First of all I've not been here long so if a similar topic was posted here recently feel free to link it and call me names. I'm into military sim games and flight simulators. For example DCS, ARMA and Rising storm 2: Vietnam. I really like the gameplay, but I sometimes can't help thinking about the real world atrocities that were committed with the simulated war machine I'm using.

For example, I'm googling the name of an Air-to-Ground missile so that I can find out its effective range or something, and the wikipedia page has paragraphs about how it was "really effective" in bombing bridges in Vietnam, or how it was used extensively in Iraq. Less often it's something more wholesome, like how improper handling of a Zuni rocket resulted in a huge and very destructive fire on a US aircraft carrier while it was deployed in the South China sea during the Vietnam war.

It doesn't help of course how any story or campaign on such games is basically unapologetic NATO propaganda. It's also interesting how games like Call of Duty don't usually trigger this for me, because their mechanics are so far removed from reality it's basically an arcade game with a "realistic" coat of paint, no different from DOOM or whatever.

Anyway, those feelings aren't enough for me to stop playing those games, nor do I think they're fundamentally unethical or something. I'm just wondering if anyone here had similar experiences.

  • wtypstanaccount04 [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I couldn't get through the first Black Ops. It was just so disgusting, the whole game is "kill the commies".

    • cresspacito [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Thinking back on it a lot of that game is hilariously dumb propaganda

      • soviets bad bc Nazi scientist defected to them (did they ever mention Operation Paperclip in CoD?)
      • shooting down a soviet space rocket because... uh... soviets bad
      • Uh oh it's "Ascension" which is Operation Paperclip but the soviets are doing it!
      • several 'bad guys' torture you, because they are bad and evil, not because you are a spy/soldier from a regime that's bombing the shit out of them
      • Your guys torture you, along with references to MK Ultra. This torture is for good stuff, like freedom
      • US planning a pre-emptive strike on the USSR. but only bc the USSR is super evil
    • AtomPunk [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      I haven’t kept up with cod but I have the fondest memories of playing that first black ops. It made me vaguely aware of history. But now there’s no way I can go back and play the campaign without getting into angry fits about how the VC is getting slaughtered.

      The multiplayer was garbage. But it was MY garbage.