Not all games come from the US, UK, or Japan. A love for game development exists around the world. In this case, it comes from the northern Israeli town of Karmiel. Here lies the home of 3EEL, the developers behind Middle East Crisis.
MEC is a modern war RTS game set in the Middle East. Reenacting many years of regional conflict. In a report by WorthPlaying, Amir Rahom, game producer at 3EEL, describes the game as one that is both entertaining and empathetic.
“Our story plot will sweep gamers into an exciting experience that reflects the various aspects of the bloody Middle East conflict. It will enable gamers to get to know and experience all sides of the conflict. During one part of the game, a gamer might be leading the Israeli army, and during another part of the gaming, commanding the Iranian army.”
Adir Lombrozo, Product VP at 3EEL, believes that this is the kind of game that consumers want right now, instead of more fantastical genres. And to best achieve that feeling, they’re working with developers from multiple countries, some of which work in secret to not upset their local authorities that disagree with the project’s collaboration.
“Millions of RTS gamers are yearning for new releases but not necessarily themes such as fantasy and mythology; they want realistic, modern war games. Our engaging narrative and gameplay will give this huge audience what it wants – authentic, modern war games. To achieve this authentic look and feel and hyper-realistic design, we are working with colleagues from Iran, Syria, Gaza and more. Some of them can’t even expose their real identities, fearing that their local authorities won’t accept that they are working with Israelis.”
It will be difficult. Competing with the power and quality of AAA studios in the States means that the bar for “hyper-realistic” will be pretty high. We also think that modern war games aren’t actually a very in demand genre, but that’s beyond the point.
Regardless, we find their intentions rather noble. There has been a great deal of conflict in the Middle East. It’s a complicated situation that’s been the source of a lot of international political debate. We love that one company is finding their own way to bring these different people together. We especially love that it’s with video games.
All that’s left is to see how they represent this conflict in the game. MEC currently does not have a release date, but projections indicate that it will be done in the next two years. But based on the trailer, they definitely have some fantastic music.
