NO, Simply put NO. The horror of war is 6-9 months of training(based on your job) and if you do see combat you will probably need psychiatric help for PTSD. If you get shot 6-12 weeks of healing +6-18 months of physical rehab(if you survive) or you go into a box.
Can a game where you murder hundreds show the horror of war?
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No. You don't smell the fresh corpses, see the guts, hear the poor, broken souls crying out for relief from the pain. You don't experience the long nights of empty patrols, frayed nerves, twitchy fingers, and most of all the connections you forge that don't survive the tour. You don't have to deal with the constant involuntary start every time you hear a loud bang, or the simultaneous respect and fear from everyone you meet, or the anger that comes from every smart-ass, chicken shit post disrespecting the military on the internet. You get the idea.
The only thing that could even come close to showing the horror of war short of being in the military in an intense combat zone for an extended period of time is being on a fresh battlefield that hasn't been cleaned up yet.
The only thing that could even come close to showing the horror of war short of being in the military in an intense combat zone for an extended period of time is being on a fresh battlefield that hasn't been cleaned up yet.
I didnt say it was the perfect fit for the OP just what I believe to be the best answer for the question. As for its cartoon looks I thought they were good. It lighten up the mood of it. Do you really want to play a relistic looking game that has you going through a POW camp and coming across people who are dying due to starvation or that have been worked to death? That game would never get made. VC did the best they could without being too morbid.Sandor [The Hound said:
I have yet to see an example that can capture this, but I am sure it is possible, however, not easy. In fact, video game characters aren't at a point thus far where they are so realistic that I feel sorry for them. Mouth movements in most games are pretty awkward, so all these dramatic moments come out more humorous than impacting. But, its not just games. Very few movies (though much more than games) can show the horrors of war.
Sure games can show the horrors of war, it's just it'd make more sense if you were the villain and you were murdering everyone, simply due to how fighting in games generally works.
Yes, movies can so why the fuck cant games do it? It wouldnt be the normal FPS, it would be more of a sim/adventure type where relationships with the characters would be more important then the actual shooting (like shooting only beeing 5-10% of the game).
The thing is that not many people want to buy that kind of game, but that it is possible to do it sure and it wouldnt suck if done right. Make the dialog the key of the game, not the shooting mechanics and stuff that is directly related with the typical FPS
The thing is that not many people want to buy that kind of game, but that it is possible to do it sure and it wouldnt suck if done right. Make the dialog the key of the game, not the shooting mechanics and stuff that is directly related with the typical FPS
You could, but it wouldn't sell to the mainstream masses. Most people play games to have fun, rather than be enlightened. I'm not saying you couldn't make one, or that it would be bad. You could very well make a very GOOD game with the goal in mind to make you more aware of the horrors of war. But people don't want to feel bad about what they're doing in war games, so most likely you would have to play a third-party member in the conflict, like a refugee, without a gun.
Done well, I would most definitely play that game.
Done well, I would most definitely play that game.
^This. WaW was a really brutal game, I've never felt more of a horror of war feeling. It was terrifying and made me not wanna play the game through again, but it was an amazing experience that I didn't regret for a second. Even served as a (huge) tangential learning experience, getting me to look a lot into the Russian war crimes, which further led me to Stalin and then to the East/West Germany divide.neonsword13-ops said:
Anyway, the nuke explosion in Modern Warfare also did a pretty good job of conveying the horror of nuclear warfare. Most games depicting Vietnam are also good at showing horrors of war, mostly due to the use of flamethrowers.
You raise an interesting point though OP - with all the war games we have in the industry, we still have room for a story of the horrors of war. I'm not sure how popular such a game could be, but it could be good. Games as a medium are excellent at displaying horror due to the interactive nature, particularly when placed in first person to make the player feel as if he's there. The moment in the above mentioned WaW when you have to either kill the German soldiers or watch the Russians throw Molotovs on them was definitely something that got imprinted into my memory.
This. Watching someone you've gotten emotionally invested in getting brutally murdered or tortured would be pretty horrifying. But the people who were doing it couldn't just be doing it to be the token evil side; you'd have to get emotionally invested in both sides of the war to understand the necessity and true horrors behind it.josemlopes said:
Something like playing two protagonists, one on each side of the war, the climax being that you have to pick which one lives and which one dies (be it in a character select before a duel between them, or being forced to kill one of them acting as a NPC). Personal interaction is the thing that sets games apart from other mediums, and if we are to progress as one we need to utilize it.
Not to mention things like making bullet wounds permanent in your character (not so much that it ruins the game, but enough to make you REALLY not want to get shot) and needing to eat and sleep.
Probably not if you want to remain in business and not get an AO rating.
besides, do we really need to see the horrors of war in our videogames? we see them in film/photos and read them as depicted by words of text. and then there's just living wih someone who's been through war. Im not one for ignorance, but there comes a point where you really do have to take a step back, look at yourself and say is this really necessary?
besides, do we really need to see the horrors of war in our videogames? we see them in film/photos and read them as depicted by words of text. and then there's just living wih someone who's been through war. Im not one for ignorance, but there comes a point where you really do have to take a step back, look at yourself and say is this really necessary?