Where would you have a WW2 game take place?

[Inglorious891]

I started a playthrough of World at War recently, which got me thinking: I really want to see more WW2 games. Remembering all of the WW2 games in the past, however, I realized most seem to take place in the same locations playing as the game nations. Americans in Western Europe, Soviets in Stalingrad, and Brits in North Africa. WW2 was so massive and covered so many different parts of the world with so many nations participating, it's kinda dissapointing that there aren't a lot of WW2 games that take advantage of this. Call of Duty 3 did do this, which I'm happy about, but it's unfortunate that the gameplay was... not so good.

So Escapists, if you could decide where a WW2 game takes place and what nation you'd play as, where would it take place and who would you be? Genre doesn't matter either; it can be a first person shooter, third person shooter, RTS, etc.

Personally, I'd love to see more of the campaign in Italy. Playing as Canadian tankers/troops or even Italian soldiers that fought for the Allies would be really neat. A game centered around tank combat with you playing as the Germans would also be really interesting; partially because there aren't a lot of games where you get to play as the Germans, and partially because German tanks during WW2 were really, really cool.

 

[Keoul]

Antarctica.
Lead an army of polar bears, penguins, walruses, and whales to those pitiful humans. I shall show them their petty squabbles among themselves are meaningless.
Unity shall be achieved
Peace inevitable
A new dawn has arrived.

 

[tippy2k2]

Honestly...I kind of wish they'd take the big battles we've seen in all the Call of Duty games (specifically D-Day) and modernize them with current tech.

Look at this video of D-Day from Allied Assault

Spoiler: Allied Assault

(skip to 3:30 for the relevant game-play)

Look at that; It's you and a more-or-less deserted beach. This scene was awesome when it was created but think of what we could do with modern systems now.

Spoiler: Saving Private Ryan

THIS is what I want a video game to do. I want to be pissing my pants at what's going on. I want to feel the rush of getting through the hail of bullets while my comrades are going down.

You've got a lot of these HUGE moments in old school WWII games that couldn't be done to justice with the tech they had. I want D-Day. I want the storming of Stalingrad. I want Pearl Harbor. I want Operation Market Garden.

Basically I want a "WWII Greatest Hits" in a modern format.

 

[small]

acually most ww2 games let you play as the germans. manchuria is somewhere untouched by games and so is the dieppe raid.

also some what ifs arent usually covered like the invasion of england or the invasion of japan

 

[Inglorious891]

Honestly...I kind of wish they'd take the big battles we've seen in all the Call of Duty games (specifically D-Day) and modernize them with current tech.

Look at this video of D-Day from Allied Assault

Spoiler: Allied Assault

(skip to 3:30 for the relevant game-play)

Look at that; It's you and a more-or-less deserted beach. This scene was awesome when it was created but think of what we could do with modern systems now.

Spoiler: Saving Private Ryan

THIS is what I want a video game to do. I want to be pissing my pants at what's going on. I want to feel the rush of getting through the hail of bullets while my comrades are going down.

You've got a lot of these HUGE moments in old school WWII games that couldn't be done to justice with the tech they had. I want D-Day. I want the storming of Stalingrad. I want Pearl Harbor. I want Operation Market Garden.


Basically I want a "WWII Greatest Hits" in a modern format.

Man, Allied Assault. I've heard nothing but good things about it but ever since I bought it I haven't been able to get it to work. Configurations never save, half the screen is covered with a black box, OpenGL implodes on itself, etc. Been driving me nuts.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

After having watched The Pacific I think that more combat in the Pacific Theater would be great. World at War was certainly a step in that direction, and I know there've been other games focused exclusively on it, but nowhere near as much as the European Theater. The U.S. island hopping campaign and the stubborn Japanese defense of these islands certainly made for some fierce battles that could make for memorial missions just like the D-Days and Stalingrads that are in other WW2 games. The battles on mainland Asia have also been (to my knowledge) nearly entirely ignored in video games, like the British forces attempting to slow/counter the Japanese (and it's allies) in Southeast Asia.

I would really like some stuff set in the Japanese invasion of China. Some of this could even be set before WW2 officially started since the Japanese invaded in 1937. This could cause some trouble with selling it in China though depending upon their portrayal of Chinese resistance (other WW2 games are banned there due to China not being presented as properly unified nation, thus going against Party claims). Still, I think the Chinese are largely forgotten for their contribution during the war, with them having one of the highest number of military causalities during the war and rivaling the Soviet Union in terms of civilian deaths. It's a shame that trying to show more of the Chinese contribution to the war would meet such difficulty in China due to politics.

 

[Rayce Archer]

I want to play as leader of a Russian tank crew, fighting my way from the USSR down into Axis Europe with the end goal of attacking Berlin. Along the way I'd care for my men, maintain my tank, and take side missions. At the end you'd see the results of your actions, from a simple theft of a hot pie from a windowsill that terrifies a family into fleeing to America to the liberation of a concentration camp that frees political thinkers who are then murdered by Stalin after the war.

Numerous endings would be on offer, including a what if? ending where you drive your T-34 into the Furherbunker and fistfight Hitler.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

I'd like to see a survival horror/first person shooter hybrid take place at Stalingrad or any other extremely vicious battle on the Eastern Front as a German soldier. For starters, you have the fear of Russian troops ambushing you without a moments notice at any time but you also have the utterly hostile freezing conditions and would have to scavenge for supplies (including winter gear) off Russian soldiers, and also have merciless German officers trying to push you onward as well.

So basically a video game version of the German movie "Stalingrad". Could be really good, provided it was done well.

You could potentially do a similar thing at Tobruk as an Australian soldier, though the locations and conditions aren't quite as extreme or frightening.

Edit: Or if you want a more standard FPS, you could certainly set it in Greece during the attempted Italian conquest. That's at least a different setting from a more overlooked part of the war.

 

[MirenBainesUSMC]

There are probably cultural political ramifications for some of the things that have been mentioned. I believe a poster named the Chinese/Japanese conflict. The problem with this is you would have to then shed light on atrocities done, particularly when you involve China. Everyone gives shooting a Nazi a pass because its freely understood that Death Camps and Hitler was an element of evil --- not many people are educated nor taught about what the Japanese Imperial internal philosophy was concerning other Asian nations. We would then have to consider the Bataan Death March, Nanking --- the treatment of the Phillopinos... the Koreans... and of course, the horribly bloody battles between the Japanese Army and the Marine Corps, some islands of which could have been passed on yet Pacific Command insisted that such islands were necessary to attack( The Assault on Peleliu comes to mind)

This is also why we don't have too many COD-esque Vietnam games. Notice they completely skipped that chapter of warfare, touching it very lightly in Black OPS I and II but never something very detailed.

 

[MirenBainesUSMC]

Still, I think the Chinese are largely forgotten for their contribution during the war, with them having one of the highest number of military causalities during the war and rivaling the Soviet Union in terms of civilian deaths. It's a shame that trying to show more of the Chinese contribution to the war would meet such difficulty in China due to politics.[/quote]


I think its improperly documented because Chiang Kai Shek lost to the communists after the eventual defeat of Japan, thereby being lost in the sway of blood shed and revolution... now whether one saw that as a good or bad thing remains in one's historical and political perspective. The Flying Tigers comes to mind, that would be something to see in a game.

 

[MirenBainesUSMC]

If you really wanted to make an amazing step forward in a World War 2 game, you would do something dramatically different from the rest and that is to make separate single player campaign which lets you be either side in a sort of " What if..." mode.

Why not play the Germans during their blitzkrieg across Europe? Their first battles with the Russians?

Now I know the problems that such a game would create, I don't think the game media would allow such a thing to happen.

 

[DefunctTheory]

I'd like to play as a Russian on the offensive, rather the the typical Stalingrad turning point. I want to play a game where we go from Stalingrad, all the way to the assault on Berlin, where we could have the above mentioned fist fight with Hitler.

There's a few games that do this, but their usually fragmented and put way too much time into the whole 'It sucks being a Russian soldier' thing. While that may have been true, lets focus on the German murdering!

Also, a full tank game (My preference would be American/Allied) would be nice.

A game centered around tank combat with you playing as the Germans would also be really interesting; partially because there aren't a lot of games where you get to play as the Germans, and partially because German tanks during WW2 were really, really cool.

You could play World of Tanks, and enjoy the thrill of the German tanks most vaunted feature - its ability to catch on fire every time someone looks at it funny (A knock on WoTs handling of the German transmissions, which catch on fire more readily then gasoline on a bonfire).

 

[senordesol]

The battle of the Alaskan Aleutian Islands. (US v. Japan)

The adventures of the 442nd Regiment. (the most decorated Regiment in American History...while also happening to be comprised of Japanese Americans)

Various West Europe Resistance Fighters.

The Philippines as Filipinos.

 

[IBlackKiteI]

I would really like some stuff set in the Japanese invasion of China. Some of this could even be set before WW2 officially started since the Japanese invaded in 1937. This could cause some trouble with selling it in China though depending upon their portrayal of Chinese resistance (other WW2 games are banned there due to China not being presented as properly unified nation, thus going against Party claims). Still, I think the Chinese are largely forgotten for their contribution during the war, with them having one of the highest number of military causalities during the war and rivaling the Soviet Union in terms of civilian deaths. It's a shame that trying to show more of the Chinese contribution to the war would meet such difficulty in China due to politics.

While it's extremely unlikely to happen, I would like for Tripwire Interactive, the guys who made the Red Orchestra series, to make either an expansion or sequel which features the conflict in some way. Maybe focus on the Battle of Shanghai similarly to how RO2 focuses on Stalingrad. If any game studio could depict just how flat out brutal and terrifying that part of the war must have been, it'd be them.

Also been said, Italy/Sicily would be another good focus, potential for some pretty varied and interesting locations and battles.

A first-person singleplayer WWII tank game would be great. As would some kind of survival shooter, as a partisan somewhere maybe?

And Brothers In Arms or at least a game that uses a similar sort of squad based system and focus, needs to be done again at some point.

 

[Rayce Archer]

Expanding on the partisan idea- a horde-mode MOBA in which the players take on the role of Polish resistance fighters in Warsaw. Using tacticals pecial abilities and upgradeable weapons you fight against an ever-encroaching army of increasingly powerful Nazi units, your playable areas of the city growing smaller and smaller. As you hold out, the drain you inflict on Hitler's war machine may impact other battles elsewhere, at which point the allies will smuggle you resources to continue your resistance.

Note that actually winning is impossible; the point of the game is to eliminate as many enemies as possible before being shot and burned publicly. Being martyred with a sufficient number of heroic achievements unlocks inspirations, gameplay modifying perks that subsequent resistance fighters can use.

 

[Bedinsis]

Since I don't find the actual fights compelling, I'd like a game of espionage.

Specifically, a game focusing on the exploits of Richard Sorge would be interesting. Among his contributions was revealing Operation Barbarossa beforehand to the USSR, though Stalin didn't act on it/believe him.

 

[Fimbulvetr3822]

I'd like to se something set during the Warsaw Uprising. Whilst it was ultimately a Nazi victory, i think it would be awesome to have some sort of geurilla campaign that was historicly accurate. Im not sure how you would go about marketing a game where no matter how well you do you lose though. I would also like to see something set during the Dunkirk evacuations, an event largely unexplored (probably because there was no US involvement)

Really though, I would love to see some sort of Total War game covering the 1st World War especially with it being 100 years ago this year.

 

[Malty Milk Whistle]

Flying Tigers in mainland China would be great, if you can mix in ariel combat with beautiful level design. Otherwise I reckon a game with tons of short campaigns, each giving the player a small overview of the war in 3-5 levels, for example play as a Polish soldier on the border and have it a survival/guerilla in the countryside, play as a French soldier originally on the Maginot line then coming back home to Paris to enter the resistance, or as a German stormtrooper during the last days of Berlin.
Just lots of little slices of the war, you could even put a bit of an educational slant on things.

 

[Shpongled]

My perfect WW2 game, which may be asking for a little too much with current technology, would be a RTS style game in the same vein as the Total War series. Basically, a combination of the Hearts of Iron series and the Company of Heroes series.

You can choose whichever country on the planet you want on the campaign map, control your nations industry and manpower and direct your nation in whatever goals you want. You can pick Germany, blitz across Europe and attempt a full-on invasion of the UK, Turkey and attempt to reform the once mighty Ottoman Empire, or even small Brazil and use the global distractions of WW2 to turn Brazil into a mighty world power, maybe even eventually contending with the USA to the north. HoI does all of this brilliantly.

But when it comes to individual battles and conquering provinces on your way across Europe, you can't just rely on having on having the bigger numbers and luckier dicerolls. As your divisions roll across the border you're warped into a smaller scale battle arena, where you control individual tanks and infantry squads and so on, chosen, built and put together by you on the campaign screen, and are forced to utilize tactics and have a direct influence on how the battle ensues. Basically like Company of Heroes.

Honestly a mash up of Hearts of Iron and Company of Heroes would be my most favorite game in the world. Basically i would like a WW2 game that is truly global in every sense of the word.

Modern FPS iterations of the old classics would be cool; d-day, stalingrad and so on. But it's the what-ifs scenarios that really capture my imagination.

Edit: a word

 

[optimusjamie]

I would think either the Eastern Front or China, but if we're bringing in alternate-history scenarios, something based on Operation Unthinkable [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Unthinkable] or Operation Downfall [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Downfall] could be interesting.