Six Days in Fallujah

SDIF, to me, signals a shift to approaching the subject of war in a more respectful manner than we (as a society) are comfortable with. That is why I feel so passionately about your game and the structure you are pursuing. To me, its a proof of concept and a challenge to what violent entertainment media has allowed itself to become.

Video games have already proven their merit in challenging film and books as emotionally evocative and conceptually deep. On the subject of war, non-fiction battles have been recreated in other games but they often seem to be simplified or aggrandized for entertainment purposes. Simple as it is, death results in reward, experience points, and laughs. They are products, and they are also your predecessors and are no doubt a large part of why the stigma surrounding this game is the way it is.

I'm hoping that your intentions behind this game are recognized for what they are. You seem to be attempting to foster a feeling of empathy by having us step into the boots of various people on the worst days of their lives. You also seem to be serving to de-glamorize combat and war. Most importantly, you are re-injecting humanity into the mix. The Iraq War is a terribly complicated and uncomfortable subject to discuss, and your approach is excellently suited to tackle that complexity. I feel if you pull this off, this can become a sought after format for future developers to follow and can advance interactive entertainment in a progressive direction. I would wonder if the Battle of Hue could benefit from such a treatment as this.

This industry truly is a fantastic one, but there still are those who believe video games shouldn't tackle real-world events. And we couldn't disagree more. A controversial war comes with many, many challenges (this is our second round with Six Days, after all). But, countless experiences that wouldn't be told otherwise doesn't sit right with us. Video games can be (and should be) more. It will be interesting to take a retrospective look at things post-launch.

Thank you for sharing this with us. It goes farther than you think for the entire team.

I get their vision with this game's setting, the stories they want to tell of those involved, etc. and I respect that. ....I do. However, at the end of the day, I really only buy games for entertainment purposes. If it also has a good story to tell, all the better.

My friends and I are an older group of active / retired vets, LEOs and just regular folks. What we have in common though is that we all share a passion for tactical shooters and a title needs to be first and foremost an enjoyable gameplay experience for us to be interested in it. We also enjoy realistic elements that separate the game from more arcadish alternatives. The setting of Fallujah is an interesting concept but in all honesty, this could have been a game set in a fictional place called anywhere-istan and we'd still be interested. It's the gameplay aspects of this title that hooked my friends and I.

Personally, I don't see anything disrespectful about this game but then again, I don't feel that way about most others on the market with real and fictional settings alike. I'm currently having a blast in games like Insurgency Sandstorm and Hell Let Loose. .....the latter being much more realistic loosely based and real WW2 battles / locations and the former more fictionalized. Then again, I'm also looking forward to BF2042's new Portal mode.

In either case, from the aspects I'm seeing in SDiF, it looks like it will be a fun and engaging title. One that is more innovative in the tactical shooter space with mechanics like the procedurally generated maps / buildings. If done right, the replayability of this game could be endless. Those are the elements that have really drawn us to SDiF. The historical setting was also an interesting concept just like other games I've played that were set in other wars / conflicts throughout history.

Certainly a fair point. The group I belong to is similar in outlook, where the gameplay of a game is the draw. HLL and Sandstorm are the games we tend to play when we're looking to unwind and have some good fun. I sort of view Six Days in a different light, as the gameplay serves to accentuate the core themes and story. Fun is an aspect they'll need to balance out with realism, and that will no doubt be a challenge that could result in disinterest. Six Days subject matter is the draw to me, if I'm being honest. The procedural generation is a remarkable idea, but there are those out there who take offense to that matter in the sense they've taken a real location and turned it into a gameplay gimmick. Its an odd criticism, to be sure.