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Mission 8 - Design & Production Notes
Iran Hostage Rescue Mission Part 2

Re-creating the Pentagon's blueprint for rescuing 53 hostages from the American embassy in Tehran was just as multi-layered as the original plan itself. There were three distinct phases - each reflected in a separate Kuma\War mission. Phase I: Entering Teheran and storming the embassy. Phase II: Moving the hostages under heavy fire to the LZ and getting them onto helos. Phase III: Getting your own forces out of the Iranian capital - anyway you can.

Hostages
Like innocent civilians in previous Kuma\War missions, the hostages are a vulnerable third party. But unlike anything you've played here before, the hostages become enemy targets once they are free. Instead of just not accidentally shooting them, you're going to have to protect them from enemy fire. There is an interesting AI component to adding in something like a guarded hostage. If a hostage and an enemy are in the same room, you want to make sure the "student" doesn't just swing around and execute him at the first indication of approaching opposition. But once the hostage is free, you do want to make him a potential target. This was a new component to work into the simulation engine and reflects the challenges of hostage rescue. You have to separate the good guys from the bad guys, act quickly in order to protect non-combatants, and provide security while you move to safety.

Your greatest challenge is going to be keeping the hostages alive. Once you rescue them, they head to a safe zone, but they are vulnerable until they get there. Their safety, not yours, is the primary mission. Like the Delta Force, you'll need to be ready to sacrifice your life and the lives of your team to protect the innocents.

The 70s look
To recreate the look and feel of Iran 25 years ago, we relied heavily on news sources, firsthand accounts, and military experts. We verified as much as possible by asking many detailed questions of men such as Antonio Mendez, former CIA officer and exfiltration expert.

The enemy this time around is well-documented in historical photographs, so recreating the students' attire was easy. The hostages were paraded in front of cameras frequently as well. But the Delta Force operators were a whole different story. They rarely speak of their exploits, even to this day, so getting the detail we require - even pertaining to something as basic as what they were wearing - is extremely difficult. We took our best guess from what information we were able to gather, taking off their helmets and giving them a less formal look (including blue jeans) that is unlike military uniforms we've used in the past.

Double-Tap
There are no grenades in this mission. The Delta Force probably would not have had them, and if they did, they wouldn't have used them. They wouldn't have run the risk of accidentally taking out an American hostage. As a gamer, you're used to using grenades to clear. But this time around, you'll need to get used to "double-tapping," the technique Delta Operators practiced to perfection.

"Den of Spies"
The US embassy in Teheran is a 25-acre compound with numerous residences, utility buildings, and other structures. (Nowadays, the embassy has been repurposed as a museum detailing the misdeeds of the United States, aka "The Great Satan.") Many of these building are familiar to oldsters who would have seen them on the nightly news, generally with crowds of agitated students milling about in front. For game purposes, we've compressed the space but have kept key buildings where hostage were thought to have been held, as well as those which presented key tactical challenges or historical reference points. Working through the besieged American embassy is the most time you will spend in an interior space of all Kuma\War missions thus far.