Are games about Vietnam dry wells?
By monkeyking1969 7 Comments
I have to admit my mind is aways saying, "Don't do it man" when I hear about a fps shooter tackling the Vietnam era. In some cases like CoD: Black Ops I can see where they handliy avoid the conflict by presenting game play before, during and after Vietman as well.
For Vietnam I think the cultural dialogue has occurred, that dialogue was brutal and painful. In the case of Vietnam the marketing has been at work for too long. I've been told Vietnam was BAD JUJU, so that's what I know, just as I know Coke is tasty and Pepsi is too sweet. What to think has been decided by my upbringing in my home, by the media, by politics, and by my own judgement to a small extent.
And, yeah I'm old enought for this to have been part of the family dynamics. I can even admit recalling the feeling of dread deciding over my fifth birthday when someone game me a GI Joe. And, there was a time when my mother didn't want me to have a toy machine gun that made sounds. My father was out of the Army and rasing a family by the time Vietnam really came to the forfront, but my uncles were there and one uncle was in Boston College start his degree hoping he'd not be drafted. When my uncles came home they were never teh same. No amount of family visits and getting back to work really repaired my uncles in my father eyes, as he said, "They went off kids and came back as men who were & weren't my brothers." The GI Joes for birthdays and whether or not I coudl have a toy gun were empassioned issues.
I think some older gamers might have the same reaction to hearing about games about Vietnam. Aas for myself, I'm not old enough to not have remembered the war, but very much old enough to have seen what ist does to loved ones or how society dragged the meemory of ist out through the 70s. . The broken uncles, GI Joes for birthdays and whether or not I could have a toy gun were empassioned issues my whole childhood . I can't say my mother was ever on e of those 'ranting mommy's" who felt the sky was falling when a toy she didn't approve of got in my hands. But looking back there were times when the trepidation of GI Joes, gun toys, and typical boys rough play. In fact I would almost say my mother was the original Marge Simpson, she never yelled much but she did make that Marge groan when she disapproved.
So maybe its just people my age, we have palpable connection with that war, it after effects on the American psyche, and we still feel uncomfortable with it today. Then again there does seem to be a real sentiment even among people younger then myself that Vietnam games simply don't work. There's not hook near the middle of that war to balance upon. You can't make an "Inglorious Bastards" about Vietnam. And if you did exactly who would be the one going around bashing brains out with a Louisville slugger? The Americans? The North Vietnamese? The South Vietnamese? For better, or likely for the worse we view WW II more simply in black and white. But for Vietnam we agonize over the shades of gray, and maybe that is good. Nevertheless, that means making a game becomes harder where the simplicity of who the protagonists and who the analogist are and what their moral roles would be clouds.
But let's deal with facts. Do Vietnam games sell?
Do Vietnam games get good receptions from game critics?
PC Battlefield Vietnam - Digital Illusions/EA Games, 2004 83.50% 52 Reviews
PC Squad Battles: Vietnam - HPS Simulations, 2001 81.50% 2 Reviews
PC Wings Over Vietnam - Third Wire/Bold Games, 2004 69.67% 6 Reviews
PC Search & Rescue: Vietnam MED+EVAC - InterActive Vision Games/Global Star Software, 2002 67.71% 7 Reviews
DS Operation: Vietnam - Coyote Console/Majesco Games, 2007 66.75% 16 Reviews
XBOX Conflict: Vietnam - Pivotal Games/Global Star Software, 2004 66.58% 40 Reviews
PS2 Conflict: Vietnam - Pivotal Games/Global Star Software, 2004 64.85% 31 Reviews
PC Line of Sight: Vietnam - Nfusion/Atari, 2003 64.69% 17 Reviews
PC War Over Vietnam - HPS Simulations, 2004 64.33% 3 Reviews
PC Conflict: Vietnam - Pivotal Games/Global Star Software, 2004 60.62% 21 Reviews
PC Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh Trail - e-Pie Entertainment & Technology, 2004 57.00% 1 Review
PC Whirlwind Over Vietnam - G5 Software/Evolved Games, 2007 56.91% 11 Reviews
PC Platoon: The 1st Airborne Cavalry Division in Vietnam - Digital Reality/Strategy First, 2002 52.62% 16 Reviews
PC Vietnam: Black Ops - Fused Software/ValuSoft, 2000 52.00% 1 Review
PC Vietnam 2: Special Assignment - Single Cell Software/ValuSoft, 2001 51.33% 3 Reviews
PC Marine Heavy Gunner: Vietnam - Brainbox Games/Groove Games, 2004 48.25% 8 Reviews
PC Elite Warriors: Vietnam - Nfusion/Bold Games, 2005 48.18% 11 Reviews
...etc...the list goes on.
So, from what I see games made by good developers do well, those made by budget developers do badly for overall scores. So again, I don't think as games they are scored lower because of the subject. At best we can say, in the reviews you are more likely to see "tough subject" or "American angst..."; yet on balance these games are reviewed according to quality not subject matter.
So, yes, the problem with these games is me. I have a limited comfort level with them, and they make me uneasy. They are possible to make, they do sell, and they do seem to be reviewed on their own merits. So I guess they are not dry wells....I just wish they were. And, yeah that's all my hang up I need to get over, I'll never say these games shouldn't be made or sold. For myself I just have a hard time playing them and always will I fear.