New video game has you fighting U.S. based militia movement
Here’s the storyline for the upcoming game Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6: Patriots (PS3 and Xbox 360) from the official press release:
Team Rainbow faces a new and very real threat called the ‘True Patriots,’ a highly-trained, well-organized group of militias. The True Patriots are capitalizing on the growing sense of frustration and anger in a modern day America that they feel is irrevocably corrupted by greedy politicians and corporate special interests. Lead by a calculating figurehead named Tredway, this grassroots, homespun, terrorist organization will stop at nothing to overthrow the government and financial institutions to reclaim their country. Capturing the reality of modern-day terrorism, players will take on the role of a new Team Rainbow member as they face critical scenarios that will require them to make tough ethical decisions in order to stop this new breed of terrorists.
Developed by Ubisoft Montreal with the support of Ubisoft Toronto and Red Storm, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Patriots not only revolves around a dynamic single-player storyline but also introduce a huge variety of new innovative co-op and multi-player experiences.
Now I’ve been reading some online discussions regarding this game and the enemy militia movement. There seems to be some confusion over whether or not these guys are supposed to be based off the Tea Party or OWS.
While I suppose the description above could (to a point) apply to either, I think if you consider which group is more likely to advocate the violent overthrow of the government, it’s clear the militia is intended to be right wing.
Over at Stormfront, the game is immediately labeled as a plot by devious Jews:
So, now they[sic] jews have upped the game literally! The new additon to the Rainbow Six series is called “Rainbow Six Patriot”, and the war this time is against a domestic patriot group called “True Patriots”.
A commenter at a gameinformer.com discussion has this to say:
A little too realistic for me. Rich or poor, bailout or not, those are my fellow Americans. If you as a company are going to push the genre in that direction, you are going to have to answer to a lot of questions by the media, society, and gamers. I just feel the aim is wrong- the banks took our money, but our government and Obama are the ones who forced it down everyone’s throat! Blame the heart of the problem, not the bankers and certainly not Wall Street. This just feels like another left-wing liberal agenda. I have that crap everywhere around me- I do not want it in my video games too, the place I go to get away from all that crap.
This brings up a good question: Is the game an attack by left leaning people on the right wing?
It may be, but I think that really what we have here is an attempt by an entertainment company to cash in on current U.S. public sentiment, not a political statement from a group of evil, conniving liberals.
In a clear sign of just how close to home the game hits, another commenter says this:
I actually think Fox will lay off this one, since this isn’t a crazy stretch from what the future could be like if Obama ‘n crew stay in control.
While I am intrigued by the game, I am also concerned by it as I think it has the possibility to incite conflict because of the scenario involved. We’ve seen people influenced by video games do questionable things before. I hope no one is stupid enough to do something drastic when the game releases.
The game is not set to be released until 2013. If Obama gets re-elected and the right wing rhetoric continues to increase, this one could end up getting even more attention than it already is.
Here’s another article relating to the game and its controversial subject matter.