Syrian Warfare

Syrian Warfare (Russian: Сирия: Русская буря) is a 2017 real-time tactics video game developed by the Russian studio Cats who Play.^[1][2] The game takes place during the Syrian Civil War from the perspective of forces loyal to the government of Bashar al-Assad.^[3]

The game is a spiritual sequel to the 2008 release Warfare by GFI Russia, where players take control of the United States Army and Marine Corps against a fictional terrorist group which was taken control of Saudi Arabia.^[4]

The player takes control of the central protagonist Anwar Amin (callsign Falcon-4), an officer in the Public Security Police stationed in a small, quiet town before the war.

To Anwar, the civil war feels distant - something only "seen on the TV screen", allowing him to take leave to visit relatives in Lebanon. Upon returning, the conflict has erupted in his home town. Rebel forces, aided by Wahid, the defected police chief of a neighbouring town, organise an attack on Anwar's police chief Wazir. Wahid had offered Wazir a change to join his side, boasting about funds, weapons and endless support from abroad (including a monologue about the government falling and potential reprisals against minorities). Wazir refuses and is killed. Anwar and the police squad organise a desperate defence of the police station, repelling VBIEDs and technicals until re-enforced by a quick reaction force of the Syrian Arab Army.

From here Anwar's squad evolves from a small police unit into a battle-hardened Syrian Army force fighting across major battlefields. Early missions begin with small-scale defence and incursions, rapidly escalating into combined-arms operations involving tanks, helicopters, strike aircraft and CQB, including depictions of real-world events. Key missions include:

• Anti insurgency operations in the suburbs of Damascus, against rebel forces backed by the United States.
• Engagements against Daesh and other Islamist groups, with missions involving supply runs, capturing enemy positions and escorting civilians and journalists.
• Conducting a combat search and rescue operation for a downed Russian pilot near the Turkish border, alongside Russian forces.
• Assisting Russian Spetsnaz units in capturing an Islamist foreign fighter from the Caucasus.
• Advance on the ancient city of Palmyra against Daesh, amidst a surrounded forward air controller team which calls in an airstrike on its own position.

Following the capture of Palmyra, Anwar is once again confronted by Wahid, stating that "enlightened and cultured" Europeans would never accept Anwar, and by extension the Assad regime, as opposed to a freedom fighter such as him. Wahid manages to escape.

Anwar's story ends with the successful capture of Palmyra, reminiscing while the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra performs an orchestral concert in the cities Roman amphitheatre.

The player takes command of the Tiger Forces, the premier special forces unit of the Syrian Arab Army. Caught off-guard by a sudden Daesh offensive against Palmyra, the unit conducts a tactical retreat towards the T-4 air base, before launching a counteroffensive to retake the city alongside Lebanese volunteers and the National Defence Forces, with the Russian Aerospace Forces providing support.

Anwar, along with his reconnaissance platoon, returns to his home town amidst an Al-Nusra offensive towards the town. The unit is assisted by the arrival of the Tiger Forces, although the latter is themselves pursued by Daesh. Anwar devises a risky plan to force Al-Nusra and Daesh into fighting each other. As a result, the offensive actions of the two groups fails, allowing loyalist forces to reclaim the town.

The game culminates in Anwar's confrontation with Wahid, at the same site where Wazir was killed years earlier. Wahid is indignant and smug, stating that his men have unlimited access to weapons, money and foreign support, which would enact bitter revenge when the new government takes power. Wahid detonates a suicide vest, killing him and injuring Anwar. For Anwar, the ending is bittersweet, revenge has been enacted and his home town is freed, but at great personal cost.

Syrian Warfare released on 21 February 2017 for Microsoft Windows on Steam.^[5][6] In 2022, the game was also released on VK Play for the CIS market. The game was localised in English, Russian, German and Chinese.

On 30 October 2017, the DLC Return to Palmyra was released, covering the 2016 ISIS Palmyra offensive and 2017 Syrian Army Palmyra offensive.^[7][8] Additional unit types such as Kamov Ka-52 and Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopters for allied forces, as well as HMMWV's, BGM-71 TOW launchers and VBIEDs for opposing forces were also added.^[9]

On 22 October 2018, the second DLC Battlefields was released, including new missions covering the Kuweires offensive and Operation Damascus Steel. The release also included a suite of tools for creating and editing missions with Steam Workshop integration.

The game was moderately positively reviewed by Sean Couture of Wargamer, comparing Syrian Warfare to titles such as World in Conflict.^[10][11] Couture states that despite some flaws in the game characteristic of similar games from the late 2000s, the result is "an alright tactical wargame" with the potential to improve. While the games Pro-Russian narrative is clearly noticeable, but acknowledges that the video game market is already full of titles that glorify American interventionism.

Syrian Warfare took ninth place in the IndieDB Indie of the Year Top 10 results.^[12]

By late 2017, 23,000 copied of the game had been sold.^[8] By 2024, over 200,000 copies had been sold, with the majority of purchases from China and Russia.^[13]

• Six Days in Fallujah

Official website