Oh look, another WWII-themed first-person shooter

by Joystiq Staff on Aug 31st 2006 12:55PM

What happens when sales outpace creativity and originality? No, not another 50 Cent game. The real answer is more first-person shooters with a World War II theme -- Fall of Liberty is the name of the lucky girl this time. Ugh, do we really need another WWII franchise for next-gen? Well, Codemaster and Sparks Unlimited seem to think so.

Not content with the bazillions of other historical FPSers out there, the two have joined forces to bring us Fall of Liberty for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Due in late 2007, this latest Nazi smasher is actually a flip on the formulaic script as the game is set in the 50s shortly after the Nazis have won -- see it's different, this time, they win. Not only were the nasty Germans victorious, but they're poised to forever rule the good ol' U.S. of A.

We have just one question to ask you Joystiqers: Are you as sick of WWII-themed shooters as we are?

[Thanks, Alvin]

Source

Tags: Fall of Liberty, FallOfLiberty, PC, PS3, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (84)

It's ot a WWII shooter if WWII is done.

This could be interesting if they develop the alternate reality storyline well. If they don't then this is just another one for the clone heap.

http://agentmoo.com

No. (FP)

I never get tired of WW2 shooters. They may not be original, but neither are the other bajillion FPSes out there, and the difference is that WW2 shooters tend to be immersive and well executed. I enjoy the whole AI teammate thing in COD, especially since they help but are expendable - there's no need to babysit some idiotic AI character.

This one seems interesting. I'm a sucker for alternate-history games, like Red Alert (Hitler never existed, Soviet Russia takes over the world).

OK, the WWII FPS's were fun for awhile, but what about WWI??? THAT would be much cooler than yet another WWII game. Not many people really know much about the first World War, and many would be surprised to find that it was a damn gritty ugly war...

THAT is what I want to see...

Honestly, what the hell is wrong with the writers for this website? That's like saying a WWII shooter is a WWI shooter because the events in the game are tied to the events of WWI.

I don't mind playing one ever two years or so. I played Return to Castle Wolfenstein and then didn't touch another one til COD2 on 360.

This one is interesting because of the alternate history idea, hopefully they focus on the storyline (which is doubtfull for an FPS).

I'd like to see more WWII games that aren't FPS's. Think Splinter Cell for the 1940's.

how about an american civil war fps? or an american revolution fps? or any of the other hundreds of wars since the beginning of time? just anything other than WW2?

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, 1939.

Imagine, in a couple decades people might be complaining about the endless "War on Terror" games that companies seem to insist on developing.

Sounds like a fun and different concept. I'm in.

I'm a fan of WWII shooters, especially ones that take place in other parts of the world than JUST germany... How many times have I seen Berlin interpreted via a Video game? quite a few. How many of these were historically accurate? a few. How many of them had arbitrary doors? ALL of them. Yeah, Immersive. that's why my panzerfaust can't take out a wooden door... ack! ranting! back on track, I like WW-II shooters, my favorite one would have to be Enemy Territory because it was free.

As long as the game is fun, I really don't care what era/genre/theme it belongs to.

I love WWII shooters (BF1942, COD Series, MoH in particular).

that screenshot almost looks like something from that enterprise episode when the germans were invading the usa

I'd be sick of it if it had the same locations and same missions over and over, but this one sounds kinda interesting. Hey, at least they are changing it up. Count me in.

A WWI FPS will never work. WW2 was the first war of movement, while WW1 was a mess of attrition and old cavalry tactics being used in the era of mobility and machine guns. There's nothing inherently cool about sitting in a trench for days on end, getting all sorts of diseases, throwing urine-soaked rags over your mouth to keep from dying, and then charging across a field only to be gunned down by machine guns. WW2-style mobile combat is "cooler" for the masses.

And we won't see a flood of War on Terror FPSes ever :P WW2 is unique that it's the only war where pretty much everyone agrees that it's Good vs. Evil. It was and remains the only true moral war in recent history, the other ones (including WW1) being coloured by politics and creed.

as sick of WWII shooters as I am...they continue to be made because they continue to sell well. Look at COD2. It has the same storyline as every other WWII game yet it sold extremely well. This is why smaller developers like Codemasters and Spark Unlmtd. would make a game like this. While it is another WWII game, it's a fresh take on the genre, and Codemasters/Spark are probably banking on it to sell well. In this day and age when original games are successful sales wise 2/10 tries, why not make another WWII game when 9/10 WWII games end up selling well? From a business standpoint, this is why WWII games continue to be made. In order to stop it, we, as consumers needs to change that trend.

I will say though...the new brothers in arms game does look quite fun.

A WWI shooter would be piss ass boring. You would sit in a trench and fire shots randomly all day, then maybe drive an early and crude tank that falls apart after about ten minutes of travel.

Wait, it's Man in the High Castle, the videogame? Do you get to spend time in the Japanese occupied western territories, manufacturing fake antiques to sell to your military overlords?

I've pretty much been sick of them since the 2nd one came out. However, this one does sound at least a bit more interesting than the rest. For some reason, I've always been more into FPS's in a futuristic setting like Unreal. I think I prefer using more futuristic weaponry. Although the idea of a more Middle Ages based FPS with magic does have some appeal.

I like the ideas mentioned earlier about going even further back in American History to the Civil War and Revolutionary War. However, I don't know how well that would work if it was made at all realistic. The fire rate for their weaponry was very low and they didn't exactly have many vehicles to work with either :-).

I love WWII FPS. I like it a lot better than running around in dark, metal spaceships.

Bring it on!!!

I'm pretty certain that the last sign of the apocalypse is a 50 Cent branded WWII FPS...

I just checked my Bible and, yeah, it's the last sign.

one big reason there are so many wwii shooters because nazis are the only politically correct enemies in these ultra-sensitive "don't even possibly upset anyone" days. heck even when they did an asian front wwii shooter it was called racist.

until publishers grow a pair or society lightens up a bit i am afraid we will be stuck with these kind of themes.

I just think of it as another Genre of FPS.

Nobody seems to get tired of sci-fi FPS's--Halo series, Quake series, Doom series, Unreal series, and all of the other knock-offs.
When the next Halo comes out the headlines won't read "God not ANOTHER sci-fi shooter!"

Since I think of it as another genre, I usually question who can provide the best experience? BiA is hands down the best historically. Medal of Honor used to mean something until Call of Duty came to town.
So in that respect to me, BiA, MoH, CoD, etc is like Halo, Doom, Quake, Unreal, etc.

Developers milk WWII because that was the most exciting albeit most dangerous time to be in the US armed forces.---As well as to be in Allied and Axis forces for that matter. There are so many good stories to be told in that era, so I say why not?

As long as they don't exhaust all of the good stuff...Like say in 10 yrs they've told every story...except the story of the suicide Japanese mini-sub drivers during the bombing of pearl harbor.
"Brace yourself for crazy WWII action on the 720, and the PS4 while you sit in complete darkness and await your most certain death"...yay.

I wonder if the main character (probably a pivotal member of a resistance movement as these storylines go) will be Jewish...

Yes, I'm even more sick of them than I am of Madden games, if that was even possible.

Hell, I dare anyone to count the number of war themed games period that have come out this generation. There's what, 500 of them?

I hate WWII games, FPS or not. They promote the concept of fighting for liberty while suppress the noble idea of pacifism. Any peace lover of the new age should never lay an eye on them. Period.

"RTCW: Enemy Territory" is a FREE online team-based multiplayer FPS that I've found to be quite engaging for a while now.

Perhaps the lines of good and evil seemed a bit more clearly defined in that era as well. :(

I will never, ever, ever tire of shooting Nazis.

Ever.

It also doesn't help that when it comes to the FPS genre, the earliest war that would be any fun to play is WW2. Wars prior to WW2 were fought along the lines of the old European war script. Two lines faced each other and went forward. WW1 would be particularly boring since most of it would involve you sitting in a trench waiting for an order to charge, in which case you'd more than likely get cut down by machinegun fire.

WW1 shooters would be slow and dull. Remember, it took weeks to move 100 yards in WW1. Anything earlier than that is either a one sided butt-whooping (Spanish-American war for example) or using technology that isn't exactly exciting, like flintlock or matchlock muskets. A Civil War shooter would be dull since it would be you marching in a line with a hundred other guys, stopping, firing, then reloading to fire again. Three shtos a minute in the old days isn't terribly incredible when players are used to shooting dozens of rounds a second. Besides, in the old musket days of the American Civil War and earlier, a lot of shots were made on pure luck given the minimal proliferation, or non-existence, of rifled barrels.

FPS developers don't have a lot of historical material to work with.

Nope.

I'm looking forward to Call fo Duty 3 and the new Medal of Honor.

What about the War of 1812? That's my favorite war and I feel it's underrepresented in the realm of first-person shooters!

@Goose

"That's like saying a WWII shooter is a WWI shooter because the events in the game are tied to the events of WWI."

You're really just one of those people that loves to bitch, right?

The reason you would consider this a WWII shooter is because the events that take place in it are based solely upon the altered outcome of WWII. Not to mention - We could probably just assume that the weapons/technology involved in this 50s-era shooter are similar, if not identical, to those used in common WWII shooters.

So, it's completely justifiable to dub this a WWII shooter.

Now, to figure out why I cared so much that I wasted a sixty seconds writing this post up.

I think with the Crytek engine, they might be able to pull off a Vietnam game that is actually worth something.

Although I think that war is forever stained by the likes of Chuck Norris, Rambo, Arnold Schwartzinminehugemuscles, and countless other movies/tv shows based on the premise of Vietnam or men returning from Vietnam (A-team anyone).

Jesus I just had an epiphany---I would kill to play an A-team game on next gen....get to it people!

That picture of the White House with the Swastika is eerie...

I would love to see a CoD style or even Brothers in Arms type game but geared towards the Pacific Theater ... but I do hold a special place in my heart for WWII themed games.

it should feel different because the WWII styled weapons and other stuff are in a pretty different setting

but I've only played like 2 WWII fpses, so...

Many people have put great reasons why WWI and the Civil War will not work as FPS. WWI would make a few good specialty games like a sniper guncon or a machine gun flash game. The Civil War would make an interesting ride and shoot game (cavalry-style) like those cowboy games.

But the main reason why the hundred years before WWII was so boring was the use of Napoleonic formations. Soldiers didn't have free will that would allow the for a fun game experience.

I suggest a American Revolution FPS. During that period the American forces were know to use guerrilla tactics. Build the game Vietnam-style with missions or even build it like Mercenaries/GTA where you can join bands of local militias or even choose sides. I can just envision running down a slope in a forest with a musket and tomahawk and taking out a Redcoat shipment.

Oh hey, is that the Bush Administration White House in the background? III think sooo! /end political commentary

i never get tired of jaded journalists bringing up the "look another WWII" shooter line. Get some originality Joystiq.

The problem with WWII games is that developers are running out of battles to recreate. How many times can I storm the beach at Normandy or parachute into Operation Market Garden?

There have been plenty of smaller conflicts in the 20th century that one could make games out of. One could make a decent game as a mercenary fighting in post-colonial wars in Africa in the middle of the 20th century. Or, one could tell a story from the perspective of a group fighting a larger colonial power for indepedence.

Bring on the War of 1812 FPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or the Alamo FPS!!!!!

Why all the whining about WWII FPSs? Yes there are a few of them but there are three or four sci-fi themed FPS's for every WWII one. A few of the WWII ones are some of the better FPS's out there (Band Of Brothers). I agree that they need to be a bit more creative but at least in this case they are doing some alternate history stuff instead of having us storm the beach yet again.

Hey developers how about some WWI or western themed FPS's just to change stuff up a bit and stop all the whining about WWII games?

To answer the question: No, I'm not. Me like guns. Me like kill Germans.

It's not even a WWII shooter.

Seriously - the perfect FPS - the War of 1812. It's got it all -- the war had good weapons (they had advanced considerably since the Revolutionary War and the British were testing out basically the fist rocketlauncher in western warfare), the war had serious drama (imagine trying to hold the Capitol or the White House from invading British troops intent on burning them down), it has a third party to spice things up (some native americans were on the side of the US and others with the British), and the war had interesting and diverse battlegrounds (DC was invaded, the war was fought on the sea, in the forests, in towns and cities, and in more open fields).

Seriously, The War of 1812 would be THE perfect FPS. Seriously.

I think a cool FPS would be just to have the whole game be one huge battle, that lasted days. And mostly have the gameplay be as close to real time. So, if it takes you two hours to storm a bunker, you get the chance to actually play through the whole two hours.

Who knows if that idea would work, it might just end up being too much scripted gameplay.

@#34

Yes, and if the United States were pacifists in WW2, then this game (Nazis taking over the USA) might very well be a reality. Real War sucks, true. But you can't deny that anything short of war would have stopped the Nazis.

To be a WW2 shooter surely it has to be based on WW2? Last time I checked, the Nazis lost.

BTW, the company is called "Codemasters" - with the plural.

I think a better question would be "Are you tired of historical shooters?"

My answer would be an astounding yes because, as was pointed out, the majority of them are focused on World War 2.

I agree with the posters suggesting that developers should look into OTHER wars throughout history. Sadly it's not like they're in short supply...

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Oh look, another WWII-themed first-person shooter

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