Anyone else ready for a WW2 shooter again?

[lord_emperor]

I'd love Battlefield: 1942 with updated graphics.

 

[rivethead]

I'm tired of playing as the same generic beefy American soldier dood who shoots up all the nazis. I want to play on the other side now.

How about being a Canadian storming Juno beach? That was a very different scenario than Omaha beach. Put that on modern hardware with more realism (when people get shot, they bleed and blood splatters, pools, and drains) and I'd buy it.

Point is, there are a LOT of battles, or perspectives of battles, that haven't been covered yet (or maybe I just don't know about them). Bring 'em on.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

Are there any WWII FPS games that contain a feature-length singleplayer campaign where you get to play as a German? Any at all? I'm tired of playing as the same generic beefy American soldier dood who shoots up all the nazis. I want to play on the other side now.

Red Orchestra 2 has it but it's very hollow (IE just the multiplayer maps with terrible bots). Company of Heroes (2 at least) has a pretty accurate campaign as far as the Eastern front goes...so much that Russia banned it because they said it "villified" them and their actions during their "Great Patriotic War" aka WWII.

It's considered politically incorrect to have any sort of campaign where you are a German soldier during WWII. It's sad but we have to remember that the winners write history, and a quite a few survivors of that war are still around.

I have a tendency to always play Germans on whatever WWII game I play...and I LOVE WWII and am basically only playing that genre of game now a day. Very interesting history and very cool weapons/machinery.

 

[werepossum]

Red Orchestra 2 has it but it's very hollow (IE just the multiplayer maps with terrible bots). Company of Heroes (2 at least) has a pretty accurate campaign as far as the Eastern front goes...so much that Russia banned it because they said it "villified" them and their actions during their "Great Patriotic War" aka WWII.

It's considered politically incorrect to have any sort of campaign where you are a German soldier during WWII. It's sad but we have to remember that the winners write history, and a quite a few survivors of that war are still around.

I have a tendency to always play Germans on whatever WWII game I play...and I LOVE WWII and am basically only playing that genre of game now a day. Very interesting history and very cool weapons/machinery.

True, but it should be possible to do a good game with a sensitive portrayal of German soldiers without being a Nazi cheerleader. Not all German soldiers were Nazis or monsters - but I repeat myself. A talented game script writer could portray a very patriotic young man becoming gradually disillusioned with the Nazis, much as has been done for Russians and their love of country/hatred of commissars.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

True, but it should be possible to do a good game with a sensitive portrayal of German soldiers without being a Nazi cheerleader. Not all German soldiers were Nazis or monsters - but I repeat myself. A talented game script writer could portray a very patriotic young man becoming gradually disillusioned with the Nazis, much as has been done for Russians and their love of country/hatred of commissars.

I think one way they could pull it off is to have you be an american German spy sent to infiltrate the German army early in the conflicts at the start of the war with orders to blend in at all costs. it would be a good way to show that people were caught up I'm the happenings and often times didn't have much choice in their own actions.

you could later defect and fight against the Germans at the end of the game or something to that effect to appease the overly sensitive masses who could not look at a game where you play the bad guy without thinking it was pro Nazi. there is a lot of the story of ww2 that has not been told and much of it that has been told does not portray it in the shades of gray that the war mostly consisted of.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

True, but it should be possible to do a good game with a sensitive portrayal of German soldiers without being a Nazi cheerleader. Not all German soldiers were Nazis or monsters - but I repeat myself. A talented game script writer could portray a very patriotic young man becoming gradually disillusioned with the Nazis, much as has been done for Russians and their love of country/hatred of commissars.

You're preaching to the choir here . COD 1 or 2 had a campaign for the Russians and I view them as much worse than the Germans during WWII. Ignorance of the masses is bliss I guess.

It isn't going to happen anytime soon due to the "Nazi" stigma that goes with WWII.

 

[VenBaja]

True, but it should be possible to do a good game with a sensitive portrayal of German soldiers without being a Nazi cheerleader. Not all German soldiers were Nazis or monsters - but I repeat myself. A talented game script writer could portray a very patriotic young man becoming gradually disillusioned with the Nazis, much as has been done for Russians and their love of country/hatred of commissars.

I don't see this happening really, as most games are developed in countries that were either taken over by Germans, or whose populace bled and died fighting them. Even the Germans themselves now are appalled by what their fathers/grandfathers did during that time. People want to play as heroes, and basically no one on Earth views any German soldiers who fought during WWII as heroes. At least with the Russians, they were being invaded.

 

[Stuka87]

I would love one. Where most people have semi-automatics, not full assault rifles. No noob tubes, slower propellar driven aircraft, tanks that cant aim on the move. Basically make the player have some skill, as opposed to just spamming everything everywhere.

 

[werepossum]

I think one way they could pull it off is to have you be an american German spy sent to infiltrate the German army early in the conflicts at the start of the war with orders to blend in at all costs. it would be a good way to show that people were caught up I'm the happenings and often times didn't have much choice in their own actions.

you could later defect and fight against the Germans at the end of the game or something to that effect to appease the overly sensitive masses who could not look at a game where you play the bad guy without thinking it was pro Nazi. there is a lot of the story of ww2 that has not been told and much of it that has been told does not portray it in the shades of gray that the war mostly consisted of.

Maybe. Seems weird to me that an industry which accepts gunning down civilians in an airport as a terrorist balks at portraying honest German soldiers though.

That getting caught up reminds me of the Iraqi soldier captured in the first Gulf War who was wearing dress shoes. He had been visiting his sick grandmother when Iraq invaded and was snapped up and sent to the front even though he was an American citizen. Only, the Iraq army was short on boots . . .

You're preaching to the choir here . COD 1 or 2 had a campaign for the Russians and I view them as much worse than the Germans during WWII. Ignorance of the masses is bliss I guess.

It isn't going to happen anytime soon due to the "Nazi" stigma that goes with WWII.

As VenBaja points out, the Russians had somewhat of a pass due to being invaded, even though Stalin previously helped invade and partition Poland.

I don't see this happening really, as most games are developed in countries that were either taken over by Germans, or whose populace bled and died fighting them. Even the Germans themselves now are appalled by what their fathers/grandfathers did during that time. People want to play as heroes, and basically no one on Earth views any German soldiers who fought during WWII as heroes. At least with the Russians, they were being invaded.

That's a very good point. I had not really thought about the need to be portraying a hero for such games to be socially acceptable. Although again, we have games where millions happily pretend to be murderous criminals, and I could argue that being a soldier involves much less personal culpability. Or at least, personal choice.

I'd still like to play it. A campaign which involves steadily fighting across territory as the aggressor, shading into fighting over the same territory on the defensive, would be novel. And it might say something about the price of unjust war.

 

[irishScott]

That's a very good point. I had not really thought about the need to be portraying a hero for such games to be socially acceptable. Although again, we have games where millions happily pretend to be murderous criminals, and I could argue that being a soldier involves much less personal culpability. Or at least, personal choice.

I'd still like to play it. A campaign which involves steadily fighting across territory as the aggressor, shading into fighting over the same territory on the defensive, would be novel. And it might say something about the price of unjust war.

But quite often those murderous criminals have some redeeming value or are helping a heroic cause. Nazi Germany has 70 years of "pure evil" stigma.

Don't get me wrong I would love to play the game you guys are describing, particularly since there are true stories of German heroism and honor that could be portrayed; but the bottom line is "would it sell enough?" and the answer is "not enough for a AAA company to risk it." We might be able to get an Indie RPG with such a plot, or perhaps CD Projekt Red if they feel really bold.

One such story I remember from the "World at War" documentary series, where a Dutch Jew survivor recounted that when she'd been caught late in the war, the German soldier guarding her (alone at the moment) actually started crying, and when she asked why he said that if he had a choice he'd let her go, but he didn't know the other soldier with him who was searching the rest of the house, so he had no choice.

A lot of people forget that the Wehrmacht was largely fighting for Germany, it was the SS who were the Hitler cultists.

 

[cyphilis]

WW2 Online was a lot of fun when it launched. It definitely had trouble getting off the ground, but a modern version similar to Planetside 2 would be interesting.

I'd still rather see a new Day of Defeat though. I want a gritty WWII FPS that isn't a simulation.

I agree with you on all points. WW2 Online was a lot of fun,.. although I could never kill a thing in a damn plane.. haha. Day of Defeat was a blast as well,.. would like to see a revamped version of that.

 

[AdamantC]

I'm still sick to death of WW2 FPSs. I think the last ones I really played were RO during the mod days as well as some of the stand alone.

However as the others have mentioned I'd love to see a WW2 FPS where you play as a German soldier. Preferably from the beginning of the war to the end, with you starting off as a bright eyed kid proud to serve his country, to a jaded vet who starts to question his loyalty and humanity as war atrocities mount. Of course finding people who could do such a thing well is a whole other matter.

 

[Revolution 11]

Would like one where you play the losing side. Want to be in the position where you are constantly being pressed and pushed back.

Try playing Red Orchestra 2, in the matches that involve taking objectives (most matches), when your side is losing, it feels great to be the one soldier holding back the Red Army or the German blitzkrieg. That is if you are better than the average teammate.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I liked red orchestra 2 but most servers are nodded into completely different games at this point. The community is tiny also.

It had a lot of potential but a rocky release made it dead on arrival.

 

[werepossum]

I'm still sick to death of WW2 FPSs. I think the last ones I really played were RO during the mod days as well as some of the stand alone.

However as the others have mentioned I'd love to see a WW2 FPS where you play as a German soldier. Preferably from the beginning of the war to the end, with you starting off as a bright eyed kid proud to serve his country, to a jaded vet who starts to question his loyalty and humanity as war atrocities mount. Of course finding people who could do such a thing well is a whole other matter.

That is EXACTLY the German WWII shooter I'd like to play. Personally, I don't play military shooters thinking about which side is morally correct anyway. My thoughts are not rising above small unit tactics. However - if someone did create a SP German WWII shooter, I think they would have to do it as you describe. Multi-player it doesn't matter; since someone has to be the bad guys to have a game, can't really impute any higher meaning to a particular side.

 

[Dannar26]

+ 1 on the German thing. A genuine wermacht soldier's experience that isn't stuffed with some kind of "but I'm working against Hitler the WHOLE time, so ha-ha" compromise plot.

I see nothing wrong with the loyal soldier turned bitter vet scenario. There could be a constant undertone of arrogance and mistrust with the SS. I don't know if that's how it was, though. But an interesting plot device would be an overwhelmed SS officer commanding the "fodder" (which includes our character) of the wermacht to some suicide mission for lack of better options.

Honestly, I'd enjoy the above scenario more for the "Oh shit! Things are getting worse not better!" mood than for the German setting. It would be an unsettling thing, I imagine, to be a member of a military organization on the verge of imminent defeat. Especially with all the propaganda the German populace had to swallow...

 

[cmdrdredd]

With all the WWII games I've played and all the documentaries that seem to never stop airing on TV, I am sick of WWII entirely. Especially the whole Nazi thing. I'd much rather visit Saipan, Peleliu, Guadalcanal, Okinawa. Including the lack of supplies, harsh conditions, the sick, and all that incorporated into the story. If you're gonna do WWII don't give me Europe...I'm sick of it.

 

[Revolution 11]

I liked red orchestra 2 but most servers are nodded into completely different games at this point. The community is tiny also.

It had a lot of potential but a rocky release made it dead on arrival.

The community is indeed small, but you can find at least 5 servers during most hours that are full or close to full.

I have played in various servers, I never got the sense that core gameplay was different.

 

[Skott]

With all the WWII games I've played and all the documentaries that seem to never stop airing on TV, I am sick of WWII entirely. Especially the whole Nazi thing. I'd much rather visit Saipan, Peleliu, Guadalcanal, Okinawa. Including the lack of supplies, harsh conditions, the sick, and all that incorporated into the story. If you're gonna do WWII don't give me Europe...I'm sick of it.

Same problem as with Germans though. Have a Japanese side of a game come out and watch the hate towards it come out pretty much as strong as if it were the Germans. Americans in particular would come out frothing at the mouth. I do agree however it would be nice to see more Pacific WWII fighting games.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Same problem as with Germans though. Have a Japanese side of a game come out and watch the hate towards it come out pretty much as strong as if it were the Germans. Americans in particular would come out frothing at the mouth. I do agree however it would be nice to see more Pacific WWII fighting games.

it doesn't have to be from the "enemy" perspective. the marines on Okinawa dealt with some of the worst conditions in history. I wouldn't mind giving us a story that involved that.

 

[dud]

All the modern/futuristic shooters coming out don't really appeal to me that much...

Agreed ... to the point where I am putting off a system build capable of playing them. Its a sign when I am still playing BF 1942 on a regular basis.

 

[VenBaja]

Agreed ... to the point where I am putting off a system build capable of playing them. Its a sign when I am still playing BF 1942 on a regular basis.

Double agree. I just started playing Day of Defeat Source again and it's amazing. No minimap/spotting, high recoil, no leveling or attachments...I'm in heaven.

 

[dud]

Double agree. I just started playing Day of Defeat Source again and it's amazing. No minimap/spotting, high recoil, no leveling or attachments...I'm in heaven.

Triple agree. I just discovered some extremely fun BF 1942 servers last night with up to 30 players at a time. Amazing for a game so old.

 

[TeknoBug]

I was a huge fan of Day of Defeat (pre-1.0 and Source), BF1942, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, CoD1/UO & 2, and the Red Orchestra games- Medal of Honor were OK. I'm not sure how well bringing back WW2 themed games would fare as mainstream games seem to be getting into the futuristic theme now and having seen the history of futuristic games, they won't be good sellers, I can bet Call of Duty's next installment Advanced Warfare will probably sell worse than Ghosts did.

 

[imaheadcase]

Sniper Elite 3 is during the campaign in Africa. I enjoyed the 2nd one a lot so preordered 3.