I do hope you agree that the way things play out in a Call of duty game , has very little to do with how combat played out in reality in World War 2?
Yes, I do agree, sort of, but they shot for internal consistency with the time period before this outside of the movie-like events and presentation. They’ve never altered the reality in this way before.
I agree with @DaveLong somewhat. I didn’t think the addition of women characters in multiplayer would be as jarring as it felt to me, but I get it. It is kind of weird sounding.
I’m cognizant that CoD MP is the last place to look for “realism” but the trappings of WW2 hold very particular ideals in my mind, and women running and gunning through frontline US vs Germany combat just sounded really odd. At the same time, I understand that the marketplace has changed and this is CoD, so why not have women fighting alongside the Big Red One?
They seem to be taking it even further than I would have thought:
As I rounded the corner of a trenchline on Pointe du Hoc I came face to face with a German soldier. My rifle was held high and, running full bore, I drove its bayonet into their chest delivering a mortal wound.
This is not an unusual sight for a Call of Duty game. It’s been commonplace since the series’ inception in 2003. But right there, in my first demo of the upcoming Call of Duty: World War II, I noticed a big difference.
I’d just killed a woman. A black woman. A black woman in a German uniform.
(emphasis mine)
But will they allow a pregnancy bump like the Xbox avatar system?
Yeah, that’s just not sitting right with me. World War II is a very serious time in history. It’s not a fantasy world to be used as a skin you slap on some generic gameplay IMO.
Related: I’m becoming increasingly squeamish about war shooters. At least in the trailers where they try to be dramatic and focus on the violence. It might be different when I play, but I haven’t played one since BF3.
Not sure it’s related to a general change from being a parent or something specific about these. I saw the discussion about State of Decay 2, but I missed the trailer.
I’m getting there. Part of it for me is that as the graphics get better, the violence is less abstract. Shooting at the blocky janked out dudes in the first Call of Duty game is a far cry (BOOYAH!) from the imagery here.
Parenting changes a lot of things. I was saying that years ago on here and there were some posters (now gone I think…) who somewhat ridiculed me for it. You just get a whole different perspective on certain violent acts in videogames after you’ve had children.
It’s much easier to accept the violence of DOOM for me because even though it looks more “real” now, it’s still a fight against my nightmares, not potentially someone’s son or daughter. Also, context matters a lot more now. When you have none (as this game is now creating with this change…), then it becomes harder to accept.
[quote]
“Multiplayer is this gritty, immersive experience, but it’s also about putting you - this is about you - in World War 2,” Condrey explained.
"And so, that evolution of your character means it’s important for us to allow you to choose to be you, and to have a hero that represents who you are, whomever you choose that to be.
"So, if you’re a female, or you want to play as a female, if you want to be any one of the multinational cast of characters to represent who you are, to look up to and respect as your avatar, we want to give you that opportunity.
"Now, the challenge there, which is real, is half the time you’ll be playing on the Axis team. That was a decision we made intentionally. We want it to be you and we’re willing to have you be you, no matter what side of the conflict you’re on.
“I’ll come right through the front door on it: we know that didn’t happen in the German forces. We know there was a lot of racism and racial tension in the 40s, so you wouldn’t have a black German soldier fighting next to the other Germans. We want this to be about you. We’re not making a statement about the authenticity of the Axis force. We’re making this about putting you in this social space and you into your soldier. And we want that to be rewarding and meaningful. I don’t want it to be our decision to force you away from your character into playing a German soldier, just because we put you on the Axis team.”[/quote]
I’m fine with this. will be a fresh take on the period.
I’m just happy to return to the WWII setting in COD.
The campaign should also have you play as a black female soldier in the Wehrmacht, achieving your career goals in spite of the racial tension that existed in Germany during the 40’s.
This is all because millenials are obsessed with themselves, isn’t it?
I guess one’s reaction to this depends on if you think Call of Duty and Battlefield have or should present some authenticity or if you think they are flights of fancy that use a historic period as a light theming. I used to think the former (probably when I played COD2 obsessively) but have settled on the latter in recent years. They are quite unrealistic already. Playing as a female soldier is just one tiny notch of unrealism among countless others.
The more I think about this, the more I start to think of better alternatives. Suppose that when you play online, the other team look like the Germans/Nazis and you always play through the eyes of an Allied soldier? Score screens show blue team and red team. This is actually more of a statement on the War and a rejection of fascism/Nazism in general.
Alternately, remove all the realism entirely and let people pick whatever kits they want from the German or Allied perspective and play on combined teams where the graphic representation is a more generic WWII soldier look. Some camo, some olive drab, etc.
Even something more along the lines of The Outift’s caricatures of German and Allied sides would be more welcome and it would allow them to have different genders and races represented more easily.
As it stands, I think they’re mucking with history in the wrong way.
Interesting idea. I know America’s Army did this. You always played as the US side, the opposing team just saw you as the insurgents.
Right. There are lots of Allied units to choose from too. It’s not like everyone would have to play an American soldier. Let’s be realistic about that, too. Folks in Germany would probably prefer not to play the Axis side for the most part and pretty much everyone but the Japanese could be represented as Allied.
I guess I’m weird… and maybe it’s just the times we’re living in, but I think this is an even more sensitive historical subject than ever right now. Be inclusive of people, sure. Don’t be inclusive of flawed ideology.
Should WW2 games still allow our allies the Soviet Union to be playable then, even though Stalin also produced a body count numbering in the millions?
I don’t really know. I’m conflicted by this entire scenario.
I think it’s never been this personal before because the games never approached realism visually so closely in the past…
It’s bullshit pandering.
“Hans Grossesfleisch was the ultimate trooper in the 12th SS; even his war-hardened superiors admired his skill and feared his ferocity. But Hans harbored a terrible secret: he was truly Greta Silverberg, a lesbian and animal-rights supporter. Half-Rom Gypsy, half-Jewish. And a deeply closeted Communist. Nevertheless, Hans/Greta fought like a demon again the hated enemies of the Fatherland!”
bollox