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Essays 24 June 2020, 18:42

author: Michael Pajda

War Games that aren't About Killing

War never changes. But perception thereof by players does. Here are nine games that deal with the subject of war in an unconventional way – rarely encouraging the player to behave like John Rambo on speed.

Table of Contents

WARCO: The News Game (unfortunately cancelled)

Sadly, many of the most innovative and odd games often end up in the bin. This was the case of WARCO: The News Game, an ambitious debut of the now-defunct Australian studio Defiant Development, previously exclusively dedicated to mobile games. The game is still notable, though, as a war game, in which our task would not be mowing enemies down.

The gameplay premises were relatively simple – the player was to enact a war journalist, Jesse DeMarco, instead of bullets, shooting pictures with the camera. The idea was born long before the first Outlast – but the mechanics of recording footage were to be much different. In a game, whose protagonist is an unarmed reporter, our task was to enter the battles in Africa and the Middle East, and use the camera to show the war as it truly is. Dying soldiers, starving children, collapsed buildings and other equally horrific images of a world succumbed in chaos – all of which were to be captured by the player using a camera. Players would also be tasked with assembling the completed material and making it available online. Furthermore, plans included a browser that would let players compare their footage. Unfortunately – it all went down a drain. Maybe one day?

  1. More about WARCO: The News Game
This War of Mine

This War of Mine

Plane Mechanic Simulator

Plane Mechanic Simulator

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Long Gone Days

Long Gone Days

Radio Commander

Radio Commander

11-11: Memories Retold

11-11: Memories Retold

Combat Medic: Special Operations

Combat Medic: Special Operations

WARCO: The News Game

WARCO: The News Game

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