Poll: Would a game where you played a nazi/terrorist be acceptable?

[Mikeyfell]

I can't see why, People seemed to love the Gears of War games and Marcus Fenix is just about one of the worst human beings alive.

"Terrorist" is just a word that "Good guys" use to describe people they want wiped out for reasons they're unwilling to explain. (Han Solo is a terrorist if you work for the Empire) (You play as a terrorist in Red Faction Gorilla)

Nazi... Well you play as Nazis in some of the earlier CoD games, The "Good" Nazis obviously but it's a start.

I can't exactly see what the objective would be in a game where the protagonist was supposed to be a traditional Nazi. A game where your player character is unambiguously evil would be a hard sell (But Gears of War 3 sold so I don't fucking know) Maybe thinking about it in a realistic WW2 setting would be the wrong way to go about it.

How about Nazis Vs. Aliens for a game title.
You're just some Swastika clad guy fighting off the Allies when aliens come down from the sky and wipe America, Brittan and Russia off the map so now the German army is the only thing in between Earth and the bloodthirsty alien hoards.

Or Zombies, CoD World at War's Nazi Zombie mode was the best part of that game, you could be in a prequel to that where you're German soldiers fighting off hoards of the undead until you get eaten. Oh wait that's a spot on discription of CoD WaW's Nazi zombie mode... I guess there is a game where you play as an actual Nazi

 

[Twilight_guy]

Sure it could work (and has to various extents). One of the major problems is public opinion though. Controversy can kill games dead so you have to somehow get good PR or be willing to take the slings of arrows for your game. You also run the risk of making people sympathies with the ideals of the protagonists. Ideals that conflict with with the morals of the public playing them and could lead to people actually becoming Nazis or terrorists (unlikely but accidentally propaganda isn't a new concept). It takes a delicate hand to make people sympathies while not reducing things to a charactercher.

 

[nexus]

The edgyness is thick enough to cut with a knife.

Wow, you're soooo edgy...

Lol?

Back to back, interesting.

I'm not trying to be edgy, not even close. I honestly don't give a shit about my persona on an anonymous internet forum, believe it or not...

This topic is something that has actually bothered me for about 3-5 years now. If I was trying to be "popular" or "edgy", I'd probably try to do what you guys just did.

It's the honest truth, western shooters are pretty much just propaganda.. while they can be entertaining, they typically entertain majority "imperialists" and people who can't identify with anything other than western culture. I mean, really it is kind of sad that if you point anything out like this, then you're accused of merely trying to "go against the grain" being edgy for the sake of it, when really it is common sense for anyone paying attention.

Remember the Battle of Fallujah game that was supposed to portray a more gritty, depressing side of war.. real war, a real battle... Well the people said no, we're not going to let you do that in this free society. We can only make games where we're winning and slaughtering the enemy. What's that? You want to learn more about the truth of war outside of typical mediums? Too bad, either fight the war yourself or go put a yellow flag bumper sticker on your car.. otherwise you just shut your mouth mister.

 

[TheAmokz]

Ever heard of Hearts of Iron? You can play as a Nazi Germany and nuke London, Moscow and Washington DC etc...

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Not only would I be fine with it, it's prime territory for some original damn storylines! In fact, I want to see an RPG in Nazi Germany where the starting classes include Jewish Civillian, German Resistance and SS.

Although, I think we can make do with questionable actions on the part of the 'allies' before we get to that. Just look at Spec Ops: The Line. It's just that developers don't really care to make an interesting storyline.

 

[Doom972]

Lots of games allow for you to play a terrorist they just call the terrorism collateral damage, or necessary evils.

Unacceptable for me. Don't mind if other like that sort of thing as long as it's not in my face.

You already played a terrorist in Spec Ops: The Line. It's all in the context.

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

OT: If it's pulled off well, I think the premise could be good.

A person who bombs a building full of non-combatants isn't fighting for the cause freedom, but for the cause of creating terror - which is why he' called a terrorist, not a freedom fighter. Some organzations seem to think that instead of actually fighting their so called "opressors" for freedom, they can achieve their goals through terror. It has nothing to do with a point of view.

I was just pointing out that such labels are incredibly subjective. Besides, the Israelis are that last people I want to hear labeling others acts as unjustified terrorism.

And I was pointing out that they're not as subjective as you seem to think. And I'm not going to get trolled into that conversation - sorry, not going to bother justifying my country's right to defend itself for you. It's self-explanatory, as it is for all other countries.

So, you recognize Palestine's right to defend itself from a hostile Israel as self-explanatory?

They're not really a nation, and they currently hold the status of an illegitimate (aka observer) country. Also, nobody is attacking them unprovoked. if you want to have any further discussion on this, I suggest respecting the rules of the forum and discuss it on the Religion and Politics forum.

 

[Fuzzed]

Games where I play against them is almost unacceptable

 

[TheRussian]

In Just Cause 2 you are a terrorist that's bringing down the government. The Rebels are arguably worse than the existing government.

 

[redisforever]

Well, it kinda was like that in the C&C games, where you could play as the Brotherhood of NOD, an extremely religious, terrorist organization.

 

[The Night Angel]

I would have to say that unless the game set out to glorify these groups and what they do/did, it should be completely acceptable. If it were done simply for the sake of controversy or whatever, I can imagine it being completely tasteless, but if done for the sake of a good narrative then it should be fine....

 

[Rariow]

If it's played Spec Ops: The Line style, hell yeah. As long as you're not glorifying it and turning monsters into heroes, I'm perfectly fine with it.

It really is all in the details. The average nazi soldier wasn't a monster. Seeing the degradation of normal people into someone willing to kill completely innocent people simply due to their ethnicity could be a really effective piece of game writing.

However, if it was done the same way as CoD is done for the US, it would be unnaceptable. I already have serious problems with the way CoD idolises the US military, doing the same thing for the Nazis or terrorists would be just plain unnaceptable.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

Well it would be fine so long as the game didn't say "all Jews are evil!" or "Kill people because of their skin colour!".

I would be fine if I were playing a nazi who wasn't made out to be evil, the protagonist, but if it said the nazi ideals were right I'd be a bit put off, if you can understand that.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

I'd love to play as a regular german soldier in WW2. But it might be really fucking fun to cut loose as an SS officer, as well, albeit considerably less tasteful.
As for the terrorist thing...well..."How many americans have you killed today?"