Poll: Military Jargon in Games

[Adam Galli]

As long as you can understand what their saying I think it's pretty cool.

 

[kaotickitkat]

If you've been in the military, you notice all the screwups. To take the popular one from MW2...

No one says "we're Oscar Mike". If you're on the radio, everyone KNOWS you're on a mission.

I thought *Oscar Mike* meant *On the Move* not *On Mission*

For the purposes of the game, that IS what it means. But in the US Army, which the game purports to represent, that is no thte case. The phrase "Oscar Mike" is the proper response to "Charlie Mike", Change of Mission, with instructions that follow.

Say you're out, say, escorting a convoy, and you see some suspicious activity in the houses nearby. You call it up to higher, and they come through with a change of mission (CM, or Charlie Mike) to go investigate. So higher says something like "Raptor-One-Six this is Papa-Six, Charlie Mike, investigate suspicious activity north of Route Tampa, how copy, over?" And you come back with "Papa-Six, this is Raptor-One-Six, we copy, Oscar Mike, out". That tells them that you understand the change, and are moving to comply, and are done talking ("out" versus "over", which requires a response).

Ahh cheers, clears things up.

I haven't played MW2 in quite a few months, but I thought they were given a new objective for the majority of the time Oscar Mike was used; so, I thought it was valid. Their overall mission might have stayed the same, but I'm pretty sure they'd have different objectives to complete said mission.

 

[JoelOfFinland]

I like it when it's done in Generation Kill-style, you know when it actually is appropriate for the situation.

 

[Zeema]

Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo

but yea it is alright i guess to a point

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Honestly, my favorite use of it has to be in Gears of War. I love how they refer to the Locust as "Grubs", rather than Tango or Bogey. It's short, succinct, and conveys the exact same message as the latter while managing to be insulting to the enemy and fitting the setting. Pretty creative, IMO. Also, the Locust "language", which consists of a lot of screams and growls mixed in with some broken English works well too. Gotta love the *point* "graaaargh HOMOSAPIENS!!"

As for the more realistic uses, I actually really like it. Adds to the immersion, even when they don't always get it right its kind of cool to know that they are at least trying. I always think its a strange complaint when people say war games "use it to much". I mean, what else would they say? Its language created for the express purpose of combat, which is what you are usually doing. Do you think they'd just start speaking plain English because they got bored of it or something?

Also, props to the Combine Overwatch and MP jargon. You can barely understand a word of it thanks to the heavy synthesizing, but it always sounds menacing. Has that Stormtrooper vibe. It'd be great if a Combine sees D0G in the next game, points, and says "Look sir, Droids!" before getting smashed.

 

[XMark]

Quick question - what does it mean in military jargon when someone uses the word "actual"?
I hear it in a bunch of military games.

 

[triggrhappy94]

I find it somewhere between stupid and intertaining.

I think the whatever-fenetic alphabet is over used in games, and often miss used.

Here's a flash back:
Halo 1, Truth and Reconsiliation-
Johnson: "The ship is just 3 clicks north, chief."
Me: "Clicks? What is this, Vietnam?"

 

[JoelOfFinland]

Quick question - what does it mean in military jargon when someone uses the word "actual"?
I hear it in a bunch of military games.

Actual is the commanding officer

 

[Shaftweasel]

It's okay, as long as they do it correctly.

 

[Jakub324]

I really like it. It makes it a whole lot more immersive. What would you rather listen to:
"I can see four enemies looking right at you, dude... you might wanna kill 'em before they make you 50% metal. Bye, Ryan!"
"Alright, will do."

Or,

"I have eyes on four hostiles north of you. Recommend you eliminate, over. Oxide-Nine out."

I leave it up yo you.

 

[MammothBlade]

It's useful to have some objective terms - especially for briefings - but alot of the time military jargon is deployed pointlessly, and irritates the Hell out of me. Appropriate for military shooters perhaps, but this annoyingly formulaic crap has driven me far away from anything which claims to be a "realistic" military FPS.

 

[Wolf-AUS]

Im not really too fussed, if it's ratel it's all well and good, but I get a bit shitty when soldiers talk like that to each other, or when they say gay shit like repeat. If they do it right I don't mind it, but if they do it wrong it's a constant source of irritation for me.

"Over and out" always bugs me. You can't be both over and out.

FUCKING YES!

FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE WHO KNOWS THAT!

I like the jargon when its used properly. Unfortunately, having been in cadets, I find myself slightly bothered every time it isn't.

Also, lol, cadets...

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

How many times has this thread been necro'd, again? It's been on these forums for longer than I've had an account, and I actually remember reading it while doing my initial lurking. Weird.a