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.
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%.
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.