Poll: Military Jargon in Games

[Spiner909]

Do you find military codenames and such in combat games cool, unnecessary, or just plain confusing? In certain games, I find it boring. Operation Flashpointragon Rising had no character life, just jargon grumble. It was just blech.
In others, such as Medal of Honor, SOCOM, or maybe Battlefield, it seems to fit in nicely. There's not much in what I've played, but it altogether doesn't really affect it.

And then, we have the Hollywood jargon. (I'm looking at you, Transformers!)
Remember the scene when the Marines fight the scorpion transformer in the desert? When the AC130 gunship fires on it, there's a bunch of cool, techno pilot language and stuff. Kind of inspiring.

And last but not least. we have the confusing language. This goes to Modern Warfare. The special lingo here is like a 50/50 split between awesome and stupid.

For the 'cool' example: "Hunter 2-1, this is Overlord, hostiles spotted south of your location, recommend you use thermal optics, over."

And the stupid one: When storming the Gulag from the air, it's all good until the helicopters come in and bellow "GUNS GUNS GUNS!" and shoot everything in sight (and miss a lot). Do they really say that?

Also, foot mobiles.

 

[Angry Caterpillar]

I really don't care about it being there most of the time. The issue is when people decide it has a place in matchmaking.


FYI: It doesn't.

 

[mrbones228]

"we're Oscar Mike"

Is one of my favorite lines in modern warfare... don't ask why.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Hey look, if it doesn't sound retarded, it's fine!

 

[Omikron009]

I love it. Because I largely understand it. One of my friends is always angry about how people say "I repeat" instead of the proper "I say again." When he heard it in Bad Company 2 he officially decided he liked the game. He was unimpressed with it at first, but after realizing that they paid pretty close attention to detail he warmed up to it.

 

[ultrachicken]

It can be cool, but whenever they abuse it it's just hilarious. Sometimes I like games that use too much military jargon because it's unintentionally funny.

 

[Jandau]

Depends on its usage.

If a game deals with modern combat, NOT having it there would be even wierder. However, I'd expect the devs to do some proper research and implement it in a way that's as close to the real thing as possible. It can get quite silly at times...

 

[RobCoxxy]

My favorite usage is in Halo 3, personally. What is it? "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!"

Rainbow Six Vegas 2:
"Lima Oscar Lima, over."

It works, especially if you know what the hell people are saying. I have to many friends that I've had to explain "Oscar Mike" to...

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

It puts more of a feel into the game that your in the military, well that's what it does for me

Don't have a clue what they all mean but i just roll with it.

 

[Warrior Irme]

I don't mind when games attempt to make military terms fit into gameplay. The most recent games I have played have done it quite well.

 

[manaman]

Depends on its usage.

If a game deals with modern combat, NOT having it there would be even wierder. However, I'd expect the devs to do some proper research and implement it in a way that's as close to the real thing as possible. It can get quite silly at times...

Unless they are taking the time to localize it to each country then they are going to mess up the jargon for someone. Not all militaries, and not even branches among a country's military use the same jargon. The USAF and the US army tend to be fairly similar because the Army Air Corps only moderately recently (in terms of how long the army has been around that is) split off into the Air Force. Even then you could probably tell which branch a person served in if you served in the same branch yourself.

 

[Jandau]

Depends on its usage.

If a game deals with modern combat, NOT having it there would be even wierder. However, I'd expect the devs to do some proper research and implement it in a way that's as close to the real thing as possible. It can get quite silly at times...

Unless they are taking the time to localize it to each country then they are going to mess up the jargon for someone. Not all militaries, and not even branches among a country's military use the same jargon. The USAF and the US army tend to be fairly similar because the Army Air Corps only moderately recently (in terms of how long the army has been around that is) split off into the Air Force. Even then you could probably tell which branch a person served in if you served in the same branch yourself.

And that's why I'm mostly against localizations, beyond proper subtitles. Too much is lost.

 

[sigma83]

Interrogative: Enemy foot mobiles two klicks north north east? Request papa gator helo insertion, cleared hot. First platoon, we're oscar mike!

 

[Sajuuk-khar]

I like it when it's appropriate; RTS and military shooters mostly.

 

[sigma83]

The reason military jargon exists is to say things clearly and quickly in a high stress environment. When I play World in Conflict on LAN it helps to say 'friendly helos inbound' or 'enemy lights rolling in'. So long as everyone involved understands and it's clear, no issues.

It's also fun to get into the immersion!

 

[duchaked]

"we're Oscar Mike"

Is one of my favorite lines in modern warfare... don't ask why.

hahaha I love that line

Hey look, if it doesn't sound retarded, it's fine!

Depends on its usage.

If a game deals with modern combat, NOT having it there would be even wierder. However, I'd expect the devs to do some proper research and implement it in a way that's as close to the real thing as possible. It can get quite silly at times...

it can be used handily

I know some people say they hate hearing it in matchmaking and online...but then again I can't decide if I prefer someone who's at least trying even if they're failing, to someone who just screws all teamwork and runs in blindly

 

[The Cheezy One]

For the 'cool' example: "Hunter 2-1, this is Overlord, hostiles spotted south of your location, recommend you use thermal optics, over."

thats operation flashpoint right?
most of the time its cool, but sometimes you can tell they are just shoving it in for the crack
in MW, i got the idea that they were actually using it, because of the mix of military and normal speaking. rather than loads of games that make almost all one or all another