Syrian Warfare coming Q4 2016

[MikeGER]

Am I the only one who thinks that releasing a game about this still ongoing and utterly horrible situation right now is inappropriate?

hush  hush    ...don't want get Afghanistan11 (still ongoing and utterly horrible situation) delayed by some PC interferences  ^-^

and we wargame with DCS, COANO, Battlefront (Black Sea) and SBPro actual and even imminent near future conflicts too ...so we pots cant calling the kettle all to black

even popular board games  like DVG Warfighter is about ongoing things, when i give it a second thought 

[MikeGER]

Very interesting times we are living in as gamers.

Construction Machines Simulator 2016
http://store.steampowered.com/app/355330/

...we will have a Mexcian Wall DLC for this soon   ;D

[Barthheart]

...
What strikes me as off a bit is the fact that parts of the game come across as a blatant form of propaganda. There is a clear bias that was recognizable to me almost immediately. That is also what makes this game unique as a potential tool of political coercion. Very interesting times we are living in as gamers.

Interesting point, the game being propaganda.... does the money made from this go directly to Putin's War Fund? Serious question.....  ???

[JasonPratt]

Or even indirectly.

[jomni]

So can you play the rebel side?  Is there a story about their ideals and aspirations?

[Jarhead0331]

So can you play the rebel side?  Is there a story about their ideals and aspirations?

No. I do not believe you can play as rebel forces. Government forces only. The developers are not coy about their pro-government bias. They constantly refer to the rebels as "terrorists".

Just look at the description of the game on steam...

This war has been going on for a long time, and it's hard to say when it will be over. We got so used to it that news from Syria has become trivial. We've even already forgotten how it all started, and where the roots of the terrible terror lie – the terror that swept across Europe in recent years.

Syria is all over the news, and it's become a subject of many documentaries. We, however, want to show the story through the lens of the game and don't let the word "game" mislead you. This game does not claim to be a history lesson, but it shows the course of the war in all its seriousness through the major milestones, from the first days till the latest important victories over terror.

[Gusington]

I can't put too much credit in to that quote if they are only portraying one side of the war.

[GeneralHawk]

Picked it up.  A ton of fun.  Very real sense of fighting chaos and the breaking apart of a state.   Setting aside the political stuff, it's worth it.  Not a AAA release, but given what they had to work with, it works.  It's fascinating title, off the beaten path.   30+ yrs of gaming and plenty of topics can be interpreted as difficult.   I tend to separate gaming and real world events/history etc.  Advise this approach here...anyway..look forward to thoughts on the game itself!  Something special about this little title!

[Jarhead0331]

I agree that this is a very unique game in several different ways. First, from the gameplay perspective, it is not very often that we get an RTS that incorporates authentic real world concepts. As a result, the action is intense and like GeneralHawk said, there is a real sensation of chaos and urgency to the combat. I literally winced when suicide trucks and cars started detonating near my fortified positions. The destructive terrain is phenomenal. The developers have really accomplished something notable here with the gameplay...but...

I'm really struggling with the politics. Even though I tend to think that Damascus rule is preferable to the current situation, the game is so shamelessly pro Assad. I struggle with the obvious anti-west element and the open suggestion that the US and NATO is supporting and arming terrorists. I also struggle with the notion that the troops you are commanding and who are cast as the heroes, fought against Israel. The plot line has you defending mosques and working with Imams to rescue civilians.  I dunno...it may be a bridge too far for me in terms of propaganda.  I really do not recall anything like this in recent memory.

I will continue playing and posting impressions. I also plan on collecting my thoughts and either writing about the game or doing some kind of deep, Freudian, existential Let's play video.

As an aside, although the enemies have only been identified loosely as terrorists and rebels, their flag appears to be the flag of ISIS. 

[Gusington]

This is a first here IIRC when a game with such clear cut political views is also seriously high quality.

[Hofstadter]

I think that flag is Al Nusra not Isis

[Jarhead0331]

I think that flag is Al Nusra not Isis

Roger that...

[SirAndrewD]

Reading this thread led me to imagine this game having a loading screen where Assad is pictured sheltering huddled Syrian children clinging to his ankles while he is  punching an ISIS fighter that looks suspiciously like Barrack Obama.

[Hofstadter]

[Ian C]

From that video: https://youtu.be/p-qyC9DvMJ0?t=148 - 'Oh, also some weird stuff happening...false positives ..opening internet browser' etc.

I think I'll pass on this one.