Historical war games haven’t disappeared completely, thanks to World at War and Black Ops, but these games pale in comparison to Tripwire’s Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad. Modernizing war games also served to implement new game mechanics that you couldn’t get away with in historic shooters and by concentrating on an amorphous enemy such as Middle Eastern terrorists, you could make a story go anywhere you wanted. However, when Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was unleashed upon a surprised audience, the narrative shifted from historic to Tom Clancy-style modern warfare and considering how well the Modern Warfare series had sold, everybody wanted a piece of the action.
War games often looked to World War II for inspiration, pulling from real life missions to replicating sequences from popular war films like A Bridge Too Far and Saving Private Ryan. Ever since EA’s Medal of Honor, war-themed first person shooters have been one of the most consistent themes for video games within the last fifteen years.
