“Suddenness! The sheer suddenness of the move. The unexpected nature of the move. The unpredictability of the move. The fact that there was no warning to the Chinese.” - Arnab Goswami, lead anchor to the Republic Media Network and self-styled voice of the people, on the Indian government banning 59 Chinese apps in retaliation to a border skirmish.
The Indian subcontinent is no stranger to nationalistic monologue. We live on land that perpetually reminds us that we are indebted to it. We have lived through the imposition of “culture” in the entertainment industry, filtering content that is remotely considered progressive. We have had our fair share of the national anthem playing in movie halls, a place where individuals go to unwind. Gatekeeping on social media is at an all-time high. In other words, not many forms of media have survived the brunt of damage brought about by communal regression. Sadly, given the current circumstances, one must wonder whether or not the beacon of over-glorifying the military has been passed on to the gaming sector.
Before it was banned, Players Unknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile gave TikTok a run for its popularity. Both apps attracted users from all circles of life, virtually blurring the distinction between city and village folk and providing a platform for rural people from the fringes. The utopia came to an abrupt halt on the 15th of June, 2020, when the Indian and Chinese armed forces clashed at the Ladakh border due to the latter allegedly violating an agreement to respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley; the result being the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers. Deeply saddened by the loss, our Hon’ble Prime Minister chose to valiantly reciprocate in kind — let’s be honest, what is braver than deciding to outlaw a bunch of apps with ties to China? Hailed as another one of his masterstrokes by the likes of Sudhir Chaudhary and Arnab Goswami among others, the said ban was paraded as a “digital airstrike” by right-wing news outlets, referencing Operation Bandar, more commonly known as the Balakot airstrike of 2019.
But the people were unsatisfied. It is one thing to peddle in jingoism, but completely another to cool the population down after taking away one of their primary sources of entertainment. Aside from losing the usefulness of SHAREit, Shein, and UC Browser, unrest kept growing among ardent ex-users of TikTok and PUBG Mobile. Many were left without a livelihood after losing the former, so protests were not small in scale. Unfortunately, indiscriminately and unapologetically branding them “anti-national elements” did not defuse the situation. The government needed an alternative to fill the void. A while ago, the visionary Prime Minister of our country put a label on the gradual privatization of basic amenities. Picking up the thread of this Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, actor extraordinaire Akshay Kumar was made the face of the new game, when Fearless and United Guards, or FAU-G in short, was launched.
Now, marketing a game with the Galwan valley tag and announcing that 20% of its revenue will go to bereaved families of soldiers can do wonders in promoting it, but it is natural for people to be sceptical of just how much GAME the game delivers. Is it an original, or a rip-off? Are the visuals at least worth a shot for? Does it sport gameplay elements that rival its predecessor? The answers are quite linear. The latest project by nCore Games makes good on one expectation: humour. It began with social media being flooded with memes on how the launch poster of FAU-G was a shoddy photoshopped attempt to blatantly plagiarize the cover image of Collision of Innocence, a rock band from South Carolina. The next meme chain came after its release and revolved around how the replacement of an online shooting game was devoid of both guns and the option to play online. FAU-G promotes traditionalism by allowing access to melee weapons with classical names such as “Lalkaar” and “Tandav”. More often than not, areas and opponents get reused with minor changes, making the lack of variety something that can get on one’s nerves after a while. Additionally, the player character randomly spews patriotic dialogues, which can get repetitive in time.
The only redeeming factor is its graphics, especially for a game that is just 460 MB in size. The rest swings between crudely attempting to instil nationalism and generating merchandise to cash in on the hype. Recurring dialogues such as “Apne bhaiyo ko bachana mera farz hai ….. aur unko pakadne walo ko marna ….. maza” tends to remind you of certain B grade 90s Bollywood movies. The intonation of “shakti, shakti, shakti” every time the combat gets a little intense could not be more obvious. To conclude, this is not to say India cannot make good games. We don’t need individuals like Kangana Ranaut to go out of their way to slander competitors and over-glorify our industry. Pieces like Raji: An Ancient Epic already shows our potential in game development.
There is still hope for FAU-G. Just don’t let anyone catch you calling it a failure, lest you end up with an anti-national label.
(Cover picture courtesy: Google Play Store)
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