It’s not surprising that Adolf Hitler looms large in gaming consciousness, given that he was the chief villain in the world’s largest war to date. It’s impossible to play any kind of World War II game except perhaps a Pacific theater sub simulator without some kind of reference to the Nazi leader. The Nazi regime has long been a fertile source of ideas for comic books, movies, and novels. Sometimes these portrayals attempt to be factual (for example, the World War II simulator Hearts of Iron), while in other cases the portrayal is outlandish – from Nazis on the moon to occult speculations to the Boys in Brazil to the Red Skull. And of course memes.
These portrayals can be a sensitive topic. Obviously, anything portraying Hitler positively would repel most people but for some, any fictional portrayal risks trivializing real-life events, regardless of intent. There have been concerns about many movies over the years regarding this and related portrayals.
There are still people today who are upset about Hogan’s Heroes and that was a comedy in which the Nazis were mocked and subverted in every single episode. The majority of the cast were Jewish (the actor portraying Colonel Klink, Sergeant Schultz, Corporal Louis Lebeau, Major Hochstetther, General Burkhalter, and others, many of whom were Holocaust survivors) and the tone was as pro-Democracy, down-with-tyranny as one could fit in a 30-minute sitcom. Hitler never appears though he is hilarious impersonated multiples. The whole show is a giant trolling of the Nazis, yet there are those who feel that anything about them without a strictly documentary tone is irreverent.
Trivia: There’s something you might not notice in this photo – details at the end of the article.
It’s easy to view this as an overreaction. After all, as long as the game or content makes it clear (narratively or otherwise) that the Nazis are evil and the suffering of victims isn’t trivialized, that’s OK, right? Surely it’s better to responsibly present the Nazis as villains than to ignore them in history, the thinking goes.
It’s certainly been pointed out that Julius Caesar was not a champion of human rights, but can be a lot of fun to play in Civilization VI, alongside Cleopatra or Genghis Khan and a number of other sadistic despots. I pick the Civilization franchise because it’s uniquely placed to sample the entirety of human history. It’s interesting that the game once included both Josef Stalin and Mao Zedong as playable leaders. They both have committed crimes against humanity on a continental scale, yet were acceptable to present with zany comic art. Hitler? Not a chance.
Sure, part of that is regulatory because I’m sure they want to sell the game in Germany and Austria. But even without that, doesn’t if feel appalling to have Hitler in cartoon art, quipping and cracking wise? I feel the same about Stalin and Mao. I don’t feel the same about Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan and perhaps I should.
I don’t know where things will be in 2,000 years (roughly the time since Caesar and Cleopatra), but today, the Nazis and Hitler in particular hold a special place of horror in our society.
Which brings me to Sex With Hitler 3D, which was released on Steam last week.
No Really, That’s a Game
It’s been out for a week and has 81 reviews, with a Very Positive composite score. Don’t expect a review here because I haven’t bought it nor do I plan to. The gameplay is XXX-rated and…well, it’s exactly what the title says it is.
You’re going to go look now, so I’ll wait.
I warned you.
And look, with that title, NSFW was implied.
“SEX with HITLER 3D is a visual novel for adults. Sexy girl Kate interrogates a captured Adolf Hitler, trying to find out all his secrets.”
This genre in pornography is not new. Allow me to illustrate with some strange trivia. Remember Hogan’s Heroes? After the show wrapped, the set was reused for Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS, a 70s Nazi exploitation film.
SWH3D is a visual novel, a gaming genre that is sort of a “choose your own adventure” interface. You read the story, making choices for the character. Often these games are light on text and heavy on visuals, which can range from anime to computer-generated renders to actual full-motion video, and sometimes there are other light RPG elements like a journal, inventory, phone/communicator/tablet/whatever, etc. These games span the genre from mysteries to rom-coms to science fiction to, like everything, porn.
Including Sex With Hitler 3D. It’s sort of like of like You vs. Wild only with porn. And a perpetrator of genocide and one of the most hated humans in history.
In case you’re wondering, yes, it’s called 3D because there was a 2D version that come earlier. January saw a release of a title called simply “Sex With Hitler” which described itself as “a unique blend of visual novel and top-down shooter. You will fight in the fields of World War II and meet five unique heroines, among whom you will find both friends and enemies.” Adolph looks like quite the player on the cover.
From the trailer, there is considerably less fighting in fields than rolling around in them with various buxom war maidens. Reviews were likewise positive, with comments running the usual gamut of juvenile thinking (I mean, what else would you expect)?
The 3D version seems to ditch all of this nominal combat in favor of two 3D humans in a room engaging in a variety of sex acts. Is there really more to the game? Who cares?
Ragdoll Adolph
At the other end of the spectrum – depending on how you draw it – there is a game called Fuck Hitler.
Fortunately, this is not XXX material but rather a 3D ragdoll of Hitler which you can shoot, hang, and otherwise mutilate.
The game describes itself this way: “Adolf Hitler almost 80 years after his death returns to suffer punishment for the Holocaust and his other crimes by becoming the object of torture for thousands of gamers from around the world.”
I somehow doubt that those who perished at the hands of the Nazis would view “gamers from around the world” as legitimate bearers of their vengeance. It’s a bit of cringe. I don’t even want to know what the accomplishments are called.
Another game contemporary with these is a title called Heal Adolph, released in 2021: “You are Hitler’s psychologist in 1925. Diagnose his complexes by using both Jungian and Freudian psychotherapy and attempt to heal him. Resolve Hitler’s trauma and prevent catastrophe via therapy and psychology. Succeed and avoid the war and holocaust.”
And a bit more on specifics: “You will use both Freudian and Jungian concepts to diagnose Hitler’s complexes. He comes to you with a problem – he claims he has some anger issues. You will use psychoanalytic techniques to diagnose the source of his trauma, that could be triggering his anger and hate. The game is a classic conversation game (akin to visual-novel types), and could also be considered a ‘conversational walking simulator’.”
The author states “This game is intended as a serious game. I have thoroughly researched Hitler’s history, psychological reports (Ott, Langer, Fromm, Jung) and reports by people who met him, including his close friend August Kubíček and the Hitler’s family doctor Eduard Bloch. The facts in the conversations are verified by multiple sources.”
It’s true there was wartime psychological studies done and certainly various analyses published later, so there is certainly plenty of material for a game like this. A similar game would not be possible for many other of history’s worst people.
But in this case, despite perhaps noble intentions, the inherent risk in such a game is summarized in a review posted by Steam user deathbytoast64:
“In this game you talk a guy doing a really bad Hitler impression down from genocide by being nice to him and not judging him too harshly. That’s genuinely all there is to it. There are about 3 choices that matter and as long as you don’t hurt Adolf Hitler’s feelings you stop the Holocaust.”
Indeed, how can it not inherently trivialize history? Can you imagine meeting a Holocaust survivor and saying “oh, I played this game where I clicked on treatments for Hitler and stopped him from being a bad man, it was fun”?
And the Conclusion is…Gaaah…
There’s a point on the spectrum between “purely serious historical coverage”, “reasonable extension of history”, “more outlandish extension for dramatic or science fiction purposes”, “wild wackiness that throws Nazis in”, “negligent mockery” and then there are some of these titles. They seem orthogonal to normal thought, almost a postmodern mockery of sanity.
How else would you describe Furry Hitler, a game where you “…play as Hitler, reliving some of your best and worst decisions and seeing where those lead you. Only you decide how this war will end!” And of course, you’re doing this as an anthropomorphic stuffed animal endowed with a freakishly large sex organ that other Nazi stuffed animals find irresistible.
So I guess the conclusion is that whether you want to heal him, fuck him, or just have sex with him, there’s a game out there for you…? We started with thinking about thoughtful boundaries for portraying genocidal madmen and ended with Nazi rabbits humping in fields.
As for the trivia: did you notice that Corporal Louis Lebeau (red sweater, on the right) has his fingers crossed in the Nazi salute? He was played by actor Robert Clary, and that arm he’s raising is is tattooed from his time at Buchenwald and other camps. Twelve of his immediate family members were murdered at Auschwitz and he was the only survivor.
I also enjoy using LEBs! I have an empire of little guys for VPNs, larger guys for apps, and big guys for databases and storage. When I'm not in front a screen I'm into German Shepherd dogs, quality knives, target shooting, theology, tabletop roleplaying games, and forest hiking.
I enjoy writing technical articles here on LowEndBox to help people get more out of their systems. You can find me on LowEndTalk @raindog308
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