Poll: Would you be comfortable killing your country's military in a game?

[MysticSlayer]

I realized today that the only game that I think you can kill American soldiers in(outside of multiplayer) is Prototype, Grand Theft Auto V, and Saints Row the Third. I personally didn't feel bad and only fully realized what I did until later.

Well, technically, any multiplayer military shooter will at times have you killing American soldiers unless it is one of the few that don't feature America as one of the potential teams, but I guess multiplayer doesn't really count.

I guess the primary game I think of where you fight American soldiers would be Modern Warfare 2. The last few levels of that game have you fighting Shadow Company, which in the story is a group of American soldiers serving General Shepherd. While they are sort of borderline rogue, they are still technically part of the American military. However, they're more loyal to Shepherd than anyone else. Granted, at that point, it is unclear if the American government has even survived the invasion of the East Coast.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I wonder if the US/British governments would do anything to prevent circulation of those games in their respective countries.

If they ever do, you can bet your ass that the uproar online would be massive. Games that push the narrative envelope and that dare to bring down the stereotype of the Invulnerable Ass-kicking Allies are needed; as much as games that address issues of gender equality or social disparity.

North Korea would probably love to censor the errant indie video game made as a form of protest, largely because it can't really do much of anything while some foreigners decide to create a platformer parody starring Kim Jong-Un. Similarly, if the US Army ever decides that, say, an Australian developer's game is slandering them, then we'll have reached a new historical low.

The long and short of it all is that opinions matter. I might think that stuff along the lines of Hatred or Ethnic Cleansing isn't much more than purient garbage I wouldn't put on my worst enemy's PC, these games still have the right to exist.

 

[kasperbbs]

I wouldn't mind. First of all it's just a game and i'm not all that attached to my country or it's militry. It's kind of hard to imagine giving a shit about it actually, perhaps if they were defending us from some threat, but i doubt they could even if there was a threat.

 

[kris40k]

I realized today that the only game that I think you can kill American soldiers in(outside of multiplayer) is Prototype, Grand Theft Auto V, and Saints Row the Third. I personally didn't feel bad and only fully realized what I did until later. At this point, the only people you can't kill is children(except in some old games like Fallout 2) so it isn't really surprising, but I wonder how a veteran would feel.

I'd be fine.

Also might want to drop Mercenaries 2 in that list, as you can side with the Chinese Army vs the US Army presence.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

I would and i did.

If anyone is still pondering this, just play any Europa Universalis as one of your neighbors.

 

[Dalisclock]

I realized today that the only game that I think you can kill American soldiers in(outside of multiplayer) is Prototype, Grand Theft Auto V, and Saints Row the Third. I personally didn't feel bad and only fully realized what I did until later.

Well, technically, any multiplayer military shooter will at times have you killing American soldiers unless it is one of the few that don't feature America as one of the potential teams, but I guess multiplayer doesn't really count.

I guess the primary game I think of where you fight American soldiers would be Modern Warfare 2. The last few levels of that game have you fighting Shadow Company, which in the story is a group of American soldiers serving General Shepherd. While they are sort of borderline rogue, they are still technically part of the American military. However, they're more loyal to Shepherd than anyone else. Granted, at that point, it is unclear if the American government has even survived the invasion of the East Coast.

Not to mention that in MW3, Shepherd is buried as a hero and as far as I can tell, that never changes. For whatever reason, Delta lets Price and Yuri come with them on the Siberia mission anyway, despite being wanted for treason.

Which is one of my big gripes with the game that I won't derail the thread with.

 

[Evil Smurf]

The Australian army is giant spiders, no thanks.

I don't have a large sense of patriotism about me, no country is perfect, or completely worth fighting for.

 

[Dalisclock]

Ah. That's the other extreme of course, which is equally messed up. They're still human, and while worshipping the ground they walk on is a bit much, going to the opposite extreme and treating them as pariahs isn't that great either.

But you're right about it being a US thing. I mean, we get it a little around here, but not in the way it seems to go down in the US.
Wow. That's so extreme...

It's never good to hear the government is making all kinds of promises and not keeping them though. That sucks...

Yeah, as a current service member, it makes me uncomfortable at times to hear people treat me like I'm some kind of hero for just wearing the uniform(which really only happens when I'm wearing my uniform in a non-military area and random people see it). Respect for job we do is fine, just as one would respect police, firefighters, EMT responders.

The Promise thing is a symptom(IMHO) of congress being their usual crybaby, useless selves who are more interested in giving the other party a black eye then actually doing anything resembling work, but also the fact that fighting 2 wars simultaneously over a decade has run up a massive debt, and since raising taxes to pay off that debt or pay for the wars still going on is apparently unthinkable, cutting budgets is apparently the way to go. Though the military is still doing the same amount of work even with the budget being cut, which is going to put serious strain on people, equipment, etc. So now cutting benefits is likely going to happen(the 20 year military retirement is probably going away in the next decade).

 

[MoltenSilver]

No, I wouldn't have a problem with it because the entire point of videogames is to take a role wholy different from yourself for a while, whether that role is in a setting where you're rebelling against a corrupt government, or whether that role is playing as a soldier/commander/king/whatever of an enemy nation, or whether you're just an out-and-out villain. I don't see people decrying Evil Genius and claiming it created a generation of Bond Villains.

Though for me specifically I find it doubtful I'd be put against my own nation except for playing as the axis in a WW2 game, and even then it doesn't tend to come up much.

 

[Ieyke]

I could not feasibly care less.

I kill my opponents and don't really care who they were.

 

[go-10]

are Germans comfortable playing Wolfenstein games?

it shouldn't be any different for the rest of us... I think in Metal Gear Solid 1/2/3/GZ you're killing american soldiers so I don't think I'd mind

 

[Rayce Archer]

That only really bugged me in Prototype (along with killing and eating innocent pedestrians). It just felt malicious and ugly as opposed to Saint's Row's "merry prankster" villain protagonist.

 

[Kristoffer Mattila]

Besides, I know that if anyone would attack Sweden, Finland would kick their asses. And then probably annex Sweden.

Nah, Finland wouldn't beat them.
Norway would buy them out.

 

[IceStar100]

To me killing kids is ok if it serves a reason . Maybe showing how far the hero has fallen or how dark the world is now. A kill or be killed world. I'm retired navy usa and to be honest. No matter what it still is 1s and 0s it has no family back home to weep or dreams never lived out. Nothing that makes death in the real world sad. It's just a thing that said it can be used to push an interesting story. Doing it simply for shock value just make me roll my eye like a little kid cursing.

 

[Ldude893]

I live in Hong Kong, so that military would be China.

Yes. Yes, I would.

 

[sageoftruth]

That alone wouldn't be enough. I'm more put off by killing humanized characters. Slapping a US army suit on a guy doesn't make him relatable to me. Giving him character does. Making them come across as helpless or innocent also does the trick. Even if he was shooting at me moments ago, it wouldn't sit right with me to kill someone who was begging for his life.

 

[Kerethos]

Shots fired

Burn

Cut content

<Censored - Finland is too scary>

Seriously though? I'd be fine with it. It wouldn't make any sense whatsoever, but I would be fine with it. Would I buy such a game? No. It's too far past my willing suspension of disbelief to be taken seriously in any way, shape or form.

It would essentially be a farce. Comedic in it's absurdity.

You, good Sir, pretty much summed up my own feelings on the subject; attacking Sweden would feel like a joke, at least in a modern setting.

I already play some Grand Strategy, where areas need conquering and rebellious Swedes get put down and their cities given to my heirs. So technically I've killed plenty of my own countries military, though only in a historic setting so far. Which was when Sweden was actually a big military power in Europe, some 200 years ago, and people had cause to declare war on us.

Nowadays we don't have much of a standing army, or reason to maintain any large enough force to fend of invasion. So, as with Ireland, it'd be a really short game. You'd conquer Stockholm in a blitz attack, probably in under an hour, and we'd surrender before too much got broken. Then we'd try to talk our way out of the conflict.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

As long as they deserve it, or it's clear I'm playing the bad guys, or there's a generally good reason for it, sure.

Although I highly doubt that's gonna happen. Canada gets next to no representation in games period. XD

 

[Barbas]

Yes. The government doesn't fancy that much, which is why C&C: Generals was banned for its opening China mission. Generally, if the government takes a particular dislike to someone or something, that person or thing can't be all bad now can it?

Having slaughtered more men, women, children, businesses, cities and planets in games than I can count, I would think it very odd if I suddenly balked at the idea of wasting the PLA. I think a more interesting question to ask would be "What country's armed forces would you feel most comfortable fighting and killing in a video game?", taking different time period settings into account as well.