As gamers largely exposed to what can be labelled as a ‘western-centric’ environment of game development and marketing, we usually get military themed games that cast one of the various western superpowers as the heroic protagonists fighting for the virtues of freedom, democracy, apple pie, and consumerism in the face of traditional bogeymen of radical militants, imperial fascists, and communist nationalist forces from the eastern portion of the globe.
While these games are usually rather fun to play, it’s with a nagging feeling of one-sided portrayal in the back of our minds that we slog through the campaigns. One can’t help but taste the smack of thinly disguised propaganda as America and/or Britain once again saves the rest of the world from the brink of tyranny.
Perhaps that insurgent I just plastered all over the wall was only trying to earn his pay-packet for the day – enough for some bread and new flip-flops. Maybe that North Korean soldier was sent to the front line as cannon fodder – his alternate choice being a stint in the labour camps back home.
Thankfully the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China has come to rescue us from this one-sided affair. Teaming up with Chinese development company Giant Network Technology Co., the PLA has produced a training FPS whose name deserves its own paragraph.
Glorious Mission!
The game is in a similar vein to the origins of America’s Army, which was developed in partnership with the US Army as a training program for troops.The Chinese army are the heroes of the game, and the Americans are the enemy. Unlike the US Army version, China doesn’t appear to be embracing the capitalist principles of “we might as well make a quick buck out of this” and there aren’t any immediate plans to commercialise the game for sale.
Brush up on your Mandarin and check out the clip below showing off some gameplay footage and the PLA training it up with Glorious Mission!
Discuss Glorious Mission in the forums
Loading ...
