Oscar night breeds new war games?!

**Pakman3000** · 03-08-2010, 09:49

Hurt Locker won some Oscars last night, and is a movie about a war. But there's not much shooting in it. Video games could learn from that.

I think a real part of the movie's appeal is that, while set in a war - which is always exotic and exciting - it's not really a war movie. Sure, there are moments of combat, like the sniper shootout in the desert, but for the most part it's about the relationship between three guys and how the stress of war affects them (and everyone around them).

That's more the kind of thing people enjoy from a normal movie, not from war movies, which are normally more about action, thrills and excitement.

Which got me thinking: why can't games follow suit? Why does every war game have to involve shooting? And not just shooting, lots of shooting?

We don't need every game set in a war to be about driving tanks and moving past spawn points and manning turrets.

I mean, we could - if we're going to take Hurt Locker as direct inspiration - have a puzzle game, in the vein of Trauma Centre, where you need to disarm bombs and unexploded ordinance. We could have an adventure game, with journalists or military police on an investigation in a warzone. We could have a base-building deal, where you have to manage the rebuilding of ruined areas of Iraq. Heck, we could even have a Heavy Rain-type deal, a dialogue-heavy game built more around the bond shared by men in conflict than the conflict itself.

We don't have these titles yet, of course. But remember, games often follow a trend set by movies. The pandemic of zombie titles on the shelves today is the result of the recent Dawn of the Dead remake and 28 Days Later. Or, more poignantly in this case, what began as a beach landing scene in 1998's Saving Private Ryan inspired Medal of Honour, and ended with a trend towards Second World War video games that's only showing signs of letting up now, over ten years later.

http://kotaku.com/5488030/can-hurt-l...n-of-war-games

I would not mind seeing a Heavy Rain or cerebral type game set in Saigon during the Vietnam war. That'd be the perfect setting in my book.

**Timmy_2_Tones** · 03-08-2010, 14:29

I really think the author is onto something great here. These are ideas not yet touched by the video game industry and they could be epic titles. I would love to see that idea you had TLOG, it would make a game more interesting for people that have been in situations like that, ie. most of our clan.

**ASignorelli** · 03-08-2010, 18:34

Ummmm... I buy those games cause I like to shoot people. Instant gratification as I see my enemies blood spilled onto the ground. Anyone who even thinks a war game without a load of shooting would make it, is insane. That why people buy! TO KILL! After all, I heard if heavy rain didn't have a good story and new game design it would have FLOPPED.

**jack** · 03-09-2010, 08:49

i'm smelling cheesy game opportunity in the works.

**RookieHunter** · 03-09-2010, 11:28

REAL TALK!! The Camaraderie that we have all experienced in the field is Second to none........Without personally knowing you all, by participating in this community and playing online with you I feel as if I am getting to know you a little better. Everyone plays these games for a reason, I personally like the occasional headshot as much as the next guy (Ok I Love It!!!!), but the reason I play online is to gather with like minded individuals to achieve a common goal. So in my opinion In the Video game world, A War game without War...........Well it would probably be as popular as Prostitution at an Abstinence convention.

**ASignorelli** · 03-09-2010, 20:13

Originally Posted by RookieHunter

Well it would probably be as popular as Prostitution at an Abstinence convention.

HAHAHA! Agreed.

**Timmy_2_Tones** · 03-10-2010, 00:21

I can say that I absolutely agree, a War game is intended to involve War. There is no argument there. However, I think that if there was a game created (not about war but about The life of a Soldier during a war) much like Heavy Rain where you have to go through the daily steps, and the mundane, Guard, getting chow, "Combat Jack". I think that it could honestly (done right) be a pretty interesting. Imagine driving a Humvee from base to an outlying checkpoint, in an open world (sandbox) map. All of the possibilities, IED's, Machine Gun Nests, or nothing at all just a simple routine patrol. Or like the author suggested going out to disarm an IED, using either yourself or a robot. I think that this is a pretty interesting idea, I know if there was something like this where they could incorporate gun play into an Open world RPG, where your decisions effect your environment, relationships, and you still have to follow the strict regiment that the military requires. it would be profound. I am just saying that if they were able to successfully create an RPG where you play as a soldier while respectfully inserting the daily grind of being deployed, that (to me at least) would be amazing.
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Not that this is the best example, you would obviously need to have some action to make it playable. But you could make it similar to Mass Effect 2, but with an open world. Maybe EA would be up to the task.

**Pakman3000** · 03-10-2010, 00:40

There's no way to have a war game without war, but there is a way to be in a war setting without giving the player actual trigger time all throughout. As you all know, there are tons of things going on at bases worldwide that don't resemble a Call of Duty storyline. What about A Few Good Men/Valley of El Ah/The General's Daughter mixed with Heavy Rain/LA Noire to give us something fresh with an actual story? Even Spy Game with Redford and Pitt. The easiest person to be a protagonist would be an MP/Military Investigator. I know they see alot of shit. I only brought up Saigon, because that's a war setting where personnel had free reign to move about the populace. There is a seedy underworld,black market economy,bombings,Tet offensive embassy takeover, Fall of Saigon airlift,etc etc. Easy to create and flesh out a story from all that that gamer's would want to play.

You could even have a post WW2 reconstruction era espionage game serving as a precursor to what we know as The Cold War. There was an active search for Nazi war criminals,nazi scientists,art treasures of Europe,double agents, etc Just see The Good German(Clooney) for an idea of what I'm saying. There's alot of material out there so that military games aren't typecast as shooters folks.

**ASignorelli** · 03-10-2010, 12:08

Might be good game for civilians, to know and see what most of us went through, but I already been there, done that. It'd be like being a pro skater and playing that new tony hawk game with the fake board. LMAO! Good for civs, but not for me.