In recent years, tactical shooters have shifted towards a PvP focus, with games like Rainbow Six Siege becoming the norm. This shift has moved the genre away from its roots in realistic warfare simulation to a more recreational multiplayer experience. However, Six Days in Fallujah aims to revive the genre’s original essence, having launched in Early Access last year.

The latest update for Six Days in Fallujah, “Command and Control”, addresses numerous player requests, particularly those from solo players. The developers have actively listened to their community, bringing much-anticipated features to the game. At PAX West 2024, we had the opportunity to sit down with Victura’s Peter Tamte in a closed-door meeting, where he showcased the latest updates for this tactical shooter.

Tamte began the preview with a word of warning, “There is no such thing as a kinder and gentler war, and that is something that those who have been to war wish the rest of us would understand before we start the next fight.”

At that point, what we’re about to see is something different from our regular coverage.

Six Days In Fallujah Hands-Off Impressions

“We call Six Days in Fallujah, a documentary video game,” narratives Peter Tamte as he began his description of the tactical squad-based shooter. “The reason we call it that is because we’re combining recreations of actual events with documentary videos filled with stories from people who were there, both Iraqis and Americans. We believe that through their stories, through their words, experiences, that players will understand what happened in Fallujah in 2004 set the world down a path that we haven’t returned from yet.”

We proceeded to watch the intro cinematic that narrates the harrowing experience of both soldiers and civilians who were on ground zero when the incident occurred. The main emotion that came into full view was the fear and uncertainty that came with the brutal urban warfare that took place within those six days.

What followed after the video was Tamte explaining the gameplay of Six Days in Fallujah. “15 years ago, there was a class of games we called squad-based shooters like Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Brothers in Arms… that gave players control of an AI fire team. But as it turns out, when making games, AI is very difficult, and it’s a little easier to make PvP games.”

“So we built an AI system, our sandbox AI, which breaks a bunch of conventions of the way AI has worked in games before to create this effect on players, where it is very difficult to beat Six Days in Fallujah solo. A lot of people tried and returned the game because it was too hard for them.”

“I’ll talk about what’s coming. For the update this Autumn, we’re going to release the number one requested feature for the game, which is a fire team AI. Especially prepared for people who tried to beat our game solo.”

The preview that followed was with an operator from Victura, Anthony, who demonstrated one of the missions with his four-person Fire Team AI. Normally, you would play with a team of four human players and if you did not play with actual humans, you would take on a mission solo, which Tamte emphasizes is very difficult.

“You can play four-player co-op, and it’s intended to be played with all four players. So when you got three, you can barely make it. When you got two, very difficult and with one, almost impossible. So if we want players to understand how real soldiers would do in combat, we need to make it difficult.”

As Anthony played through the mission, he started to give combat commands to his Fire Team AI. There was a lot of setup involved before he even got into the mission. He commenced by splitting his team to set up a perimeter and cover as much ground and blind spots as possible to check if there are any threats that would put his mission in jeopardy.

“The biggest requested feature for the game allows players to give orders to an AI fire team, and that team will execute authentic marine tactics. Each member of your team carries a weapon specific to the role, and then that team is split into two buddy pairs. So when you give an order, you’re actually giving it to the other buddy pair. As you move through the environment, your team will automatically use cover and engage enemies, you don’t have to micromanage them.”

The Uncertainty of War

“When we were researching the game, from our interviews with Marines, we learned that uncertainty in combat is a central role, and it has a psychological effect not knowing what’s behind that door,” Tamte explains the rationale of why Six Days in Fallujah is as difficult for what it was.

“We play video games with the same maps over and over again, uncertainty is gone. We created a system in Six Days in Fallujah, a procedural architecture technology that reshapes the physical architecture of the buildings each time you play the game, so you never know what to expect.”

Returning to Anthony’s demo of Six Days in Fallujah, we now understand why there’s so much preparation, even if there is a dedicated fire team AI. Every skirmish will be procedurally generated and buildings will be in different places. Enemies will be positioned somewhere else, so in the many times Tamte and Anthony demoed the game, this sortie is completely a new experience for all of us!

The main focus of Anthony’s skirmish was to take care of the sniper on the roof of one of the requisitioned houses. Once they’ve taken care of the sniper, they’ve completed the preview mission. While in PvP based squad shooters, the players would just normally rush the house and pick off the sniper. It’s a little different in Six Days in Fallujah.

“If you long press the go button, your team will regroup on you, and if you push the go button, they will aim at the door. This is the suppress command, where your entire team will aim where you aim.” As Anthony picks off the hidden insurgent, an unknown assailant suddenly attacks him, which gave both him and Tamte a little scare. This is the main selling point of Six Days in Fallujah, the actual uncertainty, and they both sold it really well!

The last bit of the demo was the actual breach of the house where the sniper was located. “This is the most dangerous part of urban combat, the breach. Marines call these fatal funnels. As many insurgents would be hiding inside nooks and crannies. There are many ways to breach, but what would be the safest? You can throw a frag or smoke them out, or stack the team by the door.”

The rest of the mission finishes off without a hitch as the sniper was not as guarded compared to previous missions where the actual breach was a difficult obstacle for Anthony. As we complete the preview, Tamte finishes off with other features of the new update.

“We will be releasing the first two story missions for Six Days in Fallujah. This will be our first expression of the documentary video game. We will be focusing on two things, the historical context for why players are actually in the city at this time and the tactics that players need to understand in order to be successful in six days.”

“We’re also going to get into a lot of the personal and emotional stories as well as the consequences of the battle in future missions, but first we need to lay a foundation for everybody,” Tamte narrates. As we finished the preview, my curiosity for Six Days in Fallujah has been piqued and more with the actual narrative. When I asked if the story missions in Six Days in Fallujah would be as intense, Tamte responded, “The story missions will be more linear, but the co-op missions will be more uncertain.”

Six Days In Fallujah is currently available on Steam’s Early Access and the “Command and Control” update is due out on November 7, 2024.