Wolfenstein II, a video game set in an alternate, Nazi-ruled 1960s America, has severely pissed off the white nationalist alt-right, and it’s not even out yet. After seeing the trailer, racists have decried the game as “anti-White propaganda” with “Black Lives Matter overtones.” Well, wait until they get a load of this scene, shared on Twitter by Polygon’s Nick Robinson:
this "so much for the tolerant left" convo between two Nazi guards in Wolfenstein 2 is my favorite video game thing i've seen a long time pic.twitter.com/SUy3WXA5eM
— Nick Robinson (@Babylonian) July 27, 2017
Robinson describes the conversation, which the player can overhear before stealthily executing two Nazi guards, as a “‘so much for the tolerant left’ convo.” He’s referring to a meme where various flavors of bigots, when called out on their bigotry, accuse critics of being “intolerant.” The Nazis in this scene deliver a blatant parody of this ubiquitous part of 2017’s internet political discourse.
“How can they promote violence toward us just because we have a different point of view?” wonders one of the characters, an actual Nazi. In a society where many people believe calling someone “racist” is worse than actually being racist, this is trenchant stuff.
Robinson calls it “my favorite video game thing I’ve seen in a long time.”
The replies to him, from people who didn’t find the dialogue particularly funny, add another layer of entertainment. There’s some irony being missed, here.
https://twitter.com/vromnc/status/890634307877785600
https://twitter.com/based_aqua/status/890675191579238401
It's fun to do violent acts against racist national socialists, isn't it?
— Joe Palmer (@gojoepalmer) July 27, 2017
Yes people justifying violence by calling random victims nazi's is so cool:D punching and running away gives SUCH a thrill! #Resist
— LuFalcon (@LuFalcony) July 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/agentbluebarrry/status/890963835149983744
This might be the most divisive scene in the game, though. Its developers told The Verge it was meant to be “timeless,” not a commentary on current U.S. politics. Still, said creative director Jens Matthies, “Every once in a while, you can’t resist slipping a joke or two about the state of the world.”