(Anti)War Games

[Pulsar_t]

Interesting video, I think it deserves its own thread. Spec Ops: The Line isn't anti-war per se, at least according to its writer, but it does make the player feel mighty uncomfortable and downright dreary at times. This War of Mine which is inspired by true stories of modern war seems also to nail the bleakness of it.. Hopefully there'll be sequels since it's sold well. What other clever war games do you think should be on the list, even if they're not strictly anti-war in their message?

[J T]

Great topic.

I haven't played it yet, but there is a game called Valiant Hearts that is on my wishlist because it fits this category.

I'm still crushed that WARCO: The News Game was cancelled. You play a war journalist who has to compile compelling video clips on the battlefield to craft your story. Unfortunately, all that exists is this trailer.

I think Cannon Fodder is also a retro example of an anti-war game. The way that you could see the little tombstone crosses add up as you lost more and more soldiers in battle added a somber undertone to the otherwise cartoony game. Another early anti-war game is Missile Command, which was based on the game designer's nightmares of nuclear warfare.

If I might also expand the topic to include anti-violent games in general, I would also add Shadow of the Colossus. It's not military war, but the battles leave you feeling like more of a monster than a hero.

[Pulsar_t]

Yes of course we can talk about anything that involves violence and its portrayal in video games. I had that war journalism game in the back of my mind but now that I know it's been cancelled it's a real bummer.

[Ivo]

I think Cannon Fodder is also a retro example of an anti-war game. The way that you could see the little tombstone crosses add up as you lost more and more soldiers in battle added a somber undertone to the otherwise cartoony game.

I was coming into the thread to post this but JT beat me to it.

I may add some info to it as I vaguely remember reading interviews with Sensible Software (the devs) where they outright stated that it was indeed an anti-war game.
An important part of that is that each of your soldiers has a name (the first ones are in fact named after dev team members).

To some extent the catchy tune that plays in the intro ("War never been so much fun") is part of the message.

Another thing that might not be as well known was that the original cover of the game was meant to have the poppy (that still shows up in-game), but they changed the cover before release due to some controversy surrounding the game.
You can read a bit about it on the wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannon_Fod ... ontroversy

[Pulsar_t]

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... 35652.html