شلون؟

On Thursday, publisher Victura launched first-person tactical shooter Six Days in Fallujah via Steam Early Access. The full release is expected sometime in 2024, with console ports for PS5 and SeXbox coming at a later date.

Developed by Highwire Games, Six Days in Fallujah recreates the Second Battle of Fallujah which took place in the Iraqi Province of Al Anbar in 2005. The brutal terrorist group Al Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI, later ISI, ISIL, ISIS…) had taken over the city of Al Fallujah, which lies just 40 miles west of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Iraqi, British and US military forces fought side by side to retake the city, and what followed was one of the bloodiest battles of the “War on Terror”.

Six Days in Fallujah aims to “recreate real stories from the Second Battle of Fallujah from the perspective of both coalition forces and Iraqi civilians.” Players will join in four different co-op, four-player missions. Each of the game’s maps are generated procedurally for the purpose of replayability, even though it belies that whole “recreate real stories” thing considering Fallujah had, and still has, a set map. Eh, whaddaya gonna do?

Six Days in Fallujah has had a long, turbulent development cycle, with the game jumping from platform to platform, publisher to publisher, and one version of it being canceled over a decade ago due to concerns that the concept was too “controversial,” but of course other war games are completely fine (WWI, WWII, the Civil War, Vietnam, etc.).

Six Days in Fallujah was conceived by an actual Marine veteran who was wounded during the battle, and the game has since received input and feedback from more than 100 Marines and Soldiers, as well as more than two dozen Iraqis. I personally hope that you can yell “Yed! Yed! Yed!” (Hands! Hands! Hands!) when you’re clearing a building. Either way, it sounds like one hell of a hoot.

Here’s the official breakdown of Six Days in Fallujah from Victura, followed by a recent trailer:

The most realistic simulation of urban combat to-date, Six Days in Fallujah is developed with help from more than 100 Marines and Soldiers who served in the Second Battle of Fallujah, as well as more than two dozen Iraqi civilians and soldiers. Based on true stories from the battle, Six Days requires players to overcome real-world scenarios with their fire team by using real-life military tactics.

In the coming months, additional features and content will be introduced, including:

Night-time Missions

Knowing what lies around the next corner is hard enough during daylight hours. Gameplay evolves with even more tension with the addition of night-time missions, as more are added throughout Early Access.

Weather variation

While night-time missions will add to the procedural architecture, weather variation will challenge players and add to the complexity of missions.

“Go” Command

Later this year, take control of your AI teammates with unique tactical control, drawing inspiration from real-life tactics.

Single Player Missions

Specific moments from the second battle of Fallujah from those who were there, including Special Operations Missions, Civilians and more.

Six Days in Fallujah introduces many new technologies that make combat more realistic:

• Procedural Architecture re-shapes the inside and outside of every building each time the game is played. Just like the real battle, players never know what to expect.
• Block-scale AI is a dramatic new approach to AI based on insurgent tactics from the battle. Unlike games in which AI is constrained to move in very small areas, AI enemies in Six Days can go anywhere on the battlefield, and they will stalk, flank, and ambush players while coordinating their attacks with each other and luring players into difficult situations.
• Global Dynamic Lighting simulates real weather and lighting effects dynamically, so visibility shapes gameplay, especially as players move between blindingly bright outdoors and terrifyingly dark indoors. Realistic smoke, dust, and weather effects complicate visibility in unpredictable ways.
• Tactical Indoor/Outdoor Sandbox. Players — and their AI enemies — are free to approach challenges from any direction in Six Days in Fallujah. Rather than breaching a house through a front door, for example, players might choose to climb to a rooftop, or cross rooftops on wooden planks, to attack from the top down.

Six Days in Fallujah is available now via Steam Early Access for $39.99, €38.99, £32.99 and 6.59 Bison Dollars. The full release is expected sometime in 2024.

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