Six Days in Fallujah Early Access Preview – Can it overcome the controversy?

thesixthaxis.com:

The Second Battle of Fallujah was among the bloodiest battles for American forces in the Iraq War, with almost 100 killed in action.  This however pales in comparison to the 2,000 insurgents and 800 Iraqi civilians that are estimated to have been killed during the six week battle that took place in November 2004. With that devastation in mind, it’s almost perverse to describe the journey the game Six Days in Fallujah has been through as ‘development hell’, but considering that the development can trace its routes back to 2009, it could be argued that way.

After its initial reveal and subsequent furore, the original publisher Konami decided to avoid the controversy and dropped the game, leading to its effective cancellation. But now, 14 years later, a new studio and publisher led by some of the original developers have revived the idea, aiming to push the boundaries and test the waters in what is an even more polarised world than before.

Six Days in Fallujah is joining a crowded market for squad-based military simulation (milsim) shooters. It’s a tough space to crack; once upon a time, realistic shooter fans sat looking longingly at the success of Call of Duty, Battlefield and other fast-paced FPS options, but these days there’s plenty of choice for tactical milsim fans, including Insurgency: Sandstorm, Arma, Hell Let Loose, Ready or Not, to name but a few. So how does Six Days fare?

Few games have courted as much controversy as Six Days in Fallujah have. Games like Insurgency: Sandstorm have a similar setting with Western military forces fighting Middle Eastern insurgents, it’s generic in such a way that allows it to skate past the ire of tabloids. Arguably if Six Days in Fallujah were first announced in 2021 and not 2009,