PLAYTIME
CassidyLittleis a bigfanofTomClancy’sThe
Division.A TVpresenterandactoryoumight
recognise,he’sespeciallyfondofthegame’s
harrowingminglingofPvPandPvE– theDark
Zone,anareaofplague-riddenNewYorkinwhich
thedistinctionbetweenfriendandfoecollapses
anddeathcostsyouhard-wongearandcharacter
progression.TheDivisionis,Littlesays,theonlygame
tomuster“afractionoftheadrenaline”hefeltduring
histimeasa RoyalMarinesmedicinAfghanistan,
whichendedin 2011 whenhewascaughtinanIED
explosion,sufferingextensiveinjuryacrosshisbody
andlosinghisrightlegbelowtheknee.
BetrayalsarefrequentintheDarkZone,asplayers
teamupatrandomtotackleothersquads
ortougherNPCs,onlytoshooteach
othertopiecesforthelion’sshare
oftherewards.Littlelikens
thistothethreatoffriendly
firefromalliedAfghanunits
infiltratedbytheTaliban
- accordingtoTheLong
WarJournal,a totalof 35
US-Europeancoalition
soldierswerekilledand
34 woundedbysuch
attacksin2011.“I know
ofa lotofpeoplewho
diedbecausetheywere
sleepingandoneofthe
Afghanguysopenedfire
onthetentfrominsidetheir
owncompound.It’scalled
‘greenonblue’,andit’sa horrible
thing.AndintheDarkZoneyoucan’t
trustanybody,eventheguywho’sonyour
team.”InLittle’seyes,theriskofprogresslosswhen
you’regunneddownintheDarkZonealsofostersa
senseofconsequencemostshooterslikeCallOfDuty
neverprovide,howeverdizzyingtheirrecreations
ofconflict.Allthatsaid,thegameremainsa fantasy
aboutwarwithsomeelementarylimitations.“You
canneverreplicatethefeelofbeingatwarina
videogameif youcanrespawn,”Littlesays.“Because
trustme,if I couldrespawnafterI lostmyfuckingleg,
afterI lostmyfriends,I wouldhave.It’sa shittyhand
tobedealt.”
Tosaythatgamesaboutwarfailtocapture
the experience of war may sound like stating the
obvious,butgiventhecontinuingintimacybetween
thegameindustry,militaryorganisationsand
gamingcultureitself,theobviouscan’tberestated
enough.TheDivision’shandingofassaultriflesand
grenadelauncherstoa sleeperforceofcivilian
troopersreflectsdecadesofmilitaryinvestmentin
videogamesforthesakeoftraining,testing,publicity
andrecruitment.Thisis especiallythecaseinthe
UnitedStates,birthplaceoftheFPS,whichin 2015
spentmoreonitsarmedforcesthanthenextseven
countriescombined.TheUSArmyis technicallyone
oftheoldestvideogamepublishers:itsactivities
stretchfrom1996’sMarineDoommodthrough2002’s
America’sArmytopresent-daymilitaryesportsteams
andOperationOvermatch,a free-to-play
siminwhichplayerstestoutprototype
tanksandarmouredcars.
Videogamedevelopers,for
theirpart,havefallenover
themselvestoembrace
militarytrappingsand
themes,recreating
real-worldfirearmsand
vehiclesandenlisting
servicemembers
asconsultantsand
promoters.Insome
cases,developershave
evenbuilttoolsfor
themilitary,suchasthe
VirtualBattlespacesimulator
seriescreatedbyBohemia
InteractiveSimulations,which
wasfoundedbythedevelopers
ofArma.Onelegacyofthissymbiotic
relationshipis anunderwritingofthe
hobbybymilitaryjargon,fromthecommonplace
useofmilitaryranksinmultiplayerprogressionto
borrowedslangtermssuchas“frags”,“fogofwar”
and“waypoint”.
Thiscommongroundis integraltotheUKArmy’s
“Belonging”recruitmentadsfromJanuarythis
year.Besidesappealingto“snowflakes”and“selfie
addicts”,thesecourt“bingegamers”withthe
suggestionthatvideogamesnurtureskillsthatcan
bereadilytransferredtosoldiering.OneYouTube
videodeclaresthatthestaminarequiredfora gaming
marathonis justtherightfitfora careerintheforces:
it intersperses footage of a boy’s face bathed in theTHEUSARMYIS
TECHNICALLYONEOF
THEOLDESTVIDEOGAME
PUBLISHERS:ITSACTIVITIES
STRETCHFROM1996’S
MARINE DOOM MOD