Kuma\War

Kuma\War is a free tactical first and third-person shooter game created by developer Kuma Reality Games. Kuma\War is an episodic game that re-creates real-world conflicts in video game format using information culled from news accounts, military experts, Department of Defense records and original research. Episodes consist of a playable mission, extensive background text, and often include interviews with military experts, soldiers and other actual participants in the events described.

Kuma is notable for its current free ad-supported business model, its Iraqi fan base and continuous updates, delivering new episodes each month. Every episode from the collection of Kuma\War missions can be downloaded for free and played as a single-player first-person shooter. Popular past missions can also be played as a free online multiplayer experience.

In July 2006, Kuma\War 2 was released, featuring improved graphics (based on the Source engine) and an expanded online multiplayer environment. The first mission re-creates the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Game missions
First released in 2004, Kuma\War now features over 120 missions. While most episodes are drawn from the war in Iraq, Kuma has also re-created events from Afghanistan, Iran, South Korea (a raid by North Korean commandos), Vietnam (John Kerry's Silver Star mission), Sierra Leone (Operation Barras) and Mexico (a battle between Mexican soldiers and drug cartels).

The first mission of the game (named "Uday and Qusay's Last Stand") is the battle in which the two sons of Saddam Hussein, Uday and Qusay, are killed. The attack is described as "a turning point in Operation Iraqi Freedom" and "a milestone in the War on Terror". Other significant episodes include “John Kerry’s Silver Star”, “Fallujah: Operation al Fajr”, and “Osama 2001: Tora Bora.” The main distinguishing feature in Kuma\War is its extensive background information for each mission, which includes satellite photos, original articles and a multimedia library.

Gameplay
Kuma\War 1 is a military third person shooter utilizing the N-Fusion game engine. A first person perspective was also available for players to choose. A variety of weapons were available and depending on your mission you either played solo or participated in squad based play. The game had 74 episodes produced for it before the developer moved on to its sequel Kuma\War 2.

Kuma\War 2 is a military first person shooter that utilizes Valve's Source Engine. While Kuma\War 2 featured third and first person views, Kuma\War 1 is third person only. The game features similar gameplay themes to the original Kuma\War such as single, multiplayer, and co-op maps. Thus far 125 episodes have been produced continuing the numbering from Kuma\War 1.