Osama Bin Laden's Compound Recreated In 'Counter Strike' Video Game

An independent developer recently made waves for designing a video game level based on Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad compound.

The developer, who calls himself Fletch, created the level as an add-on for the first-person shooter game "Counter Strike: Source."

The level is set in a compound resembling photographs of the bin Laden hideout, which last week became the site of a U.S. Navy SEALs raid resulting in bin Laden's death. Users can download the map as a backdrop for different plots within "Counter Strike."

The New York Times reported on Monday that "several thousand people" had downloaded the level.

"I can see how people would think it is in bad taste, but honestly if that's your opinion you may as well protest the whole game (as well as many others)," Fletch wrote Monday on customization site GameBanana, where you can view screenshots of the Abbottabad level map.

Last week, developers released an episode of "Kuma War II" that recreates the raid on bin Laden's hideout. Players can choose to enter the game as Navy SEALs who pursue and kill bin Laden, or as guards who defend bin Laden against the intruders. Kotaku reports that the episode doesn't truly follow the details of the raid but that the layout of the compound is fairly accurate.

Comments

[Shain Eighmey]

05:00 PM on 05/11/2011

So is it a good map?

[soulreavercain]

02:41 PM on 05/11/2011

Are you "Eluma-nated"?

[Howard53545]

05:32 AM on 05/11/2011

Murder Inc put the game together to attract new recruits.

[anthonyparker80]

02:29 PM on 05/10/2011

real news

[Highball]

01:16 PM on 05/10/2011

I hate what bin Laden did as much as anyone, but this is in bad taste. I really dislike the whole celebratory stuff going on when we're talking about killing someone -- no matter who he was.

[myrmidon568]

03:54 PM on 05/10/2011

By that logic every single video game based on any war or actual battle that took place is in bad taste. That every time somebody celebrates Memorial day or 4th of July they are in a manner celebrating the deaths of the British soldiers in the revolution, or the Germans soldiers in World War I and II.

[Highball]

04:22 PM on 05/10/2011

Personally, I would prefer we never celebrate war at all.

[iAmiir]

11:51 AM on 05/10/2011

An actual walkthrough on this map, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnQubkC42qI

[jokerdanny]

11:16 AM on 05/10/2011

i played that game 3 times, and every time i won, but when i tried to put my initials in it kept putting up G.W.B.

[Hunter]

12:59 PM on 05/10/2011

Nice to know you condone torture eventhough Rumsfeld admits it was never used.

[Kenyatta J Yamel]

11:00 AM on 05/10/2011

what took them so long?

[CapsFan1988]

10:51 AM on 05/10/2011

The only reason I think this may be a little too soon, is not because of the death of Osama being a touchy subject with some people, but because if the game developers are going to make a decent realistic version of Osama's hideout and subsequent death, they need to do more research, and wait for more details to come out! I hope they make this a level in some form of COD.

[DeathSquad]

10:49 AM on 05/10/2011

Does the level have the marijuana they were growing around the house?

[jokerdanny]

10:35 AM on 05/10/2011

yeah, you go in, you get bin laden, and then the guy who played the game for 8 years before you says he deserves the credit

[WthyrBendragon]

07:21 AM on 05/11/2011

And, that same previous player declares game over on level 3 of an 8 level game.

LOL!

[fuzzychickens]

10:13 AM on 05/10/2011

This story is a waste of time. Anyone here can download the tools for desiging levels - they are provided for free by Valve software.

There are tons of tutorials to help anyone get starting designing their own levels for many games.

Want to design a CS level where the objective is to defend or blow up the Whitehouse/Pentagon/Set of Jersey Shore? You can do it!

Levels that would be deemed offensive by someone/anyone are released everyday.

It doesn't matter one bit. Report on something that matters instead of twisting someone's source of entertainment into the something "sinister".

[guitar7masta]

02:12 PM on 05/10/2011

most people don't realize this though, so they are just playing off ppl's ignorance as usual

[Shain Eighmey]

05:00 PM on 05/11/2011

This is how I ended up with a map of Columbine downloaded from a server. People make maps of absolutely anything they want.

[gitrdone]

10:07 AM on 05/10/2011

Counter-strike is awesome, I think I'll check this out when I get the chance.

[Nick SketchCat Wilson]

10:04 AM on 05/10/2011

I can't believe how great counter-strike still is after 20 years later. Granted they got a source upgrade with Half-Life 2. I'm sure this is a user created map.

[cmcclarty]

09:55 AM on 05/10/2011

Dont we have the Delta Force anymore?

[SimonFromSydney]

07:24 PM on 05/10/2011

they're used for traffic control now.