After previously telling Polygon that it wasn't "trying to make a political commentary," Six Days in Fallujah publisher Victura has now walked that back in a Tweet saying that "the events recreated in Six Days in Fallujah are inseparable from politics."
The controversial tactical shooter is planning to make a return after Konami canned the original 11 years ago due to the backlash faced around the depictions of the Second Battle of Fallujah, one of the bloodiest and most horrifying battles of the Iraq War.
Its return has also raised several eyebrows, with games industry analysis Daniel Ahmad pointing out that the game is returning "at a time when US army recruitment is at an all-time low." Ex-Vlambeer developer Rami Ismail was also incredibly critical of its revival, stating he was "worried about another pop-culture pro-USA rewriting of documented war crimes the US committed in that battle."
We understand the events recreated in Six Days in Fallujah are inseparable from politics. pic.twitter.com/N7nkPilp1QMarch 8, 2021
The tweet attempts to address such concerns and justify Six Days' return, saying that the game will utilise a mixture of gameplay and documentary footage "featuring service members and civilians with diverse experiences and opinions about the Iraq War" to tell the story.
The documentary segments will "discuss many tough topics, including the events and political decisions that led to the Fallujah battles as well as their aftermath." The documentary will also supposedly be peppered throughout the game, used to provide context to the gameplay. Victura also says while they will not allow players to use white phosphorus as a weapon in the game, it will be described during documentary segments.
It's a rather mixed message after Victura head Peter Tamte's interview seemed to heavily suggest that Six Days' intent was not to be political, and instead to tell "human stories." There's no mention in the Tweet of Tamte's comments, nor any mention of whether this has come from Tamte himself. Regardless, it's no doubt an attempt to quell the numerous concerns circling about the level of empathy shown towards the US army, and the accuracy of the events Six Days is attempting to portray.
The revival attempt is currently being helmed by Highwire Games, with Victura as its publisher. Six Days in Fallujah is currently slated for a 2021 release.
