War of Rights
Developer(s)Campfire Games
Publisher(s)Campfire Games
EngineCryEngine
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
ReleaseDecember 3, 2018 (early access)
Genre(s)Tactical shooter
Mode(s)Multiplayer

War of Rights is an upcoming first-person shooter game being developed by the Danish company Campfire Games.

History

Campfire Games founders Mads Larsen and Emil Hansen began developing War of Rights in 2012,[1] and successfully raised US$118,000 on Kickstarter three years later.[2] They released an early access version on 3 December 2018,[1] and added the ability to fire artillery in 2020.[3]

Setting and gameplay

The game is set during the Maryland campaign of the American Civil War, featuring maps for the battles of Harpers Ferry, South Mountain, Shepherdstown, and Antietam.[4] It includes detailed recreations of period uniforms, weapons, and artillery. The game is multiplayer only, featuring up to 300 participants per match. The game emphasizes realistic aspects of Civil War battlefields, including a chain of command; players can receive positive benefits for following orders and maintaining their place in tactical formations. There are four classes to play as, Private, NCO, Officer, and Flag bearer.[3][5]

Competitive play

The game maintains a extremely active competitive scene. People are able to join "regiments" which are usually based off of real life regiments who fought in the civil war, such as the 6th Alabama, 7th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, and the largest of which 69th Infantry Regiment (New York) or "IVB" ( Irish Volunteer Brigade). These groups meet up for massive events which they battle one another with up to 300 players. Players involved in these groups claim it is the best way to enjoy the game in true realism.

Reception

Ian Birnbaum of Vice magazine has written about War of Rights' uncritical use of Confederate symbols and use of racial slurs despite the then-recent Charleston church shooting and the consequent US reckoning over the continued use of those symbols (such as displaying the Confederate battle flag). Birnbaum contrasted the first-person shooter against grand strategy games with more impersonal perspectives, saying that it was "built with one of the most realistic-looking game engines in the business [...] and it will put at least half the players in the shoes of Confederates. That's a far more involved, intimate experience."[2]

Separately, Eddie Kim of MEL Magazine has written about problems with player-led racism, highlighting the experiences of a Black streamer named Andrew Norris. "It's obvious in so many of these moments that Norris is in on the joke, cackling over racially charged situations that he purposefully incites," Kim wrote, but "other times you can just tell Norris isn't quite laughing at the premise, like in a clip from February where multiple people drop the N-word while calling for the killing of Black people and their allies."[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "War of Rights lands on Steam Early Access". www.cryengine.com. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 Birnbaum, Ian (November 23, 2015). "Is It OK to Play as a Confederate Soldier in a Civil War FPS?". Vice. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  3. 1 2 Alice Marion (22 July 2020). "Realistic Civil War Re-enactment Game War of Rights Adds Working Artillery". Game Rant. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "War of Rights". warofrights.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  5. 1 2 Kim, Eddie (April 2022). "The Black Streamer Who Trolls Racists for the Lulz". MEL Magazine. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.