enemies: ‘The worst of all is the dehumanization of enemies. Games never show the killed civilians, children and broken families – the true victims of every conflict’. According to the veterans, another bad influence of the developers is the creation of the image of the soldier as an invincible hero. In that matter, a certain trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (as seen below) has caused quite a buzz. The clip, having a humorous overtone, depicts war as a chance for individual stunts and, in all honesty, it’s hard not to be outraged.

The commercial was especially criticized by an Iraq veteran paratrooper, David W. Brown who wrote; ‘After 10 years of constant conflict, thousand amputations, coffins covered with the national flag and hundreds of communities in mourning, did no one think – well that’s embarrassing, let’s just show some gameplay instead?’

In some cases, video games and war veterans go hand in hand. Some clinics have revealed reports of soldiers whose condition improved thanks to video games. An Iraq veteran Bryan Kidd for instance, has witnessed his condition after a severe concussion improve thanks to educational games. In other cases, pain levels of burn victims were significantly lowered by playing Snow World – a game in which the player is simply tasked with throwing snowballs. And most of all, the study from last year shows that reliving traumatic events from the battlefield can be a perfect way to fight the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, helping those traumatized to express their emotions more freely.

Despite all the scandals it is hard to say whether veterans support or condemn war video games. Judging from their statements, most of them consider games to be simply entertainment – nothing compared to horrors of a real they have live through. There are also those that neither criticize nor ignore the subject. On the contrary, many veterans consider the more ambitious projects to be crucial. The aforementioned case of Six Days in Fallujah, in which development’s Marines were involved, is not the only one where the developers used the experience of veterans. The recent one being This War of Mine from the Polish studio 11 bit. The team from Warsaw worked closely with John Keyser – a former medic, who served in Iraq. His memories regarding the civilians whom he was helping, turned out to be very helpful in creating a game about war, as seen through the eyes of those who simply want to survive in a chaos-stricken city.

This War of Mine itself goes to show that recently the entertainment industry is approaching war quite differently to how it used to. In Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain the controversy was caused by the depiction of child soldiers. Valiant Hearts has basically ignored the action, and focused mainly on how the war influences the lives of the group of characters. On the other hand we have Spec Ops: The Line which shocked with blunt images of violence perpetrated by those involved in the conflict. We soon may no longer hear about veterans, accusing developers of trivializing conflicts. Since Fallout was wrong, and war does change, then there is no reason for war video games not to change too.

Jakub Mirowski

Jakub Mirowski

Associated with Gamepressure.com since 2012: he worked in news, editorials, columns, technology, and tvgry departments. Currently specializes in ambitious topics. Wrote both reviews of three installments of the FIFA series, and an article about a low-tech African refrigerator. Apart from GRYOnline.pl, his articles on refugees, migration, and climate change were published in, among others, Krytyka Polityczna, OKO.press, and Nowa Europa Wschodnia. When it comes to games, his scope of interest is a bit more narrow and is limited to whatever FromSoftware throws out, the more intriguing indie games and party-type titles.

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