North Korea dubs Ghost Recon 2 propaganda
Which is either fairly amusing or a clever PR stunt, depending on your level of cynicism. Still, we'll bite.
North Korea has claimed that Ubisoft's Ghost Recon 2 is nothing more than a piece of propaganda in a newspaper column that promised "miserable defeat and gruesome deaths" for the Americans. At least, that's according to American military newspaper Stars and Stripes, which hardly strikes us as an impartial source...
Still. Although Ubisoft's actions have caused some concern in the past - console exclusivity deals, for example - it's pretty impressive to rile up an entire country, particularly such a volatile one. Then again, you can understand the North Koreans' concern on the surface - in the game, the elite Ghost Recon force is sent in to repel an attack on China, after a rogue general in the North Korean army diverts food supplies to the military during a famine, seizes control and invades.
"Through propaganda, entertainment and movies, [Americans] have shown everyone their hatred for us. This may be just a game to them now, but a war will not be a game for them later. In war, they will only face miserable defeat and gruesome deaths," a column in North Korean newspaper Tongil reportedly said.
Whether or not the comments are genuine and this isn't just an enormously amusing PR stunt (which, let's face it, it probably is), it has given the Ghost Recon 2 team the chance to clarify the game's storyline and categorically deny suggestions that the game is just propaganda. "When we developed the story background, we aimed at staying away from key current or specific events while still having a reasonable setting for a conflict," Red Storm commented. "We are focusing the story on a splinter group in the North Korean military that sparks this conflict, not the entire country."
All of which leaves us with just enough space to mention that Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 is due out later this year on PC and consoles.