Top Ten Modern War Games

War may be hell, but it makes for a great videogame. Don't be fooled by the latest peacenik titles like Little Big Planet, The Sims 3, Animal Crossing, or Rock Band 2. Until world peace breaks out, you can expect that large numbers of people shooting guns at each other will be a staple of videogaming. Following are the ten most interesting perspectives on modern war.

EndWar

In the near future, electromagnetic shields keep out weapons of mass destruction, but the shields are vulnerable to being breached when uplink stations are captured. So when a world war ignites between Europe, America, and Russia, fighting breaks out for control of the uplinks. When the balance of power tips on a battlefield, the loser is authorized by his government to use weapons of mass destruction, which range from nuclear weapons to powerful beams shot down from satellites. However, once one side has used its WMD, the other side is then authorized to use its own WMDs. Scorched earth, baby!

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Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

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This war game reflects the interconnectedness of modern war across various countries and even various time periods. Although it was mainly known for its white-knuckle action, it told a story about the crossover between a special ops mission fifteen years ago in Ukraine, the SAS helping contain an ultranationalist Russian army, and an American intervention in the Middle East, all connected to each other. With the US military currently in Iraq, Afghanistan, and even Syria and maybe one day Pakistan, Call of Duty 4 is scarily relevant. It also has a mission played from inside a C-130 gunship that drives home how remote and brutal modern war can be.

Civilization: Revolution

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This simplified version of the epic strategy game was short on diplomacy, which meant that its version of history involved constant war. And once you got to the modern age, there would be one nuke, and one nuke only. But it was enough. The lesson of modern warfare in Civilization: Revolution was that one well-placed nuke will go a long way.

Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2

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This shooter is based on bleeding edge military technology, such as various prototype weapons that aren't yet in service. Each soldier wears a monocle over one eye that displays information from an integrated battlefield communications system. This superimposes over every enemy soldier a bright indicator, even for soldiers that don't have a direct line of sight to that enemy. Furthermore, soldiers have control of a UAV, or "unmanned aerial vehicle", which gives them a comprehensive overhead view of the battlefield. It's also worth noting that the original Ghost Recon was eerily prescient about the conflict between Russia and Georgia.

Far Cry 2

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In this unspecified African country, an uneasy peace exists between two factions that have occupied the vacuum of power after the local king was exiled. Foreign mercenaries pour into the tense stand off, vying for the valuable and plentiful conflict diamonds. To make matters worse, an international arms dealer has flooded the country with cheap weapons. Most of the civilian population has fled, but there are still pockets of trapped refugees trying to escape. Disease is rampant and medicine is scarce. In addition to being one of the best shooters in a long time, Far Cry 2 is a fascinating look at political realities in Africa that rarely make an appearance in videogames.

Red Alert 3

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After various time machine shenanigans in which Hitler was taken out and, oops, so was Einstein, the world is stuck in a version of World War II where nuclear weapons were never invented, so the war was never ended. As technology advances, the fighting continues between the Allies, the Russians, and the Japanese. It's played for laughs, but in case we ever invent a time machine, consider it a cautionary tale!

Frontlines: Fuel of War

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The underrated shooter is based on a military in which soldiers routinely use drone vehicles, driving around remote-controlled bomb cars, miniguns on treads, and miniature helicopters with rockets. There are also powerful EMP bursts that drop helicopters out of the sky and freeze tanks in their tracks. These toys are great fun in multiplayer games, but Frontlines also has a great single player game, featuring an unforgettable mission in which you're on the receiving end of a tactical nuclear strike.

Fallout 3

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Imagine an America frozen in the values of the 1950s for over a hundred years. Technology marches on, creating laser guns, fusion generators, and personal robots. Oh, and a nuclear holocaust. The Fallout games take place in the irradiated aftermath of the holocaust. The world is split into small bands of survivors in a constant state of war and siege. Although Fallout 3 is more than just a game about war, it opens and closes with a somber monologue about the effects of war.

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

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There's a reason Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez doesn't like this game. It imagines his country as the location of a military coup led by a corrupt businessman. After fighting escalates between a foreign oil company, Jamaican pirates, and rebels, the big boys come to Venezuela to play: the United Nations (here called the "Allied Nations") and China go head-to-head, and the Venezuelan military caught in the middle. As a mercenary taking advantage of the chaos, you call in tanks, air strikes, and bunker busters. And by the time the war is decided, someone will go nuclear.

DEFCON

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This game presents a global nuclear war from cool dispassionate perspective of a CRT. Warheads gracefully arc across the screen. When a city is hit, little numbers display the millions killed. If you listen closely to the eerie soundscape, you can even hear sobbing. Whereas most games play war for thrills, DEFCON is a powerful downbeat message.

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