The Halocaust and Nazism in the Media

 Nazism in Video Games

Nazi Zombies are a thing in video games. 

World War II and Nazis have become one of the staples of the video game industry over the past few decades. It has even become a overused 'trope' or 'literary device,' and many franchises have even shied away from it in recent years. World War II has been the setting for many games in numerous genres, from first person shooters like Wolfenstein to strategy games like Hearts of Iron and combat simulators like War Thunder. But why was it so popular for so long that the market for World War II games became over-saturated (I would bet that they make a come-back sooner rather than later due to the fatigue now for near-future shooters). For many franchises, setting a game during World War II is a smart idea in that it is in the recent past with fairly modern weaponry, but still has basis in historical facts to draw a plot from. In contrast, a game set in the modern day or future requires much more thought about a plot and the kinds of weapons and technology that is available to the player.

But it is more than that that draws both game publishers and players to World War II games. These games could be set in the Pacific theater pitting the United States versus the Japanese. They could be set in Italy and North Africa fighting the Italians. No, they are disproportionately set in the Western Front pitting American troops against the German military. Why is this?

I think it has something to do with the ingrained nature of rejection of Nazism and Nazi Germany that people grow up with. Nazism has become, rightfully so, the embodiment of evil. Like games where one fights aliens or robots, a player doesn't have to think twice about why they are fighting Nazis. 

I want to highlight a few games that serve as great examples of the World War II first person shooter. The first is one of the first games that I ever played, Medal of Honor: Frontline. This game takes you, an American soldier, across the Western Theater of the the war from missions including D-Day and forward into spy operations deep inside Nazi Germany. This game, dating back to 2002, is the perfect example of a classic World War II shooter. It is extremely black and white, straightforward. You are an American soldier who is fighting against the Nazis in important battles and saving the world. 

The opening level of the game is even a direct homage to the Saving Private Ryan (1998) in the Omaha beach scene. Skip to 3:10 for the scene to actually start, and I included a link to the actual film as well. 

  

One Game that deserves some kudos for breaking the mold set by Medal of Honor here is its successor franchise, Call of Duty. In Call of Duty: World at War, the American war effort in the Pacific is honored with a campaign, while the campaign in Europe is actually limited to the little covered Eastern Front. In reality, the Eastern front was the most important front of the war where more soldiers, both Russian and German, died and more war material was expended. Indeed, on the Eastern front it is estimated that over 5 million German soldiers were killed and an additional 3 million captured on this front, while over 10 million  Russian soldiers were killed. In contrast, only around 200 thousand American, French, and British soldiers were killed in the campaign after D-Day, while Germany suffered, on a high estimate, 650 thousand deaths. These numbers don't even take into account the massive, massive civil casualties on the Eastern front from both warfare and ethnic cleansing like the Holocaust. This is not to trivialize the Western front's losses or say that it was not important. Indeed, the invasion of Germany forced Germany to fight on yet another front and drew military force away from the Russian front, but indeed it should be recognized that the Russian, or Eastern, front was the most contested area. The recognition of this by Call of Duty: World at War thus is worth noting, especially considering the Russians are often depicted as the villains by this very series in more modern iterations. 

Finally, one more recent version of the Nazi Shooter is Wolfenstein: The New Order. This game is similar to the Man in the High Castle in that it depicts a world where the Nazis have won and taken over the world. In contrast, however, Wolfenstein isn't interested in exploring the world that has been created or the role of fascism in America. Instead it plays the Nazis as caricatures, as evil figures with only evil as their goal, and plays up the supernatural and occult inclinations many of the Nazi leaders in real life had, as well as imaging in fantastic ways super technology. Wolfenstein leans hard into the idea of Nazis as supreme evil and has fun with it, using them as cannon fodder. Both the TV show and game are fun to watch and play, but they approach the subject matter in vastly different ways. 

Some questions to consider in the comments: Please answer at least two of these questions in the comments, and reply to at least three of your classmates' answers. Please response to any comments on your answers. 

Have you played any games featuring World War II or Nazism? Which ones?

Why do you think this is a popular time period to feature games in?

Do you think that games like Wolfenstein have a purpose, or are they simply senseless violence? Do you think that games cheapen the impact of Nazism, or make it more real and applicable to young people who have no real life experience with Nazism?