Six Days in Fallujah: A Documentary Wargame

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Six Days in Fallujah: A Documentary Wargame


battle [http://www.konami.com/] between the U.S. military and insurgents in the Iraqi city that promises a more realistic insight into the nature of war than other videogames.

The idea, according to the Close Combat [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/04/fallujahgamekonami.html] series. "The soldiers wanted to tell their stories through a game because that's what they grew up playing," said Konami Senior Brand Manager John Choon.

The game will be a "traditional third-person tactical shooter" but Atomic describes the game as survival-horror because of the way it will realistically model the lethal and frightening tactics of insurgents in the Fallujah operation. Players will step into a four-man Marine fire team charged with clearing the city and while realistic environments and weapons will feature strongly, Atomic says Six Days in Fallujah will stand out from the crowd by offering "insight" into the reality of modern warfare.

"For us, the challenge was how do you present the horrors of war in a game that is also entertaining, but also gives people insight into a historical situation in a way that only a video game can provide?" Atomic Games President Peter Tamte said in an interview. "Our goal is to give people that insight, of what it's like to be a Marine during that event, what it's like to be a civilian in the city and what it's like to be an insurgent."

The game will feature over a dozen real-life Marines in documentary-style interviews spread throughout the game; those same Marines will also appear in the game itself, performing tasks similar to those they carried out in the actual war. "What interested us were the soldiers' stories," said Anthony Crouts, vice president of marketing at Konami. "Some of these soldiers came right out of high school. They went from boys to men in the span of two weeks."

Players will be confronted with many of the same tough decisions soldiers in the war had to make, quickly and under fire, and in both real life and the game those choices and their consequences aren't always clear. "Our opportunity for giving people insight goes up dramatically when we can present people with the dilemmas and the choices that faced these soldiers," Tamte said. "It's a chance to really give them a better understanding and empathy."

Six Days in Fallujah is currently in development for the PC, PlayStation 3 [http://www.xbox.com], and is scheduled for release in 2010.

(photo [http://www.flickr.com/photos/31910792@N05/3150960541/])


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TsunamiWombat

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Sep 6, 2008
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THIS is bold and awesome. Plus the fact it was thought up by the soldiers itself, makes it doubly awesome. This is even more awesome then my idea for a Mujahideen videogame.
 

KDR_11k

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I wonder how many gamers will use the "if it moves, shoot it" approach to telling hostiles apart from civilians... and how many soldiers did.
 

L33tsauce_Marty

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Jun 26, 2008
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Yes! Buying this when it comes out. The only thing I can gripe on is how it will be a 3rd person game, I rather have deep immersion and see how it was like through their eyes.
 

Doug

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Apr 23, 2008
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TsunamiWombat said:
THIS is bold and awesome. Plus the fact it was thought up by the soldiers itself, makes it doubly awesome. This is even more awesome then my idea for a Mujahideen videogame.
Indeed. I'm quite surprised to see that soldiers want to make a game out of what couldn't have been a fun experience for them. Still, provided they keep involved with the development, this could be awesome.
 

HobbesMkii

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Jun 7, 2008
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Atomic was an excellent choice for this. They excel at the war games they make. I've yet to see them present a game that offers any real narrative, but I have no doubt that they will succeed admirably here as well.
 

runedeadthA

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Wow,I hope they can pull this off and finally prove to the world that gaming is a legitimate way of sharing these experiences, you not need a book or a documentary. What better way to show the relaity of war than to let people experience it first hand?
 

Jumplion

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This is quite the bold goal. It's hard to make a game that's fun but doesn't bog you down and depress you with the "horrors of war", so it'll be interesting to see how they handle this.

I'll definitely keep track of this.
 

fix-the-spade

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Feb 25, 2008
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I can see it already.

"Tonight on Fox, civilian massacre simulator released today,"

It's certainly a brave idea. It'll all hinge on whether the developers are brave enough to make it a realistic account.
 

josh797

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this could be really great..... or really horrible. im kinda excited, this seems to be the first example of people using games as a medium to express themselves, which is my definition of art. ill definitly keep an eye on this one.
 

level250geek

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I thought Call of Duty 4 was an intense depiction of urban combat. I shudder to think the horrors that this game will contain, and can't wait to see them.
 

TsunamiWombat

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fix-the-spade said:
I can see it already.

"Tonight on Fox, civilian massacre simulator released today,"

It's certainly a brave idea. It'll all hinge on whether the developers are brave enough to make it a realistic account.
Ahh but it's made by the troops. You can't not like it, cause otherwise your not supportin' our troops.

Their logic, not mine.
 

Cousin_IT

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This could be a significant step in gaming as a serious cultural medium. However...

Malygris said:
how do you present the horrors of war in a game that is also entertaining
...makes me think it wont be
 

zoozilla

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Dec 3, 2007
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Very interesting, though if done wrong it will offend a lot of people.

They had better take very special care with this game's subject matter.
 

The Random One

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*falls to knees* Finally, the 'are games art?' debate is settled!

This has the potential to be one of the most interesting thing to happen to games in a real long time. I hope they pull it off properly.

And yeah, I think a first-person view would be more intense for dealing with the subject matter, not to mention the setting... but there's still time before the game is done.
 

RebornKusabi

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Mar 11, 2009
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Considering this will be published/Co-developed by the same studio that made Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill, I have high hopes for this one and a honestly fresh take on War sims. Many civilians, such as my self before one of my friends joined the Army, have honestly no idea what soldiers encounter and have to deal with aside from the constant crap that the news media feeds them.

I have always wanted to be a soldier since my family is full of them but I'm unable to join (U.S. Military kinda frowns upon enlisting someone with a very huge history of Severe Bipolar/Psychosis unfortunately...) so all I can do is listen to the stuff my friends talk about and to be honest, I don't think I would have been able to deal with some of the **** they have to.

Anyways, this game will be stuck on my radar until release so we will see if it's worth it.
 

Rooster Cogburn

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May 24, 2008
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This is very exciting. I mean, it has the failure potential of any ambitious project, but it's ambitious nonetheless. I hope they work as closely as possible with the soldiers and deliver an educational and unique experience.

EDIT: Also, there was a trend a few years ago to create deep, interesting, and (more) realistic games in the vein of, say, the original Ghost Recon or Rainbow 6 before Vegas. This style was supplanted by the apparently more marketable "streamlined" style we enjoy today. I hope this represents a new trend back toward really good games.
 

Laurefinde

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Mar 19, 2009
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I know many people who moved back into civilian life from direct contact with the enemy. It changed them, most for the worst, which they acknowledge. I wonder if the truth gets in the game - I hope so since the soldiers themselves might have the ability to make it as realistic as their experience and the game developers allow. I also hope that in the game, players who play with a "kill everything" attitude suffer the consequences too.

So the game may not be "fun" but it might be realistic. Will combat gamers be able to handle that? Normally you shoot and move on, you don't have to deal with the one you shot or their parents, wife, children.
 

cainx10a

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May 17, 2008
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IT's just going to be another generic "if it's BROWN, and it has two legs, shoot it."