Awesome Enemies: Nazis

Nazis. I hate these guys.

If there's one kind of person we can all agree that it's universally OK to kill in any kind of media it's the Nazis. They're just plain evil, and everyone gets this- sure, Kurt the grunt may just be an infantryman with a frauline to return home to after the war is done but when he's staring down his gun at you it's pretty much funtime with ultimate killingsmanship.

People can complain about realism in games and their influence on the minds of young people as you blow the faces off man after man in a non-stop bloodbath of ridiculous carnage, but if you're against the disposal of virtual Nazis then there's legitimately something wrong with you. They're Nazis. Even your mum hates Nazis, and if she doesn't then what the hell kind of person is she?

Because of this universal antagonism towards the third Reich they're pretty much the ultimate virtual villain. This has proven incredibly useful, and has given us some of the best (and most revolutionary) moments in gaming history- even if the Nazis could have been replaced with just about any evil faction and still given us fun and satisfaction.

One of the earliest and most noteworthy games to feature Nazis was the id software classic Wolfenstein 3D, which had not only Nazis, but also Nazi zombies and (the ultimate endgame boss) 'Mecha-Hitler'. Now, get on your high horse and tell me that killing a mechanised version of the Fuhrer is wrong. Go on. He's got miniguns for arms and a stupid moustache and watching his head explode as he collapses into a pile of flesh and gears is one of the best feelings one can have with clothes on.

From this noble starting point the Nazi party have provided gamers with worthy adversaries countless times, from the reskinned 'Imperials' of Bionic Commando (originally the third Reich in the Japanese version of the game) to the flat-out Aryan supermen of the Medal of Honour games and you're onto a pure winner. I'll never forget the first time I lobbed a grenade only to have it returned to my now lifeless body by a Nazi superdog, or the first time I whipped a stormtrooper's face off in Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings.

It's not even just the Nazis in their purest form which give us problems- as I said earlier the Imperials in Capcom great Bionic Commando were originally used to create a plot revolving around a clone of Hitler attempting to reclaim the glory of the third Reich. Now, the fact that they're no longer Nazis wasn't a problem- the game was still pointlessly badass and gave way to a few notable sequels and remakes, but can you honestly tell me attacking a generic general with a claw-arm is more fun than ripping Hitler's face off?

No. You can't. Not honestly, anyway- and not without your grandfather revolving slowly in his grave. It's not just Bionic Commando that does this either- SNK's classic run 'n' gun shooter Metal Slug has you facing down enemies marching under the banner of what may as well be a swastika, and their troops are blatantly supposed to be stormtroopers. Also, there's a level with yet more Nazi Zombies, which are of course a staple in modern games.

Will we ever tire of re-fighting old battles with enemies so indisputably evil yet satisfyingly human? I don't think so. The Call of Duty games have cemented this in my mind- and the fact that Wolfenstein received a recent-ish reboot fills me with hope too. We'll never tire of blowing away our fellow man in virtual armed combat so why not provide the player with an adversary we know everyone hates?

There's a slew of awesome WW2 shooters out there, and there's always going to be more because it was the last conflict with a genuine bad-guy, and I'm just fine with that. And if you're not fine with that you're feeling sorry for the Nazis, which means you're a terrible, terrible person.

They're not people. They're meaty targets.

Toby Ellis