Electronic Arts might be shamelessly copying Modern Warfare 2 with Medal of Honor: Reboot, but that doesn't mean the publisher is willing to follow Infinity Ward blindly. The company has stated that it would not have done the controversial "airport scene" found in the latest Call of Duty, saying that it went too far.
"We wouldn't have done it, we didn't do it", explains Army of Two producer Matt Turner. "For me personally I think the alarm bells went off in a big way on that one because it was out of context. When the footage got leaked thousands upon thousands of people saw it on a clip not knowing what it was.
"... It's designed to show the atrocities ... it's pretty awful and if you fail to see that side of it than you're not getting the whole picture. That being said, I thought it took it a little far; it was pretty out there. But I like seeing that they have guts like that."
The Modern Warfare 2 No Russian level is something that will doubtless be discussed for many years to come, and in that regard, Infinity Ward should be commended for creating something that can be debated so heavily. Whether the studio went too far or not, it did something that other games have no had the balls to do.
There's a lot of talk and bluster about games being "artistic." Part of art is pushing boundaries, and if you worry too much about towing the line and restricting yourself, you're not really doing much to drive games forward as a unique and compelling medium.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
2:00 PM on 12.15.2009
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Also, not following them in that particular aspect isn't a big pat on the back considering the fact they're downright copying everything else.
The airport scene just needed a toilet, then the art would be perfected. Art.
I thought after 500 "it's ok, it's not ok" blogs and 50 front page stories we'd be done with this!
The bottom line:
Movies go a million times farther than this.
MW 2 did not go far ENOUGH. The citizens were plastic.
It didn't disgust me, it didn't make me hate the bad guy anymore it kinda... failed. It was just video game violence and stupid fun. People need to lighten the fuck up.
That is something I have been wondering too. It would have increased the story value if that part was a fork of the game leading to a compulsion of the terrorist units or something.
@BlackDove: Considering that EA already had a modern warfare game (Battlefield) under their belt before CoD 4 came around, I think you might have it the other way around...
Example:
EA-Medal of Honor: Heroes 2,Medal of Honor: Airborne and Medal of Honor: Vanguard.
Infinity ward: Call of Duty MW/MW2
Be the slug and live on the edge!
@Space Moose
It's "Deep Cover" for a reason. Ask any Vice cop and they're tell you that when you're "with" dudes that kill, deal smack to kids and bomb clinics, you'll "play" along just to catch these guys later before something major(E.G. when the Gang leaders decide to move into the hit men game).
Also, the Vice was most likey being mislead by SPOILERS
General Shepherd into believing that by acting in part to this, he'll get the detail of a russian lead attack in US soil or something like that. Of couse, Makarov and Shepherd planed this whole thing about framing a american for the bloodbath at the russian airport. Our boy was just a pawn. Get over it.
The reason you can't shoot Makarov is actually a real problem. I have a buddy in the military that has actually had to go on some of the "deep undercover" missions like that. His objective was not to actually kill them, but get information.
Now the reason you can't shoot Makarov and it tells you to stay in character is actually a military rule. It would be considered treason of the highest degree if he shot him. They are not allowed to kill the "mastermind" even if it is a chance to end a large amount of suffering. It would ignore direct orders.
I understand that playing a terrorist attack is a little different than watching it, but with the cinematic experience that games are reaching for. the airport scene plays out more like a film than anything else.
Also, it's just awful and made me sick to play through about 4 times.
What is a Mirror's Edge?
I get what you are saying and I completely understand that the military really has no problem killing civilians, but running through an airport with an assault rifle and mowing down hundred of innocent people (women and children included) with little or no consequence and then letting the suspect drive away in an escape ambulance seems pretty far fetched even by military standards.
The problem with this approach is that they make Makarov seem like the biggest baddest terrorist out there.
So what you're saying is that it would be believable that the U.S. would get a secret agent to be in a room with Osama Bin Laden, and instead of offing the guy, he would try to 'get information.' When you're at the top of the chain of command like that, there is nothing more important then chopping off that head so the body will die.
I tried, but they're too deep undercover apparently. I ended up talking to a real hooker for an hour before I got arrested for curb crawling.
All of the content from the level can be justified artistically. However, Modern Warfare 2 does not do this. The narrative of the game just isn't very good. The No Russian level stands out far, far, FAR fucking above anything else in the game in terms of the emotions it elicits and the very real questions it asks of the player. It still could be justified, even in this case, but the game never really addresses it do the degree it should.
Overall, the rest of the game has some semi-heavy moments, it still very much comes off as a War game where the primary objective is to create a fun and exciting experience for the gamer. The whole sequence feels completely different and at odds with the rest of the game. They say that they wanted to show the atrocities of war? Well COD:MW2 is not a game about the atrocities of war. If nothing else, it usually just glorifies it.
To maybe put things in perspective: imagine a similar scene in your average action movie. Seriously, imagine a 3-4 minute scene of terrorists gunning down civilians in a disturbingly realistic manner. Tonally, that would never fit and it would only upset people. Not because it couldn't be justified, but because it wasn't.
@John Johnson
If Osama had intel on which enemy state (Let's say Noth Korea or Iran) had a nuke and was planning to use it in a attack. Yes. By letting him go (but hopefully on a short lease) that agent can save millions from a nuke (or a Russian lead attack on US soil).
I could waste my time ripping apart your arguments piece by piece, but it is blatantly obvious that you really have no clue what you are talking about.
It's blatantly obvious that Prototype is better then inFamous. Nice try.
In my sincere opinion, the line that shouldn't be croosed is the one you just mentioned, about 'a child being raped to show the atrocities of sexual predation'.
The only shocking thing is the care taken to make sure we never endanger American civilians in anything like the same way at any point. Even in Rio, you had people you had to watch your fire around. It's "deep" to have the player mow down Russians, but it's "too much" to show people in Suburbia or Burger Town reacting to the invasion. Way to go, Infinity Ward.