revan says:
Well, as someone who has actually lived in the besieged city (Sarajevo), I can tell you they’ve portrayed some things accurate, others not so much. First of, judging by some of the pictures in the background during loading screen (UNIS Tower and Parliament, you can see it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Sarajevo), Sarajevo was definitely inspiration if not the place.
Stuff was indeed made from junk or re-purposed from other, less useful things. Most valuable commodity was not alcohol but flour, coffee, beans, powdered milk. If those were not available, people made their own substitutes. Lentil instead of beans. God, I hate lentil. All kinds of things instead of coffee. I remember my father bringing me a can of Pepsi. I looked at that thing for a week before opening and drinking it, all the while feeling sad because it was gone. There were no drunk people in those days.
Other completely unrealistic thing in this game is the night time scavenging. People did not break into houses to steal stuff. First, there was curfew in effect, and you would be liable to get shot by your own soldiers thinking you are the enemy. Second, this game portrays people as getting colder and more selfish as the time went on. It was exactly the opposite. Everyone shared everything. People helped each other in ways they would never do today. Notion that someone stole or killed from others is laughable. You have people on the hills shelling you with up to three thousand shells per day, trust me, breaking into someone’s place is the last thing on your mind. You need help. You ask, others will share. Plus, police was more effective in those days then they are today.
To conclude, this game is a different view on war. There are some mostly accurate parts. Most of it is missed by a mile. Good job on trying, but until you’ve lived through such a thing yourself, you’ll never know what it truly means to be caught in such a situation. I truly hope no one else ever does.
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