Atomic Games, Konami Announce Fallujah-Set Shooter

Treading much closer to reality than most modern action game developers have dared, Atomic Games and publisher Konami have revealed plans for Six Days in Fallujah, based on the experiences of U.S. Marine veterans of the Iraq war. The third-person shooter is in development for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Atomic, a well-regarded wargame developer primarily throughout the 1990s, re-announced itself last month from its current location in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company has developed combat simulation tech for the military, and has an investment relationship with the United States intelligence community. Six Days in Fallujah is primarily set in the Second Battle of Fallujah, which took place in November and December 2004. According to an interview by the Los Angeles Times, the game draws heavily from individual wartime accounts by members of the Third Battalion First Marine Regiment. Atomic hopes that its game will give players an understanding of some of the realities of modern urban combat, in a way that more fictionalized games cannot. For example, it will contain highly destructible geometry, to allow representation of the unusual tactics and unpredictable environments that are intrinsic to the setting. "How do you present the horrors of war in a game that is also entertaining, but also gives people insight into a historical situation in a way that only a video game can provide?" said Atomic president Peter Tamte to the L.A. Times. "Our goal is to give people that insight, of what it's like to be a Marine during that event, what it's like to be a civilian in the city and what it's like to be an insurgent." And Konami notes that the idea for the game came from the veterans themselves, because that is the entertainment medium they know -- said senior brand manager John Choon, "The soldiers wanted to tell their stories through a game because that's what they grew up playing."