5th Column Controversy

Overview

The Issue 3 war between the 5th Column and the Council is a source of much controversy. Some believe the 5th was replaced by the Council to enable sales of the game in Europe, others say the timing of their removal was mere coincidence. Both sides of the issue have evidence to support them.

'European Law' Argument

• Issue 3 was put out right around when the game was released in Europe.
• The 5th Column enemy group was not simply replaced by the Council, they were utterly expunged from the game's history. Plaques and dialogue were changed to read as if the 5th never existed.
• After much protests, the Developers promised that the 5th column would return, but as Italian fascists, not German.

'Mere Coincidence' Argument

• There are plenty of other video games featuring Nazis that have been released in Europe.
• German law only prohibits Nazi symbolism when portrayed in a positive light, that is, used as propaganda for the actual Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei.
• The 5th Column emblem looks nothing like conventional Nazi imagery.
• The developers have explicitly denied that the 5th were removed because of European laws.
• The 5th Column appears in a number of missions in Issue 11.
• The two countries with the strictest laws are also non-English speaking ones, so the game would be translated anyway and the new versions wouldn't have had to have any references without altering the American and British copies of the game.