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War video games are a dime a dozen nowadays. Let’s face it: first-person shooters are absolutely everywhere, many of them lazy and subpar. A lot of consumers like this content, though, because shooters allow them to experience some of history’s deadliest battles in an immersive experience. Other times, they just want to shoot aliens, but hey, that’s fine, too.
Over the years, a lot of games have centred on war, aiming to let players feel the futility of it, control the flow of battle, or place them in the midst of the chaos, which isn’t exclusive to any one particular genre of game, either. To be honest, though, war games would never be where they are today without these masterpieces. For this list, we’re focusing only on video games that are grounded in real or plausibly real conflicts — meaning no sci-fi or fantasy elements — otherwise we’d be here all day.
10
‘Age of Empires II’ (1999)
Age of Empires II completely changed the real-time strategy genre and offered a wide variety of choices to the player. The game is meticulously detailed and intricate, allowing players to build their civilization from the ground up via the gathering of resources, which they can then use to amass an army and wage war on rival empires. Each faction is based on a real historical empire or civilization. There are 13 in total, from Chinese, Japanese, Persian, Viking, Celtic, Teutonic, and beyond.
The game also has a whopping 30 single-player campaigns, with over 200 individual levels, all centred around various empires and their conflicts, both real and fictional. It’s a history lover’s dream, and a fantastic foray into the world of real-time strategy. The game still has an active community, and continues to generate buzz due to how monumentally impactful it was, and still is.
9
‘Medal of Honor: Allied Assault’ (2002)
Medal of Honor is a pioneering first-person shooter franchise that was actually directed by Steven Spielberg himself, following the success of his 1998 World War II film Saving Private Ryan. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is the third mainline entry in the franchise, and the first to be released for Windows. In this shooter, players take control of Mike Powell, an operator with the OSS (a precursor to the CIA), as he dives deep behind Axis lines in the Second World War.
The original game sees Powell assist Allied operations in Norway, Algeria, and France, using a variety of weapons at his disposal. Two expansion packs also came out, which take players to the Battle of Berlin, the Battle of the Bulge, Tunisia, and Italy. The gameplay is pretty simplistic, but that’s what makes it so brilliant. There isn’t much to be said in the way of story here; it just excels in how fun it is, besides the fact that it’s an early FPS that completely changed the genre. It might not be as good as some of the other games on this list, but it definitely deserves a spot.
8
‘Company of Heroes’ (2006)
Company of Heroes is a real-time strategy video game that is widely seen as one of the best in the entire genre. It is set during World War II, specifically during the D-Day landings in Normandy. Two expansion packs were also released for the game, both of which take place at other points on the Western Front in the final months of the war, from the Battle of Chambois to Operation Market Garden.
The campaigns aren’t the only area it excels in, though–the game still has an active multiplayer community, which is very popular in the RTS fandom. Perhaps it’s the way that sacrifice is depicted in this game, or maybe it’s the red and blue line, allowing players to actually see the front being pushed back in real time, but it feels really immersive and tactical, as strategy games should. It won countless awards and even received a (admittedly terrible) movie adaptation. It’s absolutely a masterpiece, not just in its genre, but in the medium as a whole.
7
‘Valiant Hearts: The Great War’ (2014)
Valiant Hearts: The Great War was released to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the onset of World War I. Only, this game isn’t a shooter or an RTS. It’s a charming side-scrolling adventure/puzzle game following various characters. The primary focus of the game is Emile, a French farmer whose son-in-law, Karl, is deported from France when the war begins due to Karl being born in Germany. Karl is forced to enlist in the war, so Emile volunteers for the French Army to find Karl.
While the game’s controls are simplistic, the collectibles serve as interesting tidbits of history with a surprising amount of accuracy. Its visuals are a little cartoony, but it’s still able to accurately depict how horrific the First World War really was. Throughout the game, players will have to storm the trenches, avoid chlorine gas attacks, and save wounded civilians all across the Western Front of the war. What really makes Valiant Hearts: The Great War worthwhile is its emotional narrative, which hits with a swift gut punch of an ending. It’s a narrative masterpiece in all regards, which has no problem making grown men cry.
6
‘Rome: Total War’ (2004)
Rome: Total War is the third entry in the Total War series of real-time strategy games. It also happens to be the best one. Total War has seen a few lackluster entries, but early on, they were really knocking it out of the park. As the name implies, the game sees players take control of a Roman Legion through various points in history, from the time of the Roman Republic to the age of the Roman Empire. ‘
Players will fight real historical battles against a variety of foes. Expansion packs even let players go up against Alexander the Great himself. Rome: Total War is another game that won a lot of awards, and rightfully so; it’s how a real-time strategy game should be, made even better by the fact that it puts the player in control of the famous Roman Legion, one of the most disciplined and tactical military forces of the Ancient World. It is one of the greatest war video games ever made, and one of the best RTS games, too.
5
‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ (2010)
A lot of the early Call of Duty games could be considered masterpieces, but in terms of sheer narrative and technicality, the best has to go to Call of Duty: Black Ops. It’s one of the most complex stories the franchise has woven, with a huge and iconic plot twist that many still remember and reference to this day. It is set during the Cold War, following CIA operatives as they try to take down Soviet operatives during the 1960s. However, it also has levels set during the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Vietnam War, which defined the era.
It’s Call of Duty, so of course the gameplay is pretty basic: run around and shoot things, and the same is true for the multiplayer. However, the cinematic scale of the campaign is pretty awesome, whether it’s running across the rooftops of Kowloon Walled City, base jumping off the Ural Mountains, or escaping Soviet gulags. Most importantly, it expertly captures the deep-seated paranoia that was rampant during the peak of the Cold War, and the espionage that was constantly going on between the global superpowers. President John F. Kennedy even makes an appearance in this game. It’s the best Call of Duty game by far, and definitely earns a spot on this list.
4
‘Spec Ops: The Line’ (2012)
When the trailers for Spec Ops: The Line first came out, everyone kind of assumed it would be another bland third-person shooter with very little substance; they couldn’t have been any more wrong. Set during the ongoing Middle East Crisis, the entire game is set in Dubai, which has been mostly abandoned after being hit with a catastrophic series of sandstorms. American military commander John Konrad, returning from Afghanistan, volunteers his force to help with relief efforts, but his PTSD only makes things worse. He declares martial law in Dubai and begins committing horrific crimes against the survivors still trapped in the city, turning the place into a war zone. Sent in to stop Konrad is Delta Force operator Martin Walker and his team.
The game is actually based on the classic book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (note the name similarity), which also served as the basis for the film Apocalypse Now. Thus, it has a distinct and clear anti-war message. As the game progresses, Martin begins experiencing telltale symptoms of PTSD and is forced to make horrifying choices. The white phosphorus scene in this game became infamous for its brutality, forcing players to confront their morality. Gradually, the game’s hints devolve from run-of-the-mill tooltips to messages like “Do you feel like a hero yet?” It pulls no punches, and though it’s based on a fake event, the backdrop is a very real crisis, and its anti-war subtext clearly places it into the war genre.
3
‘Battlefield 1’ (2016)
Battlefield 1 is set during the First World War, and is pretty near perfect on all levels. Like the rest of the games in the franchise, players can take on a ground infantry role, but can also drive land vehicles, fly planes, and sail in warships in massive multiplayer matches of dozens of players. The cinematic scale of this game is absolutely unreal, with maps ranging from the Western Front to the Middle-Eastern Theatre of the war, and even including a DLC set during the Russian Revolution.
The campaign does a pretty good job, too, following five distinct individuals from five different parts of the war. Here, players will drive a tank through the muck of the Hundred Days Offensive, scale the slopes of Monte Grappa, storm the beaches of Gallipoli, and ride with Lawrence of Arabia as he ambushes the Ottoman forces. Everything about this game is so intoxicating because it’s fun, unique, and visually stunning. There are very few players who don’t stop to watch a flaming zeppelin come crashing down in the middle of a match. Battlefield 1 is everything that a first-person shooter should be, and should aspire to replicate. It’s also the only shooter of its kind set in the First World War.
2
‘Ghost of Tsushima’ (2020)
Ghost of Tsushima is an action role-playing game set during the First Mongol Invasion of Japan in 1274. Players take on the role of Jin Sakai, a samurai who is on the front line of the Mongol landing on the Northern Japanese island of Tsushima. The sole survivor of a great battle, Jin must abandon his honor and his samurai code to retaliate against the Mongols, often striking from the shadows during the night.
While it isn’t a typical genre for a war game, the fact that a war is the main backdrop of the story, and that it’s so prevalent, definitely makes it qualify for this list. The open world is huge, gorgeous, and there are plenty of side quests and activities to keep players entertained. Better yet, nothing fantastical happens in the story. Yes, some characters are made up, and some historical details are exaggerated, but the content otherwise remains firmly grounded in reality. It is one of the best open-world games to come out in recent years, with people still praising it to this day. That movie adaptation can’t come soon enough.
1
‘This War of Mine’ (2014)
This War of Mine is by far the single most depressing video game of all time. In this side-scrolling survival story, you’re not an elite soldier on the front lines, and you’re not an officer commanding their troops; you’re an ordinary civilian, struggling to survive in a besieged city. Though the setting is fictional, it’s based on the Bosnian War and the Siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s. The final cut of this game is by far the best version. There’s the typical survival mode, but there are also three story episodes to… well, perhaps “enjoy” isn’t quite the best word.
The game is based on survivors’ testimonies, so it really bears some impressive emotional weight. Sometimes, players are left with no choice but to do objectively awful things — it’s hard to help the starving child that comes to your door when you don’t have any food yourself. This game definitely makes players feel the desperation, to the point that they may need to make some really terrible choices, such as stealing from an elderly couple just to get some medicine to heal your dying ally. As good as this game is, it’s absolutely devastating with its anti-war message, but it’s arguably what makes it the best war video game masterpiece of all time.
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Dawson Nyffenegger
Almontather Rassoul
