Abstract
In World War Two Simulated: Digital Games and Reconfigurations of the Past, Curtis D Carbonell examines the simulation of World War Two in various digital games and explores a particular dynamic under which engagement with such ‘simgames’ can cultivate player interest in the subject matter of the games, leading to deeper exploration of the history, often outside of typical areas of academic study.
In the opening chapters of the book, Carbonell explores what he refers to as a dynamic between ‘simgames’ to ‘simtexts’. He defines the former as consisting of certain digital games in the first person shooter, vehicle simulator, or strategy genres, and the latter as information contained in various media that can serve to augment those games. Carbonell describes how players of such simgames are led to engage with the subject matter through game manuals, online discussions, YouTube-based materials, or other easily accessible popular history content outside of traditional historical education and research avenues. Carbonell notes that such exposure can lead to deeper or more rigorously validated materials as might be recognized by professional historians.
The observation of such a relationship is not unique – digital games have long served as an experiential gateway for players who might otherwise not be interested in, or able to engage with the subject material of a particular game. The same relationship can be seen outside of simulated military history: sports-themed games for people who have never physically played certain sports; management games for people with no background or interest in city planning or theme park management; and a long-haul cargo truck simulator for someone who has never been to that particular accurately recreated stretch of road, or had an interest in the finer details of operating a cargo truck. It speaks to the enticement of accessible gameplay allowing for a broader range of experiences, but also to a particular type of gaming experience that attempts to semi-realistically portray some aspects of an activity in which those realistic or immersive qualities complement or substitute for the fun of the gameplay itself. Such games exist in close proximity to the ‘serious games’ of training simulators and the like.
In the case of World War Two Simulated, however, Carbonell homes in on the suggestion that playing World War Two-themed simgames serves to facilitate a type of experiential learning about that specific period. He suggests that the nature of digital games allows agential players to experience reimagined history which, through the relative complexity and immersive elements of the simgames, encourages deeper investigation of the subject matter.
It is worth noting here as a brief aside that Carbonell’s emphasis on a causal simgames–simtext dynamic mostly leaves out consideration of the inverse: that players might engage with such games precisely because they have a pre-established interest or even advanced knowledge of the particular historical or technical context of a simgame. This is especially true for the types of simgames that might sacrifice gameplay accessibility (through high learning curve requirements or hamstrung gameplay intended to simulate certain real-world constraints) in the name of historical accuracy or realistic immersion.
In exploring that simgames–simtexts dynamic, Carbonell rightly warns that the simulated digital experiences of such games entail certain presentation constraints that necessarily reconfigure and reimagine history – in potentially harmful ways. Certain aspects of World War Two are frequently left out of simgames, a notable example of such gameplay lacunae being the Holocaust, which almost never features in gameplay mechanics of simgames. Other elements of World War Two might be simplified, or might perpetuate nationalistic cliches about certain pieces of ‘fan favourite’ equipment, Western-dominant theatres of conflict, or about the participants in the conflict. A prominent example raised by Carbonell is that of the Myth of the Clean Wehrmacht being inadvertently perpetuated in simgames because such games do not portray certain actions by the German armed forces.
The central chapters of the book deal with genres of games in turn: first person shooters providing a particularly close subjective experience; vehicle simulators and their ability to recreate a convincing embodied experience; and strategy games presenting a widened scope and opportunity for exploration of counterfactual scenarios or alternative histories. Carbonell goes on to suggest that technological developments that might increase the fidelity of simgames potentially raise moral questions about what ought or ought not to be simulated, let alone played for fun.
The book largely achieves its goal of providing an exploration of the ways in which World War Two is simulated in digital games and examining aspects of how that simulation can reconfigure aspects of history. The presentation of the simgame–simtext dynamic is perhaps weakened by a seemingly forced emphasis on the vaguely defined conception of simtexts (both digital and analogue texts, that also include other media, span the gamut of historical fiction and non-fiction, and also encompass a spectrum of amateur, popular, or academically rigorous authorship). The simgame–simtext dynamic itself is also overplayed as a central hook for further discussion – but this is more an issue of the manner of presentation of the concept than a criticism of whether such a relationship exists. Beyond that, World War Two Simulated provides a valuable contribution to broader discussions on popular portrayals of history and provides a solid foundation for that discussion in the context of digital games.
Where the book constrains itself to simulations of World War Two (and for good reasons, notably with regard to the prevalence of World War Two as the subject matter of games), it would be fascinating to see similar discussion of the portrayal of more recent conflicts. For example: the immersive tactical shooter in Six Days in Fallujah (Highwire Games, 2023) depicts US military forces’ operations in Fallujah in 2003, and was the subject of substantial controversy that led to delays in its development specifically because of concerns about simulating such a recent experience. It would be interesting to extend Carbonell’s observations on the moral perils of simulation and reconfiguration to a recent or even ongoing conflict.
The examination conducted in World War Two Simulated might also serve to spur a different aspect of discussion on the ways in which developers of serious or semi-realistic military-themed games balance the design of gameplay loops and mechanisms – the basis for the fun of a game – with considerations of accessibility, realism and historical authenticity. Technological progression in game fidelity and innovations in gameplay mechanics will allow for increasing immersive realism, but there remains the question of to what extent historical accuracy of simgames will ultimately be subject to considerations of marketability. Here, then, Carbonell’s exploration might serve to make the case that there is an increasing moral obligation to portray a higher degree of historical accuracy or awareness in games that are designed as simulations.
