EA shows us why realism in FPS is a bad idea

By premiering a previously-unveiled Apache gunship level from their upcoming military FPS title Medal of Honor at GamesCom, Electronic Arts has given us an opportunity to directly compare a game to real life, and in so doing, created a perfect argument for why military first person shooters will never be "realistic," and why they shouldn't even try to be.

[NYC_Gamer]

COD4 had the same type of mission...and no1 complained

[CrazyForGames]

if your talking about the mission i think your talking about it really wasn't no big deal because it the end all you really saw was tiny blurs on the screen

pretty much dots moving around

[JackBNimble]

I don't really understand the problem here...is it because there is a gun ship, or is it because it takes place in Afghanistan?

People are stupid.... there is just as much or more violence on the 6 o'clock news and primetime TV then in most games, yet they bitch about an M rated game.

It's Hypocrisy at it's finest.

[CrazyForGames]

i usually always thought the reason most people complain is because unlike the news and movies and stuff in games you actually get to control the violence

that's the way i see it

[Cevapi88]

what should be more disturbing to news corporations is that one is being held accountable for what happened in the wikileaks case of the 2 Reuters reporters who got blown away to pieces along with civilians who were trying to help...the fact that a game has realistic gameplay shows the double standards that corporations partake in to screw with the game industry when in the real world people get away with heinous crimes on a daily basis...

[writersblock]

So true

Look at that incedence in the video. They just killed like 15 innocent men. Congrats, you just got the taliban 20 new recruits wanting revenge on america for that sort of dumb shit actions. These US soldiers are fucking retarded

[Cevapi88]

fear mongering at its finest...its a good way to drive profit margins up when shareholders demand revenue with pointless stories...i can only imagine how much actual NEWS goes uncovered

edit: meant to say NO one in my first comment

[frostypants]

N4G probably is the last place for a serious discussion on foreign policy, but that said, I'll bite. There was never any intention to "win" in Iraq or Afghanistan. The entire goal of both wars is to destabilize efforts by radical Islamic militants to re-create the Caliphate (basically, a theocratic Islamic alliance spanning the entire Middle East), as this would have dire consequences for global trade, global stability, and human rights. It would be a little like the entire Western world agreeing to let the Vatican run the show.

People complain that taking down Saddam Hussein actually destabilized the Middle East. But that was the entire point.

You'll never hear this from the Pentagon publicly because people can't fathom a war with no measurable outcome (since the goals are entirely preventative).

[evrfighter]

an EA fps and realism should never go together. They don't seriously believe their shooters are realistic do they?

I'm guessing whoever has played Arma is getting a good chuckle.

[kingjoker34]

Its the same types of complaints about MW2 No Russian.
Some people find it offensive, some dont. I dont but I can see why people do. They should have the option of skipping that part of the level.

[Cairnius]

The article isn't complaining about the gunship level from MoH, it's just pointing out how unrealistic it is, and how it would be a lot different...and a lot less fun...if it WERE "realistic."

[East_Coast]

Valid argument.

This is what's happening to the gaming world as the big crops try to expand their reach and penetrate deeper into other markets. A larger user base brings with it both a positive and a negative and questions that are appropriate and sometimes not. In this case I don't think that it warrants all the effort and thought. I think that peoples personal lives are mixing themselves into something else that is totally innocent and harmless and turning it into something more than what it really is.

If having a larger base means that we have to contend with issues such as these then you can keep the top spot all to yourself.

Oh and I can't wait for MoH!

[The_Zeitgeist]

@ the killer
"USA are criminals on the state level and majority of people since they vote for bush twice"

Actually he only got the majority vote once....just saying.

[EvilBlackCat]

ARMA 2 says hi!

[Bits-N-Kibbles]

Generation Kill and see the similarities to some of the idiots the US Army/Marines put in charge of people's lives.

EDIT:
This is what happens when the military's majority is made up of the unwanted, pissed off, short-sited, red neck, white trash. I respect those who go into the military, but todays soldiers are not the same type of people as those who signed up to DEFEND our country in WWII.

[The_Zeitgeist]

The end of that series is creepy. I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen it, but lets just say the very last 30 seconds of the series will give you chills.

[PotatoClock]

That was quite scary seeing what ACTUAL US soliders were like in Iraq. Of course some of them were good and how you'd think they should act, but the amount who were just trigger happy idiots and given weapons and even in command of other people is just too much.
Its quite strange seeing the massive difference in solider mentality after watching The Pacific before seeing Generation Kill.

[moparful99]

You are generalizing the entire miltitary based off of some videos that show soldiers making bad decisions.. There were plenty of soldiers in WWII that killed out of hatred and there were far more innocent civilians being slain in that war due to fewer rules and less accurate weaponry.. But you dont hear as much about those incidents because the media wasnt as involved as it has been with iraq and afghanistan.... Of course they are going to show soldiers doing this kind of stuff because it generates controversy and they profit.. Stop putting all soldiers in a bad light over the mis representation of a few...

[NAGNEWS]

i like COD4 and i like killing in games that doesn't make me a bad person with bad ideas.

as long as i keep those bad-ass games in my own fantasy life nothing bad going to happen.

[LtSkittles]

I know, right? I drove an ice cream truck over people in GTA, does that mean I'll go out, jack an ice-cream truck, and run people over? No, there's no ice cream truck that goes by my house.

[Cairnius]

...I don't think this article has anything to do with people acting out the games. I think it has to do with whether military FPS games can ever be realistic or not, and answering the question with a definitive "No."

[LtSkittles]

Cairnus I know yeah, I was being funny. Yeah, I'll play CoD, but there's no way any of that would happen in real life.

[moparful99]

You being able to do things in a game that are morally objectional is not the issue, this whole debate is about whether military shooters can accurately depict what "acctually" happens in a conflict. Like the video of a us apache engaging and killing civillains in afghanistan.. They are basically saying that in order for millitary shooters to be enjoyable they have to scale back on realism quite a bit...

[kingjoker34]

Right?
I teabag people in mw2 from time to time, does that mean that I will kill somebody in real life, then then make them suck on me? No.

[theonlylolking]

At least they are taking risks.

[Trunkz]

Did Fox news write this?

[The_Zeitgeist]

Did you even read this?

[kinetic100]

The wiki Leaks Video is disgusting. You can see why the Military tried to stop it being released to the public.I think it would be move important for Gunship Pilots to not act like their playing a FPS and not the other way round.

[Xx Ziyad xX]

i think who killed in the video has no gun its have only Camera

[moparful99]

Don't get me wrong the wikileaks video is disturbing and it is very sad that it happens but what do you expect when you walk around in an active war zone and you have two people in your entourage carrying weapons? It has been proven that there was two people holding weapons. 1 had an ak47 while the other had an rpg. There was also commentary from a soldier fighting insurgents meer blocks from where this event took place. So collateral damage is inevitable.. I wish that there was a better system of identifying targets so that civies wouldnt die but when you stay in an area of conflict then you are putting your life in your own hands...

[DeFFeR]

I'm so sick and tired of gaming websites complaining about how realistic games are becoming.

If this were a racing game, and the cars looked fake, everyone would be pissing themselves and creating boycotts etc.

This is a war game. Why does the setting make any difference to people? I want my games to be realistic. Maybe I (and many others...) have the innate ability to actually realize that what we are playing is nothing more than 0's, 1's, pixels, colors, shapes etc. programmed into silicon, plastic and other various electronics equipment.

Games are a disconnect for me, they allow me to immerse myself into a story or situation, much like a book does - I'm going to stop reading books too...

If some year in the future, we are invaded by aliens, will there be a cry for games like Resistance, Halo, Crysis and the like to be removed from the shelves?

Sorry - I really needed to rant.

[Cairnius]

But they're NOT becoming realistic. That's the first point of the article! It's saying that complaining about Medal of Honor being realistic is retarded because it's NOT realistic, and then by way of making the point, shows you what realistic WOULD be.

The second point of the article is that you DON'T want your games to be realistic. You don't know what you're saying when you state that. A "realistic" military FPS would be fucking -awful-. It would be boring, depressing, and just no fun whatsoever because, "realistically," war is no fun whatsoever.

If you want to say that you want your military FPS games to be "more tactical," or "more strategic," or "less twitchy," those statements would make sense...but they all have to do with gameplay, not with "being realistic."

[DeFFeR]

If this is in reply to my above comment - I understand what the article says, and I understand the argument. My rant was not about this specific article, but rather for the people who ARE complaining about shooters being too realistic looking.

I guess I should have gone to the forums on this site, but this seemed an appropriate article to rant about it.

[aceofspades]

pathetic the american soldiers are as bad as the taliban if there doing what this video shows

[Cairnius]

I don't know if I'd go THAT far...they thought that dude's camera was an RPG. I think, maybe, that video is an argument for not shooting until you're fired on first. I think that's the price for "being the good guys," if we want to be.

[DeFFeR]

I don't agree with the "fired on first" logic if they truly thought it was an RPG. How about visual CONFIRMATION of a weapon at least?

I didn't see the video, and I don't want to watch the video. Were these people civilians or insurgents/Taliban?

[NoSuchSol]

http://i.imgur.com/twrSH.jp...

I don't want to attach the specific image, but some low res zooming shows that we're not talking about a camera with a zoom lens. Also has a snippet on weapons found at the scene.

[DeFFeR]

Thanks NoSuchSol.

[big_silky]

@nosuch

s**t, I'd have been begging to open fire too. Thanks for the link, I haven't seen this before.

[tomford16]

You obviously have no idea what your talking about. You really don't. Your retarded comment doesn't deserve half of this response because it was just that uninformed. You've failed. I hope you are proud of yourself.

[moparful99]

seriously? It has already been proven that several of the men that were present had weapons, all the more there were us soldiers mere blocks away fighting insurgents.. Why would civies and unarmed reporters be loitering in the area? It is absolutely sad that civillian casualties were incured during this event but they honestly took their lives in their own hands by lingering in a conflict zone... I really feel for the people and children that were killed and injured trying to rescue the one reporter but again why they drove up in the middle of an engagement is beyond me...

[xc7x]

a game does not equal real life,simple as that. people kill people,not games.

[Beahmscream]

If you don't like it, DON'T PLAY IT! It's really that simple.

[badkolo]

its a gamey game game folks, if its to real for ya dont play it, if it bothers you dont play it, but this political correctness is total crap

[badkolo]

oh and dont worry we will be at war soon enough, some mofo from italy will make a mistake and that means we will have to attack iran next.

(change italy to any country) the same way we where attacked by saudi's on 911 so somehow that meant we got o war in irag.

[dillydadally]

Wow. Amazing article. I wish I could give a bubble to the article, because I would!

[omi25p]

realism on shooting games show that war isnt fun and games, it shows that uk and usa soldiers do die and no amount of advanced body armour will ever stop this, it shows to potential soliders what war is really like and stops the dumb and nieve wanna be heros signing up when they really cant handle it. im all for realism.

[SKullDugger]

Ok and their going to allow a mosque to be built in NY city at ground zero! That area holds alot of thoughts,sorrows and pain and they wanna whine about a video game what the hell is wrong with people. This is the land of the free and the home of the Brave!! My thoughts to all those whose lives were forever changed by that horrorific day!!! Kudos to our brave men and women who protect are freedom!!!

[Bits-N-Kibbles]

I quote you... "This is the land of the free and the home of the Brave!!"

[SKullDugger]

Tell this to the families of 9-11 dumb ass!! Our land not theirs

[Capdastaro]

Land of the free... As long as you're not, black, poor, gay, Mexican, Muslim, Sikh, Athiest, disabled, Native American, Jewish...

America needs to stop thinking it is the world. For a country that is so much in debt and 78% of the world hates their guts, America just puts it down to jealousy...

[Xx Ziyad xX]

Tell this to the families iraqi and afghan , dont act like Amarica innocent, and who blow 9\11 is unmuslims shut up and dont listn to ur media is full of bullshit !

[mrcash]

They are not protecting our freedom, they went over to "liberate" the Iraquis. If it was about our freedom and really protecting us, osama should have already been found and killed. I don't blame our military forces for anything they do, they just do their job. They have no say so, they have to play follow the leader.I think they deserve our respect but then again thats my opinion. The armed forces is just another job, some people want to do it some don't.

[smilydude13]

The mosque is like 4 blocks away. Also it's a youth-center that just happens to have a mosque inside it. Get over it, it was a radical minority of religious fanatics that committed the crime -- not the entire religion. Take your fear/hate-mongering somewhere else please.

[lids345]

the reason osama hasnt been found is the fact that pakistan wont let us into their country. thats where hes hiding.

[Reefskye]

That is news to me Patriots 27 since when did you freedom need protecting? From what I can tell the only people to take away some of your freedom was your own government. Better watch out to the British might be back soon to reclaim their colony.

I respect the armed forces and what they do, but saying they are protecting our freedoms is just a line used by the government to make people feel they are under threat.

[NoSuchSol]

I recommend people to look beyond wikileaks and see the video and dissection of the video from a different perspective before you go out there and say that they just killed XX civilians and that our troops are idiots. There's more to the story than wikileaks lets on, and really, you need to expect that the whole story isn't being told when you have a group of people that are pushing a said agenda. The same can be had for almost any news story now-a-days! We live in a world where sensationalism is King, and the bias can swing viewers.

I'm saying, go out there and look a little harder for the truth.

[mrcash]

I don't think people really want to know the truth.

[RacingLightning01]

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

People that will sit here and critcise the actions of a soldier, that now gets to cary the burden of colaterall damage with him, are Ignorant.

Insurgents have and do pack their clothes full of explosives, and nails, marbles, ball bearings, run into crowded marketplaces and kill hundreds at a time of their own people.

This one piece of footage from wikileaks shows war as it is... This is not Call of Duty. It's not always clear who the enemy is especially if they CHOOSE to assoisate & loiter with their children, with insurgents.

You don't have to agree with with me, just rember why you have the right to choose.

[BannedForNineYears]

Maybe if they made an ultra realistic FPS....And it was so realistic that it made gamers realize how stinking horrible war can be.
And maybe it will traumatize those 8 year olds that act like douches online like war traumatizes real soldiers.

>_>
Eh, I dunno. I'm tired. ~_~

[Dsnyder]

It would be kind of disturbing for video games to be too realistic but I think there should be a few to remind us that war is NOT a game. Too many people in the COD generation are under the impression that war is all fun and games. Well guess what? Join the army and see your leg get blown off and tell me how great it is to be a soldier. Thats the kind of game there should be. Something like Hurt Locker where people undergo mental and physical trama for a war on oil. Not a game where US soldiers are shooting taliban solders and yelling "HOOAH!" on Osamas corpse while waving an american flag. That is not reality. People dont come back all happy and unhurt. They come back with PTSD or mental scars and for what? Wars based on angry wold leaders who cant settle disputes without bloodshed?

[DaBadGuy]

I know war isn't fun. Someone i knew died in Iraq a while ago when he sacrificed himself on a grenade to save his comrades. I met his comrades when they came home and there was a service for him, it definately was a changing experience. I play Modern Warfare 2 and the Medal of Honor Beta and I can't help but think about it. I think about how the game couldn't possibly properly display what he and his comrades went through over there.

It wasn't as simple as having the enemy charge at you about to melee you and you quick stab them and that's the end. It was mentally and physically draining, his friends have told me. It's not as simple as in Modern Warfare 2 where you kill the enemy over and over and just keep on going. Taking a life must stick with soldiers, even if it is their duty. When you've got bombs going off all around you, bombs you don't even see, in cars, in trash cans, etc. it's not something you shake off easily.

I saw an episode of Law and Order: SVU on PTSD with soldiers and at the end of the episode it showed soldiers coming home and meeting their families. Since the war has hit so close to home for me, I think about it too, especially now that most of the active combat troops are coming out of Iraq, how many of them are affected? And for what? I don't know, they don't know. The article is about realism in FPSs, and I think if an FPS like Modern Warfare or Medal of Honor got anywhere close to actual reality, it wouldn't be a fun time getting that next prestige, it would be a frightening window into what real war is like.

Sorry for being such a downer but I'm just sharing my take and personal experiences so you can better understand where I'm coming from.

[sak500]

Every freaking kid on COD series should be made to sit and watch real war clips. If they are able to sleep and eat normally for a few days then these kids should be locked up forever. However i doubt any of these kids know what real war is about. I think the journalists were roaming with some local people who were carrying weapons for their safety, otherwise journos will not be working with insurgents holding cams and stuff. Also How would the pilot/gunner know if the van which came to help the injured person is not a civilian just to help somebody and why they just blast it to bits as well?

Man those were some trigger happy MOFOS. I hope they face their actions in real life just like they will in afterlife.

[big_silky]

http://i.imgur.com/twrSH.jp...

courtesy of nosuchsol

"The enemy commonly employ cameramen to film and photograph their attacks on coalition forces".

[yog-sothot]

Personnaly, I have no problem with people playing military FPS, even though I can see the potential issues as they become more realistic... I do not feel too concerned though : I know no one who's at war (I'm not american for info) and I do not play "modern day warfare" shooters. I like sci-fi, adventure or historical shooters...

[GameViews]

Heres a way to make them realistic and stop run'n'gunners. If you die, thats it, make a new character for multiplayer. Although the campers plague would grow to even a more massive size.

Im j/k. I say blow em all to hell.

[N4OGs]

especially war games. It will help us all be ready to kill some terrorist when the time comes. They will be like omfg these dudes are super soldiers. Ill be like nahhh i just play realistic war games. boom headshot!!!

[sam2236]

Oh fucking baw more, you idiot. It's only a game, not real life. No one, other then soccer moms and asshats, gives a flying shit. Honestly, if you don't like it, then don't write about it. You're just giving the game free publicity.

Why doesn't anyone whine and bitch about GTA? The only thing that 'disturbed' people (Wait, can soccer moms be considered people?) was that Hot Coffee thing in San Andreas a while back. They didn't care if you could run down peds and cops all the time, but once they found out about Hot Coffe, it was the worst thing ever made.

Seriously, grow the hell up.

[Braid]

Regarding FPS games in the future, we probably won't be able to play realistic war games anymore in which two human sides are battling, like world war games and tactical ops games, if the game graphics become so close to reality. Most likely we'll be firing at aliens, non-humans, zombies and such creations of fiction with green blood, just in case we won't loose our ability to distinguish what is real and what is not.

[SKullDugger]

You need to research about the muslim who is raising the funds for this mosque he supports the hamas which is a terrorist group and he said on 60 mins 24 hours after 9-11 that the United States was at fault for 9-11 because we made bin ladin. I'm not raceist nor I'm I a fear mongar they can build the mosque just not there.