The War On Terror, in your living room.

Generations of kids have had variations on the basic premise of play-acting conflict - cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, allies and Nazis, rebels and Imperial forces (for the Star Wars generation). Today, however, the world seems obsessed with terrorism. Bush wages his dubious so-called War On Terror, while nations who disagree with the American way fight with their own desperate and similarly despicable means. Given this prevailing climate, it makes me wonder - do today's kids play terrorists and counter-terrorists?

It's certainly a theme that’s established itself in videogaming. Counter-Strike, the 2000 mod of PC classic Half-Life, became the most successful online multiplayer game ever. Although the transition of a PC game to a console inevitably involves some "dumbing down", the arrival of Counter-Strike on Xbox is very welcome. Arguably, it provides better Live multiplayer gaming opportunities than Rainbow Six 3, a game similarly concerned with terrorism.

No story-based solo mode has been bolted on to the basic formula for the Xbox release - this is very much a game that has to be played Live or with System Link. Teams can play either as terrorists, planting bombs or holding hostages, or counter-terrorists, attempting to defuse the bomb or rescue the hostages.

I'm writing this as the newspapers' front pages report the latest tragedy, the deaths of 27 people in Istanbul. Furthermore, as part of the promotion of the game, I spent an excellent day doing Special Forces Training with an ex-SAS chap. Vague questions of morality flit through my head, but they're amorphous. Living in a world where terrorism is regularly front page news, using it as a theme for a cultural product - a book, a film, a game - is the acceptable norm, despite any doubts. The bottom line with Counter-Strike is that it's a game and a good one at that. Rather than inculcating violence, playing it on Xbox Live actually encourages socialisation - which can't be bad for starters. Daniel Etherington 28 November 03

Counter-Strike is out on 05 December 03 on Xbox.

useful link: xbox: counter-strike

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