Free Immersive Experience at Imperial War Museum – War Games: Real Conflicts | Virtual Worlds | Extreme Entertainment

How is war represented in the virtual world of video games? Imperial War Museum (IWM) have launched a free immersive experience that explore how the barriers of reality and the virtual world is blurred and how video game technology has been used over the decades to depict confits and even shape real wars. Immersive experience, War Games: Real Conflicts | Virtual Worlds | Extreme Entertainment opened on 30th September and showcases immersive installations, never-seen-before objects and a retro gaming zone with playable video games.

 

Watch video of the exhibition here.

 

War Games: Real Conflicts | Virtual Worlds | Extreme Entertainment

 

Imperial War Museum - War Games Exhibition

Photo: Urban Adventurer

 

 

If you have ever played war-themed video games, you might have noticed how mind-blowingly real the graphic, the scenarios and even the sounds can be. This is because some modern video games depict thoroughly researched historical events.

In fact, tremendous amount of research, consultations with historians and other experts are taken place behind the scenes when creating and launching a new video game. For example, ‘Six Days in Fallujah’ has been developed based on real testimonies of marines, soldiers and civilians affected by the Second Battle of Fallujah.

Other video games, such as ‘Worms’, on the other hand, grab the more artistic and humorous side of historical events.

 

IWM - War Games Exhibition

Photo: Urban Adventurer

 

 

Chris Cooper and Ian Kikuchi, Co-curators of War Games, say: “The drama and tragedy of

war has fascinated us for millennia. Paintings, books, plays, films and tv shows have all told gripping stories about conflict. Video games have continued this tradition in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, becoming today’s largest and fastest growing entertainment industry. We hope this exhibition prompts visitors to consider the influence this media might have on our perceptions and understanding of war and conflict.”

 

Gaming Zone

 

IWM - War Games Exhibition Gaming Zone

Photo: Urban Adventurer

 

War Games exhibition includes a retro gaming arcade with 13 iconic playable games, including ‘Top Gun’, ‘Battlezone’,  ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’, or ‘Medal of Honour’.

 

Never-Seen-Before Objects on Display

 

Imperial War Museum - War Games Exhibition - Objects on Display

Photo: Urban Adventurer

 

 

Common gameplay tropes, such as explosive barrels and sniper riffles are on display alongside with items and belongings to real individuals who were involved in wars either as a civilian or soldier.

Case studies, such as ‘Bury Me, My Love’ and ‘This War of Mine’ are also on display to give visitors goosebumps by showcasing the real thrill and tragedy of warfare.

An Xbox 360 controller once used to operate the camera of an unmanned aerial vehicle in Afghanistan and Iraq is also on display.

 

  

Practical Info

  

Imperial War Museum London - War Games Exhibition

Photo: Urban Adventurer

 

Address

Imperial War Museum London (IWM)

Lambeth Rd, London SE1 6HZ

 

Opening Times 

30 September 2022 – 28 May 2023

Open daily: 10am – 6pm

24 – 26 December CLOSED

 

Admission

FREE

 

 

 

 

Ready for your next adventure? Get closer to dinosaurs like never before, meet life size dinosaurs and find yourself in well-known movie scenes. Jurassic World: The Experience is open till 3rd November 2022.