I agree with the article’s point that historical video games, by definition, diverge from true, completely accurate history. In order for the people who are playing the video games to feel immersed, there must be some cause and effect element of the player’s choices. These choices, when implemented in narrations or simulations of actual historical events, cannot be 100% accurate because the choices often take the history off the factual path.
However, I think that historical video games present a massive advantage in terms of teaching people how to understand the mood and tone of an age in history. After playing games like “Assassin’s Creed,” my biggest take away was not any of the historical events that may or may not have been perfectly accurate, but it was the tone of the age. The weapons, enemies, town’s, and even the common folk walking around all helped immerse me into the game and taught me a little bit about how life was vastly different in the past than it is now. In the article, Adam talks about the environment of the game having a lot of information in them, and I completely agree. I think that is one part of historical video games that may be overlooked.
Sure, precise facts about historical events are important, but perhaps they are better suited for a different media outlet where player choice is not as integral, and we can still learn a lot from historical games.
