Hello friends, family, and fans! I apologize for not having posted lately as I have been busy with film-related projects (some of which I hope to put in production soon). However I want you guys to have some content, so I’m starting a weekly exercise of providing lists of some of my favourite things (Oprah Bless for the inspiration). To start off my little listing exercise, I shall start off with historical games that have what I perceive to be a strong narrative in terms of both writing and pacing. So no competitive multiplayer games with a historical background like Day of Defeat or Red Orchestra. I’m keeping my definition of history broad enough, so that games with some fantastical or sci-fi components can count, so long as the game remains mostly within the realm of depicting a historical time period! Enjoy, like, and drop a comment about your own favourite narrative-based history games, maybe I can find something new as well!

10.

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (2005)

Platforms: GameCube, PS2, Xbox

While Call of Duty is now known for its online gameplay loaded with perks, killstreaks, and tweens yelling homophobic and racial slurs, there was a time when Call of Duty strove to make strong, emotional, and narrative-heavy campaigns. It’s most successful enterprise was in Call of Duty 2: Big Red One a console spinoff for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Taking inspiration from both the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and Samuel Fuller’s 1980 war classic The Big Red One (starring Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill), instead of utilizing multiple protagonists, this game had you playing as one man solely: a mere infantryman in the US Army’s 1st Infantry Division. Following the protagonist and his squad through the North African, Italian, and Western European campaigns of WWII, you truly bond with your squadmates across epic large-scale battles in the deserts of the Kasserine Pass, the hills of Sicily, and the beaches of Normandy. The voice-cast is outstanding as Treyarch managed to get actors from Band of Brothers including Michael Cudlitz, Frank John Hughes, and James Madio, to voice your squadmates. The game had an epic and emotional feel, and gave you a detailed and intuitive combat chronicle of a unit of men who had truly been to hell and back. (Bonus Points for having Mark Hamill as the narrator in homage to Samuel Fuller!)

9. 

Assassin’s Creed II (2009)

Platforms: PS3, PC, Xbox 360, Mac OSX

As someone who minored in history back in my college days, I have mixed feelings about the Assassin’s Creed franchise. On the one hand this is a great way to get young people interested in otherwise unexplored historical time periods through fast-paced and frenetic action. On the other hand it’s bogged down by a convoluted modern-day plot involving ancient astronaut conspiracies and a shadow war between the Knights Templar and Assassin’s Brotherhood, which is about as historical as the History Channel (not very damn historical at all). That said some great games and iconic protagonists have come out of the franchise. One of the best examples being that of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who came to us through the franchise’s second installment. Set in Renaissance Italy, the second game took us through beautifully rendered re-creations of Florence, Venice, and the Tuscan countryside, as Ezio sought revenge on the conspirators who killed his family. While Ezio was a bit stereotypical as the classic Italian Romeo character, he kept us entertained with a nice balance of charismatic charm and world-weary cynicism. Ezio remains to this day, the franchise’s best loved protagonist. We truly journeyed through the birth of an assassin in this game (no seriously, we quite literally see his birth at the beginning of the game) and the payoff through it’s sequels Brotherhood and Revelations, cemented Ezio’s status as the best assassin in franchise history.

8.

Battlefield 1 (2016)

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Like many gamers, Electronic Arts and I have a… contentious relationship to say the least. That said I must give full credit to DICE for their most recent installment (well at least for a few more days until Battlefield V) comes out. While many people came to this game for the multiplayer and rightly so, the campaign offered was unique and one of the best captured WWI “stories” in gaming. Yes you read that correctly, stories. DICE decided with this installment to utilize the “War Stories” system of telling a story, by following multiple vignettes focused on different elements of the war. The game starts off with an epic and grim last stand on the Western Front. You play as different characters who in their own way all come to a horrible end, with DICE emphasizing from the get-go that this war is not an experience you are expected to survive. The war stories that follow take place in locations ranging from the Dolemites of Italy to the sands of Arabia. While some war stories aren’t as strong as others (“Nothing Is Written” I found to be very disappointing as a big Lawrence of Arabia fan), some of these stories are truly touching and really convey the sacrifices made in this terrible global conflict. If you don’t believe me, I dare you not to at least feel some emotion at this sequence! Admit it, there’s a little tear!

7.

Kessen III (2005)

Platforms: PS2

Of all the games on this list, this is the one the least amount of people are likely to know of. Kessen III is a real-time tactics game which follows the life of famous samurai warlord Nobunaga Oda. This game probably comes as close as a game ever has to one of Japan’s famous taiga dramas (historical period piece shows). This is one of few games that actually makes you feel like a real samurai general. You develop relationships with your retainers and must carefully pick those you wish to send into battle. The battles are a nice mix of strategy with action, and the cast of characters is memorable, with highly compelling heroes and villains alongside a magnificently orchestrated soundtrack. The voice acting is also very good and while some performances can come across as campy, the game is much more restrained than many Japanese productions. The game is not perfectly accurate for a few reasons including elements of magic and Nobunaga surviving his fateful assassination at Honno-ji so you can unite Japan in an alternate-history scenario. That said the liberties taken with history don’t detract from what is probably the most masterfully made game about Feudal Japan (although Ghost of Tsushima might hold the crown soon). Also the intro for the game was really kickass!

6.

Mafia III (2016)

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC, macOS

Dealing with the subject matter of race, especially in the context of its history in the United States, is always a tricky matter. However, Hanger 13’s Mafia III is one of the most gritty and realistic portrayals of racism in America in the gaming medium. This is in part owed to the choice of protagonist in Lincoln Clay (portrayed brilliantly by Alex Hernandez). Lincoln is a bi-racial orphan who grew up in the New Orleans-inspired town of New Bordeaux. Taken in by an African American crime family, Lincoln has always had to walk the colour line. He’s always tried to forge his own path and find his own family, despite never fitting in entirely within black or white circles. Growing up in the Jim Crow-era South, he has been traumatized by systematic racism and faces the added trauma of war through his service in Vietnam. The final straw is when his family is murdered by the Italian Mafia family which controls all of New Bordeaux. While the gameplay follows a rudimentary style of turf conquest through intimidation and violence, the story is the real treat of this game. Racism is not at all ignored, its always on display. As Lincoln you can’t enter certain restaurants because of your skin-color and you have to face not only your mob rivals but be wary of institutional dangers from the police and a KKK-style organization which is involved with crime and governance throughout the South. Mafia III has a lot to love with great characters, a swingin’ 60s soundtrack, and good old fashioned gunplay, but where it really shines is in its social relevancy both towards the past and present of America.

5. 

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015)

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One

The Metal Gear games are definitely not the most accurate portrayals of history in the world (in case the titular walking mechas didn’t give you the hint). But to Hideo Kojima’s credit he has always used real-world geopolitics in an intelligent and relevant way to convey his deeper thematic themes. Kojima brilliantly recreates some of the 1980s shadiest Cold War conflicts in the form of the Soviet-Afghan War and Angolan Civil War in this installment of the Metal Gear franchise. While this is not the strongest, narratively speaking, of the Metal Gear games, it does deal with some dark themes related to nationalism, genocide, and the use of child soldiers in warfare. This is by far the darkest installment in the Metal Gear franchise and while Kojima does retain some of his usual campiness, with this game he tries to take a much more serious tone. The gameplay is impressive and ambitious, the landscapes and atmosphere are incredible, and the attention to detail utterly astonishes. With an eclectic ’80s soundtrack including Joy Division, Hall & Oates, and The Cure, get in your chopper and prepare to infiltrate the jungles of Central Africa or sneak through dry brush in an Afghan village.

4. 

Bioshock Infinite (2013)

Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Mac, Linux

This might be the most controversial addition to the list. If you thought Metal Gear wasn’t historical because of walking mechas, well a city in the clouds might be too much of a reach for you. But in oh so many ways is Bioshock Infinite a game that not only uses a historical backdrop, but is a game truly about history in general. For a moment forget the whole cloud city, alternate timelines, steampunk technology schtuff and things, and just focus on the thematic notes of the game. Bioshock Infinite takes us back to 1912 and puts us in the shoes of Booker DeWitt a man who is trying to escape a troubled history of gambling debts and a whole lot more including participation in the Wounded Knee Massacre and brutally shutting down organized labour as a Pinkerton Detective. While the game does rely on the science fictional and fantastical, it equally relies on the historical and realistic portrayal of attitudes in 20th Century America. Classism, racism, imperialism, and many of the dark sins in America’s closet are openly present in the game. Columbia’s Founders represent a fascistic twisting of the Founding Fathers ideals into a Nativist theocracy which victimizes blacks, Asians, Irish, Jews, and anyone who doesn’t fit the model of an upstanding White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Bioshock Infinite is as much a story about America’s past as it is a sci-fi tale about alternate realities. It’s an ugly look at America’s sins and a reminder that no matter how hard you try to forget, those sins can’t be washed away.

3. 

Red Dead Redemption (2010)

Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Rockstar Games is possibly one of the greatest game developers of all time. Their talent for making open worlds come to life is second-to-none, so its no surprise that their Western epic makes this list. Red Dead Redemption follows former outlaw John Marston in his quest to wipe away his past by killing his former gang members on behalf of the US government. Along the way Marston gets side-tracked by various outlaws, smugglers, revolutionaries, and other weirdos in both the American Southwest and Mexico. That said this is no simple GTA-clone with a Wild West setting. Marston’s story takes place in 1911 long-after much of the West has been settled. The buffalo are dying out, Native Americans have already lost their autonomy to the Indian Reservation system, and the days of the outlaw are by-and-large over. This game takes a critical look at industrialization in the West and government corruption. The federal bureaucracy of America is shown as a bloated and inherently crooked institution which uses the excuses of “civilization” and “progress” as a blunt instrument to quell independence and freedom. In Mexico, John is confronted by hypocritical revolutionaries who only seek to re-entrench corruption and tyranny to suit themselves, while lying to their people about promises of equality and opportunity. This game stands as an intriguing critique on the harmful nature of industrialization at turn of the century and questions whether civilization was worth it. It also gave us a brilliant villain in Dutch van der Linde, who we’ll see more of in the second installment (which I have yet to play). I normally don’t like to spoil plot points, but this dialogue between Dutch and John at the game’s conclusion is one of the finest moments of writing in gaming history, and I’d be ashamed to not mention it.

2.

Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 (2005)

Platforms: PS2, Xbox, PC, Mac

Gearbox Software is now mostly known for making Borderlands and its various spinoffs, but a long time ago they made the best war game of all time. That’s right. THE BEST WAR GAME OF ALL TIME. In this game we follow Sgt. Matt Baker of the 101st Airborne Division as he leads his squad through WWII’s Normandy Campaign. But gone is any of that heroism we normally see in WWII games. There’s nothing heroic here, no platitudes about victory over tyranny, or motivational speeches which rally men to die for country. Instead it’s watching your friend get torn to shreds by a Stuka dive bomber or just looking on as a young kid from Texas bleeds out through the neck with you powerless to do anything. The combat is gruelling and the characterization is brilliant through legendary voice actor Troy Baker’s monologues between levels which show a man damaged by the battles he fights both within himself and on the battlefield. Sequels have been made, but this is a franchise I never felt got its due credit. I haven’t played a war game like it since. Nothing has compared to the level of accuracy or grit which this game conveys. This game is probably truest to the experience of combat veterans and because of that is well worth a playthrough. The game won’t leave you feeling like a hero by the end. You’ll just be thankful you survived and saved the few men you could.

1.

L.A. Noire (2011)

Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

L.A. Noire is more than just a game, it’s a monumental feat. What Team Bondi did with this game was revolutionary. This is a true video game for adults in every sense of the word. Tight scripting, a gorgeous soundtrack, a perfect re-creation of 1940s Los Angeles, and revolutionary technology which turned even the most minor of NPCs into living and breathing cast members, this game is magnificent. Like the classic film noirs of the 40s and 50s, this game is by no means light material. Corruption, vice, and seediness dot the landscape, and no one is who they seem. You play as Detective Cole Phelps a rookie LAPD officer who investigates a series of crimes which go all-the-way to the top. Aaron Staton’s performance as Phelps is fantastic as he captures a nuanced and troubled man, who tries to remain honest despite the hauntings of his past. The supporting characters are also great with my particular favourites being the Southern Gothic seedy shrink Harlan Fontaine and the lovable-but-lazy schlumph of a detective Rusty Galloway. This game required a lot of work and almost was never made, but the finished product was excellent. I’ve never played a game like it since and if some kind of sequel is ever made, I’d be a day one buyer. That said I don’t need a sequel either, because this game on it’s own is perfect in every right. Rarely have I played a game I love so much, that occasionally I will find myself on public transit humming the opening instrumental.

Got any games that I haven’t listed, but you want me to play? List ’em in the comments below!

-T

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