When it comes to war shooters, World War II is far and beyond the most common war to be portrayed in video games, which is somewhat unsurprising. Being one of the biggest global conflicts in human history, it makes perfect sense for there to be so many different titles. Plenty of major AAA franchises– including both Call of Duty and Battlefield– started off as World War II shooters and have since later expanded into different periods and settings. But with so many war shooters covering WW2, are developers still capable of making fresh new experiences?
A Tired Formula
Over the past 20 years or so, the gaming landscape has changed a lot, there’s not denying that. The usual suspects (franchises like the aforementioned Battlefield and Call of Duty) have somewhat moved from, or at least lessened their focuses on World War II. The few times that these AAA franchises returned to the second World War, they were met with criticism from both fans and critics and seen as underwhelming. Call of Duty: WW2 is overall viewed as one of the weaker installments in the franchise, and is rated the worst out of all of the Call of Duty games set during World War II.
Battlefield V, on the other hand, overall received mixed reviews from critics and plenty of backlash from fans for various reasons. The game currently has a 73 critic average score on Metacritic, but an embarrassingly low user score average of 2.4/10. It’s clear that both franchises have a lot of life left, but perhaps they’ve both run their course with titles set during World War II in particular.
New Perspectives & Genres
Even though World War II shooters have seemingly been done to death at this point, it looks like developers are trying to think a bit more outside the box in how they approach the time period. Developers have discovered in recent years that games in genres other than war shooters can take place during this period, with indie games like Through the Darkest of Times telling a very different story, with the game told through the perspective of resistance group members living in nazi-occupied Berlin in the late 1930’s.
There have been other games that have attempted to tell thought-provoking stories set during WW2 through the gaming medium, like the canceled holocaust game, Imagination is the Only Escape which would have shown World War II through the eyes of a young boy. Even though the game was never created, it would have given gamers an entirely new perspective to play in one of the darkest periods of human history.
Fresh Experiences Are Possible, If Done Right
Overall, it seems that fresh gaming experiences are still possible to be had within the World War II-era, but developers just need to get more creative. There have arguably been more than enough WW2 first-person-shooters created already, but there are many other types of video games that could benefit from being set in the time period.
Just as the film industry can benefit from new perspectives, with World War II films such as Jojo Rabbit and Inglorious Bastards offering new spins on history, video games too are capable of creating brand new experiences that cover old subjects, time periods, and events. The world of gaming is endless, so as far as we know, some of the very best World War II video games may still be yet to come.
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At Epoch Xperience, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse Epoch Xperience’s service on our parent site, SJR Research.
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(This article is credited to Ben Price. For as long as he can remember, Ben has always loved playing, discussing, and writing about video games. Since receiving his B.A. in English, he now writes about them for a living.)