Half-Life 2 and its episodes is a god among insects, but it doesn't really fit the "modern warfare" subgenre
Like I said, it doesn't totally fit. However, it still gives plenty of subtle "holy fucking shit" implications about the fight you're in. It was more of an afterthought, really.
There's this moment in episode 1 where you're exiting the underground and entering the city, which is being destroyed methodically by striders. It's a sci-fi image, but it works.
The thing I liked about COD 4 is something that Yahtzee brought up. The fact that the American soldiers are absolutely sure they're the good guys, and have this attitude of invincibility about them, and almost every single one of them gets killed. Given how often the pooch gets screwed by overconfidence in warfare, I liked that it was included in a game for once.
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South hostI obey without questionRegistered Userregular
edited April 2009
I just watched footage of an actual AC-130 mission in Afghanistan.
I don't think I can play that level anymore.
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
Dehumanization isn't some kind of technological phenomenon that came about when people started watching cop shows on TV or seeing a dead guy in the news paper. At some point in time, when some dude decided to bash another dude's skull in with a club for the first time, he saw that person as less than human.
I'm not saying it's right, but people becoming desensitized over time isn't completely unnatural.
this post brought to you by a person who hasn't done any research
Is this addressed at me? This reply is posited on the assumption that this was addressed at me, if it wasn't ignore it:
Duh?
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(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
I just watched footage of an actual AC-130 mission in Afghanistan.
I don't think I can play that level anymore.
Welcome to war.
I do have to say that whoever looked at a tank and said, "why can't we just make it fly," was a genius.
I remember doing some training and having one of those things flying above us. All you could hear would be the WHOOMP WHOOMP WHOOMP, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM, and then what sounds like a very deep "raspberry" for 5-7 seconds, and the low rumble of their engines. We kept thinking it was A-10's (the sound of the cannon), but the the other sounds meant that was not the case.
Supposedly, their gunners can put a 105mm round through a 2-story window that high up in the air.
Half-Life 2 and its episodes is a god among insects, but it doesn't really fit the "modern warfare" subgenre
Like I said, it doesn't totally fit. However, it still gives plenty of subtle "holy fucking shit" implications about the fight you're in. It was more of an afterthought, really.
There's this moment in episode 1 where you're exiting the underground and entering the city, which is being destroyed methodically by striders. It's a sci-fi image, but it works.
The thing I liked about COD 4 is something that Yahtzee brought up. The fact that the American soldiers are absolutely sure they're the good guys, and have this attitude of invincibility about them, and almost every single one of them gets killed. Given how often the pooch gets screwed by overconfidence in warfare, I liked that it was included in a game for once.
Another game that didn't go for the all-out heroics of most war-themed FPS games: Operation Flashpoint. The high chance of dying if you went Rambo, combined with the random quote about war, made this one of the most grim games I've played.
Thirith on
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
I think he's talking about America's Army, which I've always considered more of recruiting tool than a game.
Well....yeah...but the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. I believed it was intended to renew interest in the Army (wasn't the first version released just as the Army was beginning a new PR campaign, changing it's slogan from "Be All You Can Be" to "Army of One" or something similar?). Your tax dollars at work, I mean.
The forums for AA combined everything horrible about normal FPS forum discussions with guys having debates about Army protocol and rules and quoting pages from Manuals at each other in the same posts.
Which? The moral ambivalence of video game players and their in-game actions? Or military training? Probably the latter, so I'll just say that I'm not attempting to suggest that the military creates psychopaths. Clearly (at least in the US) the poor level of treatment combat soldiers receive for PTSD would seem to indicate that even if they were trying to, they aren't 100% successful.
Not all PTSD are (plural because there are multiple expressions) immediate or obvious. I don't care to be terribly autobiographical, but let's just say that things didn't "sink in" until a couple of years later. Delayed onset of these types of things, along with general "I'm not going crazy" denial and, frankly, shame makes it difficult for people to know they even need to consider/report for treatment. It's not like being shot in the shoulder. It's not even a matter of things being brought out "post-hypnotically" or anything like that. Sometimes you just see something that reminds you of something (and it may be only tangentally related/similar... or even not at all... like any memory) and it starts the spiral.
Anyway, it's not all the fault of the VA or the military in general. Not that I'm saying their shit don't stink (because it does... alot), it's just that dealing with how the brain takes in, processes, and stores information is one of the most ill-understood sciences around, and with the amount of variables that are present, medication/therapy is dartboarding even when you're dealing with people who haven't suffered combat trauma. That's not to say that they don't have something to learn from their European colleagues.
Which? The moral ambivalence of video game players and their in-game actions? Or military training? Probably the latter, so I'll just say that I'm not attempting to suggest that the military creates psychopaths. Clearly (at least in the US) the poor level of treatment combat soldiers receive for PTSD would seem to indicate that even if they were trying to, they aren't 100% successful.
Not all PTSD are (plural because there are multiple expressions) immediate or obvious. I don't care to be terribly autobiographical, but let's just say that things didn't "sink in" until a couple of years later. Delayed onset of these types of things, along with general "I'm not going crazy" denial and, frankly, shame makes it difficult for people to know they even need to consider/report for treatment. It's not like being shot in the shoulder. It's not even a matter of things being brought out "post-hypnotically" or anything like that. Sometimes you just see something that reminds you of something (and it may be only tangentally related/similar... or even not at all... like any memory) and it starts the spiral.
Anyway, it's not all the fault of the VA or the military in general. Not that I'm saying their shit don't stink (because it does... alot), it's just that dealing with how the brain takes in, processes, and stores information is one of the most ill-understood sciences around, and with the amount of variables that are present, medication/therapy is dartboarding even when you're dealing with people who haven't suffered combat trauma. That's not to say that they don't have something to learn from their European colleagues.
I rather meant the statement to be a bit farther reaching than just 'the VA doesn't care about affected soldiers'. More to include the general mindset that can probably be summed up with 'man up'. I've read a few stores about guys coming back and admitting that they were afraid for their commission or something if they even admitted their situation. I think George Carlin was onto something when he did his bit about euphemistic language...
There is definitely a "walk it off" air in the military, but the shame and guilt are not only generated by the brass/NCOs. Think of the people who are enlisting/being newly commissioned... what are their backgrounds? What are their ages? What are the values they're bringing into the organization? Some of the fear about the stimga of admitting a problem is self-generated. Some of it is generated by knowing the rest of the military (at least the part they deal with every day) may share those same beliefs.
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There's this moment in episode 1 where you're exiting the underground and entering the city, which is being destroyed methodically by striders. It's a sci-fi image, but it works.
The thing I liked about COD 4 is something that Yahtzee brought up. The fact that the American soldiers are absolutely sure they're the good guys, and have this attitude of invincibility about them, and almost every single one of them gets killed. Given how often the pooch gets screwed by overconfidence in warfare, I liked that it was included in a game for once.
I don't think I can play that level anymore.
Is this addressed at me? This reply is posited on the assumption that this was addressed at me, if it wasn't ignore it:
Duh?
Welcome to war.
I do have to say that whoever looked at a tank and said, "why can't we just make it fly," was a genius.
Supposedly, their gunners can put a 105mm round through a 2-story window that high up in the air.
There was also a NYTimes review that mentioned much the same thing.
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"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
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"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Well....yeah...but the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. I believed it was intended to renew interest in the Army (wasn't the first version released just as the Army was beginning a new PR campaign, changing it's slogan from "Be All You Can Be" to "Army of One" or something similar?). Your tax dollars at work, I mean.
Anyway, it's not all the fault of the VA or the military in general. Not that I'm saying their shit don't stink (because it does... alot), it's just that dealing with how the brain takes in, processes, and stores information is one of the most ill-understood sciences around, and with the amount of variables that are present, medication/therapy is dartboarding even when you're dealing with people who haven't suffered combat trauma. That's not to say that they don't have something to learn from their European colleagues.
I rather meant the statement to be a bit farther reaching than just 'the VA doesn't care about affected soldiers'. More to include the general mindset that can probably be summed up with 'man up'. I've read a few stores about guys coming back and admitting that they were afraid for their commission or something if they even admitted their situation. I think George Carlin was onto something when he did his bit about euphemistic language...