‘Al-Qaeda Wars’ Facebook App: Offensive or Stupid?

If you’ve gone on Facebook any time in the last six months, you’ve noticed at least a half dozen people in your news feed playing Mafia Wars, the uber popular online game where players fight each other and earn money and status via committing imaginary crimes.

The massive success of this app has spawned a myriad of offshoots ranging from Vampire, Zombie, Ninja and Street Racing games, all with similar leveling and point systems, but one game has caught the attention of people more than most. That would be Al-Qaeda Wars, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Players take on the role of Al -Qaeda terrorists, and their jobs include assassinating celebrities like “Ronal Frump” and “Pest Hilton” as well as blowing up landmarks that do not have clever nicknames, like the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal and the Statue of Liberty.

People are unsure of what to decry as the most offensive part of the game, whether it’s the concept of playing as terrorists, or instead the fact that all the terrorists in the game are stereotypical cartoon versions of what we think Middle-Eastern terrorists look like. Though to be fair, this is Al-Qaeda Wars and so far we’ve only seen a handful of non-Middle-Eastern Al Qaeda agents, so I wouldn’t say the second complaint holds too much water. It’s like complaining a Latin Kings mafia game only features Latinos.

As for the protest about the game as a whole, it’s still just a game, and offensive as it may be, I think it merely serves to reflect poorly on the players who play it. If I start seeing a friend with Al-Qaeda Wars updates in their news feed, I’m going to question their sanity just a little bit. And if you’re actually Middle-Eastern and start playing? I’d expect the FBI to burst through your door in a matter of minutes.

[via CrispyGamer]