"New Word Order: Basra" [NWO] is mod for the game Half-Life. It consisting of a playable map and custom textures. It reimagines the first person shooter as a digital poetry environment. The basra.zip files documents NWO, including:

* an essay (irw_baldwin.pdf)
* video documentation (basra.mov)
* and map files (in the valve folder). 

The essay and video previously appeared in the Iowa Review Web.

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Gaming is the largest demographic of new media usage, and Half-Life stands out for its combination of first-person shooter action and compelling story. It remains the most popular online multiplayer game. Every object in Half-Life is either shootable or background. What if the objects are words? How does language play into your interactions in the violent world of the game? The text in NWO is composed of phrases from "Introduction to Poetry," a short poem from former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins. The thematic violence in Collins' poem resonated through the creation of NWO in early 2003, during the second invasion of Iraq. When you enter the map you see words hanging in the air. You can jump and climb on them, you can run along the tops, you can keep playing and wandering in the space. You soon attack the words. You use the broken words as a reduced and  processed writing. Break the words, destroy the letters. NWO, along with every game and every image, is about the re-circulation of bodies and interpretive agendas.

Instructions: All the necessary files are included in the basra.zip file. You will also need Half-Life installed on your computer. Note: the mod was designed for the original Half-Life and has not been tested with Half-Life 2 or Half-Life Source. Unzip the files in the Valve directory. The basra.mov file documents the mod. The other files must be copied to the correct locations in your Half-Life directories. These directories should all be found in the Half-Life directory within the Sierra directory within your C drive, but may be elsewhere, depending on your version of Windows. Copy the .wad files to the Valve directory. Copy files in the SAVE directory to the SAVE directory in your Half-Life installation. Note: create a SAVE directory if there is not currently one in the Half-Life directory. Copy the map files into the Maps directory of your Half Life installation. To play "New Word Order: Basra," start up Half-Life. At the Main Menu, go to Load Saved Game. Select either of the saved games to load the map. Play the game.