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Well lads, we've done it. We've landed ashore and now it's time to rush forward into enemy territory for God and King. The rules of engagement are simple: there's only one rule, and that rule… is to have fun. And maybe make some friends along the way? BlackMill Games' Gallipoli, the fourth in its well-established WW1 series, is its best-looking and strongest WW1 project to date, and I'm ready to party like it's 1915. Not only is Gallipoli a step above its predecessors in terms of its graphics and gameplay, it does an exemplary job of conveying a sense of historical accuracy while remaining fun to play. So chaps, keep a stiff upper lip and let's charge into certain doom, shall we?
Gallipoli is set in the Middle Eastern front, the only World War 1 front not yet featured in one of BlackMill's games. For some historical context, the forces here are primarily the Ottoman Empire versus the British Empire, a lumbering old empire in its failing days versus an empire that was still the most powerful in the world. If you, like me, grew up in the good old US of A, you probably spent zero time in school learning anything about the Middle Eastern Front of World War 1, because America didn't do anything in that part of the world during that part of the first World War. In contrast, in Australia and New Zealand, the national day of remembrance established to acknowledge the tragedy of the Gallipoli campaign has completely usurped Remembrance Day in terms of national significance.
Since World War 1 is maybe the most impactful event in the history of humankind, it's a shame vast parts of it often go undiscussed. This is something that makes Gallipoli all the more appealing to me. I want to learn more about this part of history now. I would venture to say I'm a little more well-versed than most in World War 1 history, but I've only ever really studied the Western Front and its long lines of muddy, rat-infested trenches.
I've only ever really studied the Western Front and its long lines of muddy, rat-infested trenches. When I'm playing Gallipoli and I start into a map, like Anzac Cove (which also happens to be my favorite), I find myself compelled to learn more. The loading screens have brief snippets of historical context to read, which is great, although it's not enough to scratch the itch I have. It's just a beautiful outgrowth of an excellent game; to be such a compelling experience as a video game as to make me want to learn more about the actual history.
The Middle Eastern Front
If you're on the attacking side of the Anzac Cove map – that is, the British Empire – you start the match being rowed to shore in double-ender rowboats. We've all seen the scenes, both real and created by Hollywood, featuring the storming of Normandy during the Second World War. Anzac Cove is almost the same, but there are no diesel-powered landing craft opening their ramps into a hail of enemy bullets. Just Commonwealth troops scrambling out of painfully slow, wildly exposed wooden boats under a torrent of machine gun fire.
The uniforms at the start of World War 1 were basically just fancy clothes for army men; nothing like the armor and helmets of today. I love that Gallipoli captures the schism between the rapid advancement of warfighting technology and the lag that followed while armies had to figure out, in real time, how to fight this new and horrible type of war. Men were thrusting themselves into meat grinders, and the answer to the high casualty rates was simply "throw more men in." It's an era where the technology of war had fast outpaced the strategies to fight it.
For example, the machine gun. Gallipoli has two machine gunner classes: light, and the new heavy machine gunner class. While they have different abilities and missions, their ultimate goal is to spit out as much lead as is possible in the shortest amount of time. This will either provide cover for advancing troops or, in what I find to be one of the coolest additions to Gallipoli, terrify your opponents. In Gallipoli, you now get experience points for laying down suppressive fire, but that fire also has an effect on players.
During one match I found myself pinned down and separated from my squad, and the enemy team was laying down a constant barrage of fire in my direction. Suddenly, the terror of it all got to my character and I went into a panic mode. My vision was blurred. I couldn't maintain a steady aim down the sights of my rifle. In essence, I had lost my nerve, and that element of the gameplay ultimately caused me to take the L and have to respawn.
The terror of it all got to my character and I went into a panic mode. What a fantastic way to add another layer of realism. Does it suck when bullets are whizzing over your head and suddenly you lose your faculties? Yes, of course it does. But that's just an extra dimension to the experience, and one that I didn't think I'd appreciate as much as I do. And it goes both ways, too. You can panic oncoming troops and, while machine gunners have it easier by means of bullet volume, I was able to panic my enemies just by firing at them with my standard-issue rifle. On top of another wrinkle of realism, it also means shots that don't land on their intended targets can still provide a benefit to you and your team.
Class Actions
The machine gun wasn't entirely new by the time WW1 kicked off, but there hadn't been a test of it at scale to that point. At the start of the war, people basically had no idea how to approach them on the battlefield. Thanks to the suppression and panic systems, that feeling is replicated well here in Gallipoli. The heavy machine gunner is tasked with building machine guns wherever they can be built but, strategically speaking, you want to build them where they can help hold a line – or help advance your troops. It's so wonderful when you're laying...
GallipoliWellGodKingBlackMill GamesNotMiddle EasternWorld WarBlackMillOttoman EmpireBritish EmpireMiddle Eastern Front
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