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Bangladeshi Liberation War Gets FPS Treatment

Posted by simoniker on from the north-vs-south dept.

Thanks to The Daily Star for its story discussing the creation of Bangladesh's first domestically-created 3D videogame, based on their 1971 War of Independence, in which "you are a freedom fighter and your mission is to liberate your motherland by fighting the Pakistani occupation." The locally important game setting is explained: "The game works with the unique objective of the gamer as a student, farmer or an adolescent freedom fighter who either has to capture a flag from a Pakistani camp or dominate a Pakistani-occupied area in an environment digitally created in close resemblance with three historically-true battlefield -- Akhaura, Chittagong and Rajshahi." The title is hailed as "the first 'First person shooting game' made in Bangladesh", and the game CD also has educational elements, since it "will also feature historical background to the battlefields in 1971, essays, photographs and a chronological account of the War of Liberation."

6 of 27 comments (clear)

  1. Uh.. by hookedup · · Score: 1, Interesting

    So now I'm guessing we wait for pakistan to condemn the game..

    After all, the chinese didnt like C&C Generals all that much..

    1. Re:Uh.. by WormholeFiend · · Score: 2, Interesting

      did Germany condemn any Wolfenstein game(s)?
      Is Vietnam condemning Battlefield Vietnam?

      On a side note, imagine the fun we'd have playing a game based on the US/Canada war of 1812...

      (yes, I know, technically, back then Canada was still British)
      -

  2. The future of war? by Singletoned · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It does naturally lead one to hope that any future conflicts between Bangladesh and Pakistan (or more probably Pakistan and India) could be fought out using this game rather than guns, tanks and missiles.

  3. Free as in... by Boing · · Score: 3, Interesting

    At least this serves fairly well as an example of why video games should be considered speech. Bias aside, this is, on some level, a historical account. If one considers The Killer Angels to be speech, I see no reason why this (or a U.S. equivalent) shouldn't get similar protections.

    1. Re:Free as in... by MMaestro · · Score: 2, Interesting

      True, on some level it is a historical account, but is that level high/low enough? BF:Vietnam doesn't have blood because of EA's insane attempts to get a 'T' rating (C&C:Generals had a 'T' rating as well even though you could kill civilians with anthrax and get money for doing so). So at what level does a game have to reach in order to allowed to emulate a historical event? A few paragraphs on a few battles while removing all the blood? By that logic, C&C:Red Alert should've been philosophical for its time travel and 'what if Hitler never came to power' storyline.

    2. Re:Free as in... by Boing · · Score: 2, Interesting
      So at what level does a game have to reach in order to allowed to emulate a historical event?

      What level does a porno have to reach in order to be considered a love story?

      The regulation of the game industry, and the actions that publishers take in order to cram what they want to communicate into a specific rating, is directly comparable to the similar actions taken within the movie industry (and movies get "speech" protections).

      Any given video game may or may not be an accurate portrayal of a factual event, but they can be; what I'm trying to point out is that the gamut of stories and messages that can be communicated by video games directly parallels the contents of books and movies. Video games are speech as much as Penthouse is speech as much as Citizen Kane is speech as much as Stairway to Heaven is speech.