Foxhole: Complexity in War

Shooting games are a staple of the video game industry, and some of the most popular have used a military setting. It makes sense, really. You don’t need to explain the intricacies of the lore when your game’s story actually happened. It really lets you focus less on the game’s world, and more on the parts of the game you want to emphasize, like the characters or the story.

Most of those games are fairly simple, especially when it comes to multiplayer: find a guy, shoot a guy. Sometimes there’s an objective, and there’s often some interesting mechanics thrown into the mix, but the basic formula is quite common. Foxhole, however, is an entirely different beast. Multiplayer in Foxhole is far more interesting and complex because at its core, Foxhole isn’t a game about shooting.

Foxhole is a game about war.

Foxhole as a game focuses very much on the idea that war is more than just a fight. War is an interconnected web of supply, combat, and construction. The game as a whole does this extremely well, primarily through its implementation of the idea of infrastructure. The foundation of each and every engagement is only as strong as the soldiers who collect supplies and refine them into usable materials.

While one may think that playing as someone who simply transports supplies is a boring job, there's actually a fair bit to it, and there's a surprising amount of risk in the job. See, including this idea of infrastructure means that savvy enemy players will use this to their advantage: raiding supply lines, stealing vehicles laden with guns and ore, and many other interesting tactics are not only an option, but a possible game-changer. I've seen battles turned around by a sudden influx of supplies from a supply truck-which also doubles as a troop transport, meaning that you'll see the front lines often enough, even in what you would think is a non-combat role.

There are even tech trees and building construction, ranging from fortifications to Forward Operating Bases to even creating a place from which to launch an aquatic assault on an enemy beachhead. Of course, all these things are broader concepts. Let's talk gameplay.

The combat in Foxhole is fairly simple at first glance. It's a top-down shooter where aiming your weapon is activated-that way you don't have to worry about shooting someone while you're heading to the front lines. There's a decent variety of guns and ordinance, but there are games with more options. The place where Foxhole shines is how all these somewhat simple mechanics interact with each other.

See, Foxhole actually has an extremely interactive world, at least when it comes to buildings and the like. Combat, especially when it comes to larger scale warfare, is not simply a shooting match. It's a long, drawn out series of engagements, both sides rushing to construct fortifications while assaulting those of their enemies, all while watching out for surprise attacks and scrambling for enough supplies to maintain the push. Grenades are lobbed into pillboxes to clear them, only for the defenders to fight that much harder to push them out.

Really, despite the top-down perspective and the somewhat lackluster graphics (at least compared to most AAA military shooters), Foxhole is one of a very small list of games that portrays war in such a convincing and intricate manner. On top of all these complex interactions is a very important point that I haven't mentioned until now. See, Foxhole isn't technically speaking a shooter— It's actually an MMO.

That's what really brings it all together. It's not just how the game feels, or the supply, or the interactions possible within the game's framework. No, what makes Foxhole truly special is how these elements combine in what is a truly massive war for control over the map. Territories are gained and lost, resources are consolidated, counter-assaults and scouting are conducted, and that's all in one portion of the broader campaign, a campaign that every person playing the game contributes to.

Of course, the game has its drawbacks. It's not exactly noob-friendly, with a steep learning curve and somewhat odd mechanics (though this is mitigated somewhat by the pretty fantastic community, at least in my experience). It can drag at times, especially when you're gathering enough supplies to construct a vehicle, or after you've died far enough away from the front. The way the game is set up means that matchmaking is all but impossible, and sometimes you're going to end up having to defend against players that you really have no chance against.

Still, there's something really special about Foxhole, something that keeps me coming back and wanting to continue the fight. I think that if you gave the game a try, you might find it too.

Really, though, it's not up to me. I'm just another soldier trying to win the war for his side. That in mind, I still hope that the next time I'm in a pillbox, trying to hold the line against impossible odds, it'll be one of you that fights beside me.