Paying respect to those who pay respect.

           So it’s Remembrance Day for everyone back in Canada, and with the release of Fury I think it’s a good time to remind people that war isn't pretty. Seems like an obvious statement, but not a lot of movies and games really hammer home that point. There’s a lot of talk of brotherhood and an emphasis on bringing down an oppressive evil but there’s rarely mention of the post traumatic stress disorder or the brutal acts in war.

Remember Reveille

            The moment in Fury when someone’s leg is blown in half by a machine gun, I stared in awe. It is a great movie (Listen to our podcast) that pulls no punches in the subject matter it chooses to portray. It’s good the producers decided to stick with such a brutal tone. Bare bones story aside Fury pays respect to the solders that served in the Second World War by showing broken men. One of the best moments is the end, which I won’t spoil for you, but it really drives home the definition of PTSD. The film uses editing to make you scared for the crew of Fury through every single encounter they come across. Even a mortar attack although brief is still horrifying.  This sets a beautiful picture of World War 2 that is rarely touched in videogames. That’s not to say that videogames haven’t expertly dealt with that same subject matter.

Some how this was Normans fault

            Spec Ops: The Line was an overlooked masterpiece that took a look at not only the horrors of war but modern videogame stereotypes. The game takes place in a fictional Dubai after a massive sand storm covering most of the city. You start off as a gruff military solider that; with the aid of his wise cracking team have to recon the destroyed city. After some genuine character development and an apocalypse nowish story, the game starts to show it true colours. It weaves the importance of your two comrades into not only story but also the gameplay. When you’re separated and hunted it’s four minutes of on edge combat where enemies will flank you and seeing your squad mates is a genuine relief.

The "no turning back point"

A few people were annoyed with the new Tomb Raider’s story arc of Lara of going from someone who can barely kill a deer to a killer who makes any CoD protagonist blush. In Spec Ops, the story of Captain Martin Walker and his squad mates descent into madness is not only a great one it’s one that reveals itself in gameplay as well. As you play though the game, perfect and clinical executions turn into brutal finishing attacks where Walker stands over the enemy and beats the shit out of them. Your squad goes from a well trained unit to a group of scared men that will sometimes flat out disobey orders, to shoot what they feel is a more valued target. One of the best parts of Spec Ops is it turns the now overused trope of the Good vs Evil decision to mirror what war is actually like. There are no right or wrong decisions it asks the player to decide what the lesser of two evils are. Games like Spec Ops that show the true nature of a man going through PTSD and are genuine quality are few and far between.

Who lives?

Of course I’m not saying Spec Ops, and Fury are the only two IPs that pay respect to the reality of soldiers. It’s just exciting to see these diamonds in the rough that take a look at soldiers who have given a lot to return home. So today take a minute to remember the soldiers who died so long ago and that coming home doesn’t mean it’s over.

- Jordan