COD, Battlefield & Co. - real soldiers rate war games for us

War games, especially first-person shooters like Battlefield and Call of Duty, enjoy great popularity in the gaming world. The marketing often applies to the following principle: all the more reality, the better. But how much have war games with real war ever mean? We asked real professional soldiers.

COD, Battlefield and Co. - Genuine War Vs. Digital Gaming War

While shooters like Fortnite and Overwatch play in fictitious and colorful comic universes, Call of Duty and Battlefield often pursue the goal of presenting war jobs and scenarios very "realistic". Playing "real war" - thus a great charm connected in the video game world, the last the controversial Shooter Six Days in Falluja has driven to the top, with his gameplay concept, to enable his players authentic experiences that on the Cooperation with real soldiers and their stories is based.

Genuine war out there, digital war in the games - to get a realistic impression of how these worlds really agreed, we interviewed real professional soldiers who also play video games in their free time. Their names we have anonymised by numbers.

• Do you have fun playing military games?

On / E Soldier: In (1): "_ja, I am doing well sometimes to play military games.

On / E Soldier: In (2): "The is strongly on which. Before my service or actually until my first real use I found great pleasure on pretty much all shooters that came under the mouse. Main thing a lot of action and large multiplayer cards, ideally a few vehicles and game modes with some tactics.

Theute, many games just wider me. In principle, I have no problem that there are war games that tries to arouse by adding cruelty and as much blood as possible. What makes me massively disturb that in many games the killing of humans is rewarded and partially celebrated .

_I is now having more fun games in which the fulfillment of the order is in the foreground and the killing itself is only an absolute side aspect. For example, I like to play Arma, especially because I also have the opportunity to try tactics and scenarios with comrades here as a tank soldier, which would not be possible in reality. Games like Cod, however, definitely do not make me fun anymore.

• Can you call the reasons for your feeling, gladly or not like to play warlasses?

ON / E SOLDAT: IN (4): "ALSO Basically, I definitely enjoy it. As far as the feeling is concerned, I would say that it's just fun to play an action game. But this has to do with the entertainment factor similar to action movies and not concretely with the military .

ES makes of course more fun when games are authentic and you can lock things through his knowledge. So at WW2 games, the places and vehicles, for example or with modern shooters, the equipment and the tactical component. "

On / E Soldier: In (2): "I is now just a grotesque, if killing series are rewarded with extra points that emphasize eliminating opponents with opaque texts or existing game modes like Deathmatch and you mutually Meases the K / D. This conveys a completely wrong picture.

At the latest If in use the first shot breaks, the adrenaline poses and the stress level has reached 300 percent, everything moves into the background. Then it is no longer about orders, ideologies or facilities. Everything that counts is, how do I get out of the rest again? The rest happens in automatic operation ._

_ And in retrospect, a gradually becomes aware of the scope of his actions. In my current career I have not met a single soldier who bribes with such experiences, let alone look forward to it. On the contrary, such experiences break and burden one to the end of life. I can not understand that in games often killing is often portrayed as positive behavior and are now ashamed in hindsight for being happy about high K / DS._ "

• Can you identify yourself with the soldiers in these games?

ON / E SOLDAT: In (1): "Nein, I can not, since there is no war game, in which the war and the personal consequences will be presented and concretized."

On / E Soldier: In (4): _ " This is very important to the type of games . In multiplayers shooters à la cod or bf, this is rather difficult. But in singleplayergames that give the characters a story, that can be quite. That fits well to the next point. Of course you want to have fun in Games and the hero will be. But if you want a good character development, then you should also show other facets ._

_Als soldier lives in the country of use or on the front, depending on where the game takes place. And there are many things in daily life. There are friendships, everyone brings talents from civilian. So one can play an evening on the fire might play guitar and another can cut well hair. Sounds a bit stupid now, but these are such things, then a kind of infrastructure develops. If a problem has a problem then you know who can help you best.

On / E Soldier: In (2): _ " No, by no circumstances. The games are simply so far away the reality, that does not work . However, there is a scene that has stuck to me and that I had to think often in action, because it reflects conflict and doubt, with whom you have to fight every day. Specifically, it's about the death scene from Miller in Battlefield 3._

Gerade The last sentences: "You Come To Our Country to Murder us. Yet We Are The Terrorist When WE Try to Protect Our Nation and People. " In real life, there is not this classic, forced friend / enemy scenario, at the end of the day we are all the people who fight for their opinion and values ​​and you are constantly wondering if what you are doing here is right. Only when I was really on the ground and the people in the countries of face was allowed to get to know face, that was so conscious to me .

• Which games do you think war realistic? Which not?

On / E Soldier: In (4): "also I think about Arma I have to say anything. So Battlefield was actually the 2er, 3er and 4er quite well. The 1er WW1 I found terribly unrealistic. Of course, you always have to think about it: Either I am tank driver or pilot or infantry and can not do everything. Each of these skills requires a sometimes many years of education .

Furthermore, no one sprints with full equipment several hundred meters above free field . Abber It is just difficult to bring such tactical and physical aspects to a game. There would be only a simulation that would not allow me to "just" to play a round .

_What to me personally, for example, was also fun, Star Wars Republic Commando. The game had compared to other games of this series relatively "strong opponents". And one has stopped here also attempts to bring a tactical component. It's easy in military the A and O, always knowing what happened to a rum and to inform his people best and to tell them in the same breath: what happens when? Who does what if? _ "

On / E Soldier: In (2): "Moderne wars do not match the classic picture, which maybe you may get mediated by World War Docus. There are hardly big battles with clear fronts in which big armies fight against each other. Therefore, I can not judge whether playing the such scenarios are realistic. But what I can say is that conflicts today have absolutely nothing to do with what is presented in games .

I do not consider it possible to represent wars virtually realistic , _Alt if increasingly resembles a computer game with increasing digitization. The only games that came to me and who are approximately realistic, would be Squad and Arma, in the latter specifically the Law of War DLC, in which at least the sub-scene and the suffering of the civilian population are treated.

• In your opinion, Military Games should become more realistic and show the entire range of war, not just the heroic?

A soldier: in (1): "_ja, war games could be more realistic in my opinion and show much of what war really means. Everything can not be displayed because a game can not cause the emotions and reactions like a real battle.

On / E Soldier: In (3): "da there is a very clear yes from me. You look too little from what happens around that happens around and only the "Rambo" sides . Or also the compatibility with family and the soldier profession. "

On / E Soldier: In (2): " difficult to say. As a gamer, I would say no because that's uninteresting. Finally, you do not play the games to be observed morally morally, but to have fun and get your heads. Of course, as a soldier, I would already wish if war and conflict would not be glorified and the players would be conveyed more realistic images. The soldier profession probably also like his beautiful sides, so absurd that may sound for an outsider, but the pages that are glorified in games and rewarded with points are definitely not .

MIR is of course realized that it is necessary to require reality from game manufacturers to meet these wishes. I also do not think that games are the right channel for schools would be there more the right place, but right there is reluctant to talk about such topics or the soldier profession .

Imeilicht, in the future, one could at least try to focus on the focus and rewards in games significantly more on tactical together and put the order fulfillment than directly on eliminating opponents and no longer on these clear enemies , but the players explain that the other side consists only of humans. People who have partners and children. People with needs, feelings, fears and hopes. "

On / E Soldier: In (5): "Search games can help the wider population to help understand what the Bundeswehr did for example in Kosovo and in Afghanistan (helped people there and support them in many things). But such games should not take a leaf from my mouth in my intimate opinion .

Aber also show the mistakes that have happened. As an example, the tanker bombing in Afghanistan. Just as the situation of the soldiers after use should be illustrated. All comrades I know who were in Afghanistan have said that they have never left the country 100 percent . "

• What would you give non-professional soldiers playing military games on the way?

ON / E SOLDAT: In (1): "en players who are not soldiers I would do with the way they should not take these games too seriously and keep themselves in mind again and again really means for those affected. "

ON / E SOLDAT: In (4): _ " Everyone should play what makes him fun. But you should never close from a game to reality . Who is really interested in this topic away from the games, should simply talk to the comrades in one day of the open door or an internship.

A soldier: in (2): "Sid about the difference between reality and game always clear. Conflicts and war are neither heroic, action-packed, or in any way positive. Everything that remains is incredible suffering . Please do not report to the military just because your fun has a shooter or looking for action. The profession is physically and mentally unbelievably stressful and absolutely not to compare with a game.

I find it almost amusing when young recruits come to us and believe they would now be experts because they spent hundreds of hours in shooters, knowing the weapon names better than the squad and then quickly realize what soldier will be. Such a "4 kilogram" weapon in the stop, for example, is much heavier than it looks like. Even after a 72h exercise completely soaked and in the middle of the night, many remember that no mental capacity is there anymore to worry about tactics and weapons statistics .

Ohne HUD and GPS is also quite a challenge to find the right way, but for most of the career request already ends with full equipment at the first earlier march ** . "

We thank you at this point for the honesty of the interviewed persons and the invaluable insights that they have given us.