With Modern Warfare 2 landing within a mere few days, one question has been lingering in my mind over the past week. Is Modern Warfare 2 a piece of art? Well, let’s take a look at one of the most talked about aspects of this game.

To inform anyone who has not witnessed the infamous clip, this blog will contain spoilers. If you do not want the game ruined for you or you just don’t know anything about Modern Warfare 2 in general, please do not read the following.

As most of us are aware, Infinity Ward has decided to include a scene of intense violence in where the player gets to gun down innocent civilians in an airport. The scene has context within the story in that the player is in control of an undercover agent who happens to get thrust into a bad situation.

If anyone watched the entire clip through, you will see that this undercover agent gets killed at the end. That, to me, ruins the entire gravity of the situation. Aside from the fact that an undercover operative probably wouldn’t gun down pedestrians, there is no way to feel the repercussions of your actions if you simply kill off the player.

You never get to see this operative succumb to the evils he has indulged in or get night terrors based on the screams of the people he has ruthlessly slaughtered. Why Infinity Ward couldn’t use the same type of “walkthrough cutscene” like in COD4’s nuking scene is beyond me.



I’ve read comments on sites like Destructoid and Joystiq with people saying, “YOU KILL IN GTA, WHY IS IT BAD NOW?!” This was pointed out when one of the editors from Destructoid made a response in that GTA is comical. Yeah Rockstar may have shifted to a more realistic approach, but the game never takes itself seriously.

You also have to take into account the fact that gunning down civilians in GTA lands you a Police rating. If you go for too long, you eventually have a small army chasing you until you die. You can’t get away with murder in GTA unless it’s on a mission and those missions never task you with killing innocents.

Even that aside, Infinity Ward have claimed that they are trying to showcase the brutality of war by giving players the chance to see both sides of the story. While that possibly could work, including only one level doesn’t allow for a strong dynamic, in my mind.



Let’s take a look at 24, the TV series. In season 5, Jack has to infiltrate an airport to save civilians from a terrorist assault. At one point, the terrorist simply hauls a civilian over to the camera and guns him down on live TV.

We get the shock value effect and even something to cringe at, but we never actually see the act first hand. Jack still has to live with the horrible sight and even the feeling that he couldn’t save them, but we didn’t have to witness the actual gore.

I think this goes with the more modern look at horror. While this may possibly be off topic, look at films like SAW and Hostel. To try and illicit emotions out of the audience, the film makers figured that showing horrific gore was the only way.

What ever happened to building strong characters? When a movie, novel or game creates a dynamic to which you can attach yourself, you get extremely upset when the protagonist is killed off. It worked in Final Fantasy VII (and perhaps X-2).

Now, I don’t actually have a copy of Modern Warfare 2, but if it follows the same path that COD4 did with it’s story, then I won’t remember a single character in the game. We simply have a scene where you take the shoes of a character who, to be blunt, is just a faceless grunt.



Using a movie as an example, let’s look at A Clockwork Orange. The main character in that movie does some horrific things to people, but the movie takes the time to develop this being, both bad and good, so that you understand his dementia.

Later in the movie, the character begins to vomit when he looks into his own past. Sure the main idea was about government brainwashing and loss of humanity, but the repercussions of the unspeakable acts that the protagonist committed are made evident.

What else irks me over this airport scene in Modern Warfare 2 is the option of skipping it entirely. If Infinity Ward is trying to show a message, then why would you allow players to simply pass over the section? When watching a controversial movie in theaters, movie goers don’t have the ability to pass over intense scenes.

To me it seems like Infinity Ward wants to have their cake and eat it, too. By giving people an option, they can skip flak from activists (or maybe increase sales to younger gamers whose mother’s wouldn’t want them gunning down innocents). This, essentially, betrays the idea that Modern Warfare 2 can be art.

Art sets out to show people a specific message or make them rethink their current conventions. Call of Duty has long since become one of the most predictable franchises in gaming, so Infinity Ward probably got bored with people knowing what to expect.

Maybe I’m looking at the issue a bit too deeply. Perhaps Infinity Ward simply wants to stir up controversy to increase sales (though that makes absolutely no sense as Call of Duty is one of Activision’s top franchises).

Now, I’m not saying that I don’t support Infinity Ward for their decision to include such a ruthless scene, (I’ve often wondered why the Call of Duty franchise did not let you play a villain sooner) but I do believe they could have implemented said scene better.

Flashbacks would have worked. A Medic walking through the terror would have been amazing. Hell, an entire campaign dedicated to taking out the good guys would have even been tantalizing, even if it would have been harder to justify.