Having found Battlefield 1 on sale at Origin last week for $4.99 (launch price $60), I started playing a couple of days ago and was a little surprised by the intro cut-scenes in this WW1 action game.
As is the trend today in games, for pandering to the wishes of social justice warriors, I found myself in unknown territory since the intro begins with a black American soldier waking up in a hospital bed, which then quickly segues to said black soldier crawling out of a tank in the Somme and having to fight with black German soldiers, all narrated by an American voice.
I'm well ware that by 1917, the US had deployed about 4 million men, however most black American soldiers were relegated to support roles, which makes this representation unrealistic.
However the Harlem Hellfighters spent 191 days in the trenches, more than any other American unit. But this doesn't negate the fact that in France and Belgium, they were mainly European forces (mainly British) up until 1917.
Furthermore, the few black German soldiers were largely in the East African campaign.
It's a shame that Electronic Arts feels the need to skew history to mollify those who wish for an an all-inclusive Utopian world, at the expense of history.
Viewpoint: 10 big myths about World War One debunked
