In an unusual move the Wall Street Journal has announced a new third person shooter based on real life events in Iraq to be published by Konami. The game currently under development by Atomic Games, of Close Combat fame, will be a commentary less “game-amentary” set within the Second Battle of Fallujah.

Atomic games have developed a brand new engine for the game due to the tactics used by the soldiers in the conflict. You will make choices that will effect the game such as if a character qualifies as a hostile and act in a way you feel is right. To help this immersion the engine uses destructible environments that will heavily affect the game play.

World War II has been over used as a setting within videogames and recently more modern backdrops have been gaining popularity. Call of Duty 4 had undertones that gave images of the war between America and Iraq, but avoided naming a specific country and conflict thereby removing the possibility of a backlash. It’s this point that I personally think Konami should be applauded for not backing down on; they are facing a public media backlash if the content isn’t handled correctly and it’s a brave move.

The development team has been reported to have consulted with around three dozen Iraq War veterans who served Fallujah. But is this game coming too soon after the actual events? And will it cover both sides of the conflict or will it follow the current trend that one side must be right? That my readers I will leave up to your personal opinion.

The game is currently set for release sometime in 2010 on the PS3, 360 and PC.