Life In The 'War On Terror': The Sun Also Rises

Wars are in video games for waging. Click click, bang bang. The stuff that isn't steel--the squishy human bits of war--is seen less, though a few games are giving it a crack at the moment. This War of Mine will see civilians scavenging to survive while war they can't control wages around them, while Sunset has a more sheltered but not detached view of everyday life during an escalating revolution. And now we've got The Sun Also Rises to look at, a "collection of vignettes" about the ongoing 'War on Terror.' Crumbs, and it is a looker too. Peep the trailer.

The Sun Also Rises is based on, no, not the Hemingway novel, but "personal accounts" of US soldiers engaged with the ongoing War on Terror (a name that still makes me cringe). It's a bit hazy at this point, but it seems we'll be chatting and exploring in scenes around the globe, and look, look at these two official bullet points from the feature list:

• Dialog engine that allows you to speak or stay silent, interrupt others or be cunning with your words, fundamentally altering your experience.
• Asynchronous passive multiplayer, where the choices you make affect the gameplay options that another player will have.

Aren't those great bullet points? I am keen to discover how all this works.

I was a mite concerned at first that Horse Volume say the game "explores the Global War on Terror" while only referring to accounts from the invading side, especially as it appears to be interested in civilian life within the warzone. But the Hemingway novel referenced looks at the "Lost Generation," those whose lives were derailed or ended by World War I. Horse Volume are clear that they're focused on what US soldiers saw and experienced, not creating a perfect balanced documentary.

Horse Volume are planning a Kickstarter. No word yet on when that, or the game, will come.

Ta to Indie Statik for spotting this one.