The Ukraine war on your home PC: In “Death From Above” from the Munich publisher Lesser Evil, players fight against Russian attackers with a drone. The inventor answers critics aggressively.
As it hunts for Russian soldiers, the drone trails a blue and yellow tail behind it. Shortly afterwards she drops her deadly cargo on a soldier. What appears on the screen is not a real scene from the war in Ukraine that has been going on for more than two years, it is a sequence from the computer game “Death From Above”.
The final version of the game from Munich publisher Lesser Evil has been on the market since the end of February – and with it the question of whether it is morally justifiable.
“It’s propaganda,” says Hendrik Lesser, the game’s inventor, bluntly. The game is a political statement. Players spend most of their time dropping grenades or bombs over Russian soldiers or combat vehicles using drones.
He doesn’t see the fact that it addresses an ongoing conflict and is therefore a rarity in the German games industry – some say a border crossing – as a problem: “I would like to speak out now, during the war and not in five years.” Lesser sees himself as an artist – “Death From Above” as a work of art.
Satire, politics and propaganda
The character, as a short intro explains, was first taken prisoner by Russia, then freed and now armed with a combat drone in a city occupied by Russia. “Death From Above” makes playable a conflict that in reality claims human lives every day. According to NATO estimates, over 120,000 Russian and over 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died so far.
There are also satirical elements, says Lesser. A poster with a portrait of Vladimir Putin hangs on the wall of a barracks. “Wanted for mass murder,” it says. At the touch of a button, the player can give the portrait a Hitler beard and red Terminator eyes. In some cases, washing machines can be teleported away in the game – probably a reference to reports that the Russian military is using household appliances to repair tanks due to a lack of semiconductors.
Not cruel enough?
The game is simple and not particularly realistic. The grenades that players drop on soldiers would probably tear a real person apart. After the smoke from the explosion clears, only a lifeless body lies on the ground in the game. No wounds, no blood.
The consequences of the war are not clear, says Martin Geisler, researcher for digital games at the Ernst Abbe University Jena. He is conflicted: From a media education perspective, more cruelty in games wouldn’t be a good idea, but “the media scientist in me would probably welcome it.” Only then does the game begin to convey the depressing scenery, says Geisler.
When playing there is no real identification with the character. “I have no family. I have no connection to the scenario. I just throw grenades at Russian soldiers,” he criticizes. Serious discussion of the conflict is neglected.
Drone pilots, as is known from research, suffered from their actions. “That’s what I would like to see: to evoke this inner conflict in the game,” says Geisler. But a propaganda game can’t afford that because it doesn’t want to differentiate.
Breach of international law
In fact, “Death From Above” presents players with a delicate decision at times. If Russian soldiers surrender, they can either be captured or killed. The latter sometimes happens accidentally in reality and in the game and thus also depicts the horrors of war, says Lesser. It was a conscious decision to leave the choice open. If the players kill the Russian soldiers, points will be deducted with reference to international law.
Such a hint is good, says law professor Matthias Kettemann, but he would have liked the developers not to have given the players a choice. “Because of course every conscious violation of the law does not contribute to stabilizing moral and legal rules,” emphasizes the lawyer, who also deals with legal-philosophical questions in video games. However, such game elements are covered by artistic freedom.
The German games industry association did not want to comment directly on the game when asked by dpa. Games are cultural assets and as such a mirror of the world in which they are created. “Accordingly, games also address political topics and can provide important impulses for many social debates. This can also result in contentious contributions, but the freedom of art always remains important in games,” says managing director Felix Falk through a spokesman.
Lesser: Thanks from Ukrainian soldiers
According to Lesser, the players of “Death From Above” mostly live in Ukraine. Around half of the orders come from the country. “We have soldiers from the front who wrote to us and thanked us for making the game,” says Lesser.
He emphasizes how important these reactions are to him. “It’s not the intention of the game to be intellectual.” It’s more about strengthening the resistance and morale of the Ukrainian soldiers. The game is also intended to support Ukraine financially in the war.
According to the publisher, part of the proceeds from sales will be donated to two Ukrainian organizations: “Come Back Alive” and “Army of Drones”. Both procure, among other things, protective equipment and drones and work with the Ukrainian armed forces. However, it was recorded in writing that the organizations would not use the money for armed drones, Lesser assures.
“I’m pretty sure this wasn’t the last Ukraine war game,” says researcher Geisler. He hopes that games developed after the end of the war will generate more critical reflection than with “Death from Above”.