Topic: war games and war

Does anyone else feel uncomfortable playing realistic war games at the present, with on going conflicts such as Ukraine?

I do at the moment.
Conflicted as on one hand yes it's only a game.
On the other, there is a war raging.

Would love to hear you're thoughts on the topic.

It's funny as I have no issue playing war games in historic settings.

Just the modern stuff, I feel uncomfortable with at the moment.

I do

I’m not a fan of war games (based on actual wars, fake stuff is fine) as I feel it desensitizes people to the horror of war and can give a very biased view which breeds ignorance. And I don’t like to see the brutality of man on display. People barely learn or care about history (or current events) as is…don’t need games making things worse. Plenty of people blur games with reality or like with the internet, use games as a vehicle to be their worst selves. I would never want war games banned but I do wish that devs would hire historians from both sides of a conflict to get as well rounded a view as possible. And to really pound home how terrible war is. Assassin’s Creed shows that people can use games to teach history (the museum mode).

It's not a genre I play extensively (most shooters I play tend to be more sci-fi flavored, like Star Wars or Halo), though I do enjoy the occasional arcade style dogfighter (biggest of which being Ace Combat, which takes place in an alternate reality), but surprisingly the idea isn't completely unappealing to me.

While yes, the big war currently in the news cycle probably seems (or is) more relevant to the day to day lives of those in the western world (which probably accounts for most of the users on sites like this), you've got to remember there's always war somewhere. Practically the past 20 years of Call of Duty & Battlefield games released during the Afghanistan/Iraq wars (many of which featured "topical" middle eastern locales/sections), and there are lots of other minor (scale) conflicts that are underway in places like the middle east & Africa almost all the time.

I'm not saying it's right, but if such games weren't generally considered in poor taste then (& I'm well aware there are those who think they are/were), I don't see why that should change now, for better or worse.

The only war games I play are strategy related e.g. Fire Emblem, and Advance Wars. Not a fan of the Call of Dutys and Battlefields.

The last ‘war’ game I played was Black Ops 1. I enjoyed it after having studied the Cold War at school and it had just the right amount of over the top silliness that I didn’t take it too seriously (‘the numbers Mason! What do they mean?!’)

I’ve never been able to get into any since, though I tried Battlefield 1. Something about trying to set things in a real conflict just doesn’t appeal to me (though I did enjoy Medal of Honour Frontline back on the PS2; the realism and respect it showed despite being a game was interesting).

Things that play with the setting, such as the recent Wolfenstein games are fine. However something that represents a real event in which millions died just seems a bit bad taste in my opinion. It’s not a judgement or ethical decision against those who like them but I’d take Doom or Halo and their imaginary worlds to get lost in over the grit of real historical events any day.

Last year, I purchased the latest installment in my favorite war game series. I had been looking forward to it for months, and I eagerly dove into the campaign as soon as it arrived. However, I found myself feeling uncomfortable with the level of violence and destruction. In light of recent events, the idea of virtual soldiers killing each other seemed distasteful. I tried to push these thoughts out of my mind and focus on the game, but I eventually put it down and haven't picked it up since. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to enjoy war games in the same way again. It's a shame, because I used to love playing them. But for now, I just don't feel right about it.