In September 2005, Kuma released the controversial "Assault on Iran" episode, our investigation of how the US Special Forces might put a halt to Iran's nuclear program.
In the most dramatic reaction to any Kuma\war episode to date, we received thousands of emails and posted responses from Iran from across the political spectrum - and delivered tens of thousands of copies of Kuma\War to Iran.
Apparently, the Islamic Republic of Iran was not pleased. In addition to official denunciations and petition campaigns, a group calling itself the Union of Islamic Student Societies announced their own game - Commander Bahram -- a response to Kuma's "Assault on Iran."
Commander Bahram may well be among the more important releases in video game history. According to the Iranian press release, the game picks up right where Kuma's "Assault on Iran" leaves off. To our mind, the Commander Bahram series is serious political dialog within, of all things, a video game.
We honor the Iranian game efforts. Our mission at Kuma is to harness the power of "episodic games" to create new video game experiences. Clearly, game-based dialog like this could not be accomplished in any other way. We're please to be part of that dialog, especially during these times of striking conflict.
We aim to play our part. This Kuma episode - Mission 76: Payback in Iraq - is the next chapter in the discussion. We pick up where we understand the Iranian episode is to end. In the spirit of dialog, we are releasing this as an 'Open Beta' in order to gain your input.
One of the key storypoints is the relationship between Bahram - a hero of the Iran/Iraq war and a representative of the older generation - and Dr. Kousha, an idealistic young scientist trying to build a new future for his country. Additional characters are the young Marines tasked with recovering Dr. Kousha and their Iraqi interpreter. Particularly to our Middle Eastern audience we say, "Please help us write dialog that reflects your point of view."
In the pages that follow, you'll find an outline of this 3-part episode, a team-on-team multiplayer map (set in the town of Karbala immediately after Commander Bahram's attack) and the dialog for the scripts that will become our video interstitials.
Regardless of the political content of this episode - which is necessarily charged - we look forward to playing with you online. I'd be happy to play any character in the script; they are all, in their own way, patriots and heroes.
