The war crimes simulator has been restarted Six days in Fallujah got its official revelation of the game yesterday in a new trailer that seems to confirm the criticism some make of the game as unilateral propaganda for the U.S. war machine. The trailer premiered exclusively for IGN, the same website that a few days earlier published an in-depth report on the problems surrounding the game and the apparent unilateralism with which it would become a “playable documentary“One of the deadliest sieges of the US invasion of Iraq.
“United States military veteran sergeant. Jason Kyle and the developers of Victura and Highwire Games tell you the first gameplay video in history Six days in Fallujah, the first-person tactical shooter with procedurally generated mission spaces based on real-life events from the 2004 Second Battle for Fallujah in the Iraq War. ” IGNThe description of free advertising is read.
The video focuses on the template tactics you will use to break into people’s homes and “clean them” of “enemies”. Highlight how the designs will constantly change to capture the feeling of not knowing what you’ll find every time you move into a new room. The game ends with the player entering a room where a family of four hides in the corner in hopes of not being killed. The video then reduces to real-life documentary footage, as a Fallujah resident explains that his father refused to leave the city during the assault.
What he does not mention is that many people were prevented from leaving the city by force.
“How [the U.S. military] believes that many of Fallujah’s men are guerrillas, has instructed US troops to return all men aged 15 to 55, “the Associated press reported in 2004.
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The trailer does not mention the stories of indiscriminate traits by the U.S. military, or that he is said to have used white phosphorus in the attack, a chemical that literally melts through the body. The total number of deaths since the invasion of Iraq began is disputed. but the Iraq Body Count project it is currently estimated that 288,000 people have died, most of them civilians. And the journalists who covered the war have documented the document litany of apologies from the United States government defending these deaths as anything but war crimes.
It is this side of the story that IGN last week in an important report entitled “Six days in Fallujah is complicated and painful for those connected to the real factsThe article interviews several people: Alex, an Arab and Lebanese game developer; Yifat Shaik, an Iraqi Jewish game developer; and a Muslim developer who wanted to remain anonymous about his concerns and skepticism about another shooter who it glorified the sacrifices of the American military.
“Basically, when we look at a media, we have to ask ourselves: what does it mean to us? Who is it for? Who will have more to gain with the acceptance of this media is the truth? … I would say they are not Iraqi civilians, “Shaik said IGN.
As a six-minute commercial for the game, it’s not the kind of questions that pertain to the latest trailer. When Peter Tamte, the head of the original game studio and its current editor, was pressured on these issues in another interview, this time in last episode of IGN is not filtered, had no real answers. Iraqi stories and testimonies were obtained for the game, but they will represent a much smaller part of the game than the first-person tactics deployed by the U.S. Marines. He described the invasion of Iraq not as a grave injustice with a staggering death toll, but as “controversial.”
“I was very upset that we had this battle here which is one of the most significant battles in the western world in almost half a century, but Hollywood has been afraid to tell these stories. The fact that the war in Iraq was controversial does not mean that it is not full of stories of sacrifices, ”Tamte said IGNRyan McCaffrey.
However, the sacrifices of which are raised and spread are precisely the problems.
“Very few people are curious about what it’s like to be an Iraqi civilian,” Tamte said he said in a previous interview with Gamesindustry.biz. “No one will play this game. But people are curious about what it’s like to be in combat. It’s the same reason people play survival horror games – being in a situation that is beyond what we have in our normal lives. Ultimately, the reason people will play this game is because they want a more realistic combat experience. This is above all the experience we have to offer ”.
Six days in Fallujah it may end up being a critical look at the myriad ways in which people suffered during the battle — and at whose hands — but time and time again the marketing of game features has counteracted that possibility. Everyone can and should question how the game looks, if it should even exist, and what it ends up being. What you don’t need to do is host and elevate a trailer that washes a shameful moment in the story in a tactical simulation.
Six days in Fallujah he’s a shooter because that’s what he sells. But no one else has to help them do it.
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