I remember reading an article several years ago, can't remember where, that somebody was going to make a game based on the setting of "What if Hitler Won?" It would be similar to resistance in the sense of re-writing history. It would be where the eastern front was dominated by the Germans, D-Day repulsed, and the eventual defeat of the Allies by the Axis powers. In, the Pacific theater Japan would conquer practically all of Asia, and Einstein and the atom bombs may never have happened. I believe that would be a cool I.P. to build on where you could do some of that stealthy Splinter Cell/MGS stuff, or have traditional CoD stuff or what have you as a resistance fighter or something similar. I think that would maybe inject a bit of spice in the genre. I gotta see if i can find that article...
Reviving World War Two Games.
- Thread starter Scolar Visari
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we could try a different war? farther back than WWI. maybe Civil or Revolutionary or maybe a war that didnt even involve the US *gasp* like in France or Italy or Algeria. shoot i dunno. but WWII is old (in the sense that it was been taken from innovation and shot in the face >
) maybe we need an old old war. or maybe Iraq war? scratch that. lets try for a realitic WWIII with no aliens or sci-fi weaponry. just newer technology the imminent threat of nuclear attack. many ppl say that a WIII would include the best weapons ever created and WWIV we would fight with sticks and stones
) maybe we need an old old war. or maybe Iraq war? scratch that. lets try for a realitic WWIII with no aliens or sci-fi weaponry. just newer technology the imminent threat of nuclear attack. many ppl say that a WIII would include the best weapons ever created and WWIV we would fight with sticks and stonesTechnically Resistance takes place after WWII, I actually would have enjoyed the alien intervenion scenario more if the characters had to deal with the prospect of working with their respective enemies because in the end they were all human.
A few years back me and my bodies wrote out an entire game for WW2 from the Nazi perspective. Then they kept churning out more and more games and it sort of felt like they were already beating a dead horse so we just filed it away...
Anyways, yes I would like to play a game from the other sides prospective. I enjoyed playing the Russians in CoD2, a game focused on just the Russian theater would be welcomed by me.
Anyways, yes I would like to play a game from the other sides prospective. I enjoyed playing the Russians in CoD2, a game focused on just the Russian theater would be welcomed by me.
I don't give a flying duck about D-Day, or Omaha beach, or any other cbattle in which American gits kicked Nazi arse. While a game about the Australian part in the War would be nice, we spent a lot of time in Gallipoli, and by that I mean that we were stuck in a bunch of trenches.
I'd buy a game that focused on the Chinese part in the War. Preferably as a Communist. One of the levels would be where you stormed the bath house in Xian to get at the leader of the Nationalists. It would be awesome.
Also, I'm fairly interested in that game Sabateur. That looks fun.
I'd buy a game that focused on the Chinese part in the War. Preferably as a Communist. One of the levels would be where you stormed the bath house in Xian to get at the leader of the Nationalists. It would be awesome.
Also, I'm fairly interested in that game Sabateur. That looks fun.
If you want to tell the story of ww2 as some of you suggest, from any side, and get more involved with the events that went on and what happened and why, then you pretty much need to get away from the fps scene and go towards RPG or an RPG/FPS type game, which I don't think has been done before, or at least not done well enough to be remembered.
If you're still looking for the next big fps though WW1 is probably the most likely place. If you're talking about german perspective then you can take notes from the famous 'All quite on the western front' which was actually originally written from the german perspective, and from the perspective of a school aged boy that thought it would be great to leave school and join the Army with all of his class mates. Though as the story progresses one by one he looses his class mates, as the reality of it all sinks in. Interesting it was quite an outragous anit-war story in it's time and was one of the many books Hitler had burnt when he came to power.
And point to note, yes the ww2 shooter has been played out. It replaced the whole US vs Russia genre that was flogged like a dead horse in it's time. As for the Russian perspective it's interesting to note that more Russian people died in the city of Lenningrad than the entire combined Allied (British/Americian) losses for the war. They got to the point where they had to boil down shoes/boots so they could eat the leather. It puts D-day in perspective.
There was an old Documentary series from back in the 70's called "World at war" that covered every indivdual theatre from the fall of the Cech republic to bush fighting in Burma, Italy, the U Boats, the mass bombing, why the US stayed out of the war as long as it did, and all of the places inbetween, and told by the people that actually experienced the events, including the german people. I'd definetly recommend it to anyone who can get their hands on it.
Lastly, I want to see another game like an old favorite I used to play called Conflict: Europe. The game perspective was taken from the war room, where you moved armies around, and resupplied units and generally told them where to fight. It was all about the Macro-management. You could assign air squadrans to various roles like strategic (read civilian) bombing or Air superiority, Interdiction, and had access to a wide range of nuclear options if you wanted to go that way. It was a brillant game and I've never seen anything done like it since. And a newsfeed would come up each day of indivdual events that had happened based roughtly on how you were doing overall.
If you're still looking for the next big fps though WW1 is probably the most likely place. If you're talking about german perspective then you can take notes from the famous 'All quite on the western front' which was actually originally written from the german perspective, and from the perspective of a school aged boy that thought it would be great to leave school and join the Army with all of his class mates. Though as the story progresses one by one he looses his class mates, as the reality of it all sinks in. Interesting it was quite an outragous anit-war story in it's time and was one of the many books Hitler had burnt when he came to power.
And point to note, yes the ww2 shooter has been played out. It replaced the whole US vs Russia genre that was flogged like a dead horse in it's time. As for the Russian perspective it's interesting to note that more Russian people died in the city of Lenningrad than the entire combined Allied (British/Americian) losses for the war. They got to the point where they had to boil down shoes/boots so they could eat the leather. It puts D-day in perspective.
There was an old Documentary series from back in the 70's called "World at war" that covered every indivdual theatre from the fall of the Cech republic to bush fighting in Burma, Italy, the U Boats, the mass bombing, why the US stayed out of the war as long as it did, and all of the places inbetween, and told by the people that actually experienced the events, including the german people. I'd definetly recommend it to anyone who can get their hands on it.
Lastly, I want to see another game like an old favorite I used to play called Conflict: Europe. The game perspective was taken from the war room, where you moved armies around, and resupplied units and generally told them where to fight. It was all about the Macro-management. You could assign air squadrans to various roles like strategic (read civilian) bombing or Air superiority, Interdiction, and had access to a wide range of nuclear options if you wanted to go that way. It was a brillant game and I've never seen anything done like it since. And a newsfeed would come up each day of indivdual events that had happened based roughtly on how you were doing overall.
I think Relic did a nice job with the german campaign in CoH: Opposing Fronts (besides in terms of pure gaming quality ) because they didnt touch any kind of politcs or ideology. The story and the war is reduced to two german brothers who take place as commanders in the battles of "Operation Market Garden". One of them wants to end the fighting because he thinks the war is lost, the other one wants to continue it, because "then, everything was for nothing!".
So, no concentration camps, no warcrimes, no nazi anything, just two brothers/soldiers in a fucked up situation.
It also has a very tragic end, so there isnt also any "false heroism" in it.
) because they didnt touch any kind of politcs or ideology. The story and the war is reduced to two german brothers who take place as commanders in the battles of "Operation Market Garden". One of them wants to end the fighting because he thinks the war is lost, the other one wants to continue it, because "then, everything was for nothing!".So, no concentration camps, no warcrimes, no nazi anything, just two brothers/soldiers in a fucked up situation.
It also has a very tragic end, so there isnt also any "false heroism" in it.
I'm content to let this genre die. Seeing WWII from the eyes of a German soldier could be a very compelling story, but I'm not sure a game is the best medium to tell it. It would be a game in which you lose no matter what you do if it was historical, and if it isn't historical there isn't any point in playing as a German soldier. Then again it could elevate the storytelling in games at a single stroke if done well.
I imagine a regular infantry solider who fought in everything from the invasion of Poland to the defense of Berlin against the Russians would have his perspective change quite a bit over the course of the war. There could even be an epilogue of the character hearing all about the concentration camps the allies found.
If you want to get really crazy how about a game featuring a German soldier who fought in both World Wars as the main character? The journey of being an 18 year old enlistee to a 49 year old veteran of two wars would be one hell of a story.
Of course the controversy of playing a campaign on the "wrong" side of the most famous war in the world doesn't bear thinking about.
I imagine a regular infantry solider who fought in everything from the invasion of Poland to the defense of Berlin against the Russians would have his perspective change quite a bit over the course of the war. There could even be an epilogue of the character hearing all about the concentration camps the allies found.
If you want to get really crazy how about a game featuring a German soldier who fought in both World Wars as the main character? The journey of being an 18 year old enlistee to a 49 year old veteran of two wars would be one hell of a story.
Of course the controversy of playing a campaign on the "wrong" side of the most famous war in the world doesn't bear thinking about.
Let books tell the story of WWII from different perspectives I'm tired of WWII games. World War 2 has been a creative crutch for the gaming industry since Wolfenstein (most likely before that though my experience of games before that point is zilch) and I think it's time the gaming industry dropped it and started experimenting with different historical periods or simply making things up. The only other crutch which I want to see disappear more than WWII is medieval Europe except with elves and magic and crap. It's been done to death, I think someone needs to branch out from Tolkien fantasy and create something new.
I may be the wrong person to comment on this, as I tend to get bored with war-themed games (RTS aside) a few hours before I put the disc in. That said...
My first impulse was to say that your average American wants to believe that the Nazis were the purest form of evil ever distilled and that America (the brave) was single-handedly responsible for toppling evil. And yes, I'm American, so I get to say stuff like that, because it's true.
But then I thought about it a little more and realized that Medal of Honor: Rising Sun released to rave reviews in Japan, so who knows. My gut feeling is that a game like this would only work once.
- J
My first impulse was to say that your average American wants to believe that the Nazis were the purest form of evil ever distilled and that America (the brave) was single-handedly responsible for toppling evil. And yes, I'm American, so I get to say stuff like that, because it's true.
But then I thought about it a little more and realized that Medal of Honor: Rising Sun released to rave reviews in Japan, so who knows. My gut feeling is that a game like this would only work once.
- J
First of all I would like to keep any nationalistic rivalries out of this thread, I don't bash your country so don't bash America I already know that we look like dicks to the rest of the world. Second if a WW2 game wanted to survive I think it would have to be as realistic as possible and show that the war wasn't as clean as other games portray it. Third, if a game from the German perspective won't be done or fails badly then the next step would be to try Russia. Like D64nz said a game revolving around some of Russia's toughest battles would be cool or you could play as a Russian female soldier/sniper.
To make a game from the German perspective, whilst ensuring that the audience understood the psychology of the people involved, i.e. they did not agree with the Nazi's but went along with it through fear etc. would be nigh on impossible in todays gaming environment. It works in film due to the time spent developing character, however to do that in a game whilst ensuring the main customer base (fps fans, rts fans etc) stay engaged just wouldn't be worth the effort it takes. It may have good intentions but I don't think the gaming public are ready for such an ethical game.
Plus the ERSB would probably stick an M rating on it because they still think of games as a hostile medium.
Plus the ERSB would probably stick an M rating on it because they still think of games as a hostile medium.
The "Brothers in Arms" series allows you to play as Germans in the multiplayer...that's about the only game I can think of that allows you to bellow orders in German during World War 2 while firing at panicky Americans.
Personally, I'm tiring of WW2 games, that period in history has been done to death. Someone please do something different. Here's an idea, why not make a game set in 12th/13th Century Europe where you play as a peasant who figures he'll tag along with a bunch of other religious loons and go on the "Peasants Crusade" to the holy land. Gasp, a historic event which doesn't take place between 1939 and 1945, who da' thunk it! If you don't want to find out the ending to this merry little journey then look away now:
They all died.
Or even better, make a game about the American Civil War. Unless that's too much of a sensitive subject, but it really shouldn't be considering that developers are able to make games based on entire cities inhabited by all manner of mass-murderers, junkies and whores. The GTA series if you haven't guessed.
Oh dear, this seems to have turned into a rant about game development in general rather than whether the industry should revive WW2 games. Well, I don't think it should, there are far better things to be doing instead of being John Rambo in a tin hat mowing down wave after wave of stupid clones.
Has anyone thought about how the Germans feel about these games? For 8 years, in the MoH series alone, the Germans have been portrayed as "those evil bastards", to quote one WW2 game. Find something new to make games about.
P.M.
Personally, I'm tiring of WW2 games, that period in history has been done to death. Someone please do something different. Here's an idea, why not make a game set in 12th/13th Century Europe where you play as a peasant who figures he'll tag along with a bunch of other religious loons and go on the "Peasants Crusade" to the holy land. Gasp, a historic event which doesn't take place between 1939 and 1945, who da' thunk it! If you don't want to find out the ending to this merry little journey then look away now:
They all died.
Or even better, make a game about the American Civil War. Unless that's too much of a sensitive subject, but it really shouldn't be considering that developers are able to make games based on entire cities inhabited by all manner of mass-murderers, junkies and whores. The GTA series if you haven't guessed.
Oh dear, this seems to have turned into a rant about game development in general rather than whether the industry should revive WW2 games. Well, I don't think it should, there are far better things to be doing instead of being John Rambo in a tin hat mowing down wave after wave of stupid clones.
Has anyone thought about how the Germans feel about these games? For 8 years, in the MoH series alone, the Germans have been portrayed as "those evil bastards", to quote one WW2 game. Find something new to make games about.
P.M.
I can think of good ideas for WW2 games that haven't been executed, but I'll reserve them, because it wouldn't be worth digging up the coffin. WW2 games released from here on will get instant marks down from me, even if they are of Valve quality. Find another genre, or better yet, make one yourself.
Unfortunately WW1 was a very, for want of a better word, boring war. Lots of trenches were dug, lots of shells were fired and lots of people died, slumped in the mud and water at the bottom of their trenches. The world moved on from WW1 because it was started by an assassination and is a war we'd rather all forget. Too many people died and it was partially the cause of WW2.John Galt said:
We should probably try to move on from WW2 aswell, we can still remember the glorious dead without having to make a game about it every 2 years.
P.M.