Shoot = 1. Wait = 0. Hit = 1. Miss = 0. The language of videogame technology lends itself to conflict. It's been part of its DNA since Spacewar! took MIT by storm in 1962, and we've been playing war on the tabletop, from Chess to Risk, for thousands of years. But...
War is a preoccupation of mine. As a writer of historical fiction, I'm immersed in battle. It's a dark fascination, especially for a pacifist of sorts, but wars show humanity at its very best and its very, very worst. They are the turning points of history itself. We are defined by them.
I'm also a gamer, and love sneaking and sniping, dropping bombs and torpedoing ships. However, that can often provoke moral questions that I struggle to answer. Besides, we're in a period of high-profile conflict, again, and it's on our screens, 24/7. We may crave escapism at times like these, but should we make fictional war when there are so many for whom it's a daily reality?
So, I set out to find war games playable today on PC that don't ask you to do that, at all. This was not an easy ride by any means, and I found varying degrees of success for sure.
THE RULES
1. Not just pacifist runs, but games that are built around their nonviolence.
2. Healer characters in squad shooters don't count.
3. No anti-war videogames, like Spec-Ops: The Line, or The Great War: Western Front.
RELEASED Jan 2024 DEVELOPER Brave Lamb Studio SA
War Hospital
Playing medical administrator on the Western Front
The First World War is solid ground for a pacifist narrative. Never has the futility of the whole mess been writ as large as on the Western Front. War Hospital puts you in charge of a failing field hospital on the very edge of the trenches in 1918, balancing morale, resources and staffing to save as many lives as possible.
This story is from the May 2024 edition of PC Gamer US Edition.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2024 edition of PC Gamer US Edition.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
TERMINATOR: RESISTANCE
Revisiting Teyon’s game after Robocop: Rogue City.
RICH'N BEEFY
LIKE A DRAGON: INFINITE WEALTH is a dizzyingly huge all-you-can-eat Yakuza buffet
ROUND 8 FIGHT!
TEKKEN 8 is a blend of nostalgia for fans and a pair of welcoming arms for newbies
HOLY HELL
THE INQUISITOR is a grim yet strangely gripping dark fantasy adventure
SHOT DEAD
There are flashes of greatness in SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL THE JUSTICE LEAGUE
THE BEST NON-TRADITIONAL WAR GAMES
Is it possible for wargamers to give peace a chance?
WHEELIE GOOD
Freewheeling with Northern Irish indie studio Billy Goat Entertainment and its next project, PARCEL CORPS
PALWORLD
Shockingly, animal cruelty doesn't make for a fulfilling experience
DIVINE FREQUENCY
This horror-RPG-FPS built in the Doom engine is terrifying
AVOWED
Obsidian's next RPG goes all in on first-person action