Games as Pedagogy: A Postmortem of ReCall of Duty: Modern Empire

<p>Accompanying the video game <em>ReCall of Duty: Modern Empire</em>, this paper examines the development process to determine if the game effectively communicates its thesis, as well as the usefulness of research creation overall. The game acts as a critique of the <em>Call of Duty: Modern Warfare</em> franchise, putting the player in a war simulator to show how <em>Modern Warfare</em> games rely on orientalism to justify war in the Middle East. The paper contextualizes the game within the independent game scene as well as academic literature. The key literature is a synthesis of Edward Said’s orientalism with Ian Bogost’s procedural rhetoric. We dissect the creation process and separate the game into four themes for analysis: Aesthetics, Mechanics/Dynamics, Gender, and the Military Entertainment Complex. The analysis finds that by embracing creative mediums, both the game and research creation as a method are effective at producing engaging and accessible research.</p>