Modern Warfare 2 Terrorism Footage Stirs Controversy
October 31, 2009 by Homeland Security NTARC News
Filed under Featured
Terrorism footage from a leaked version of the new Call of Duty – Modern Warfare 2 video game has apparently stirred a great deal of controversey overseas.
“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ community manager Robert Bowling wasn’t kidding when he said this week might be a good time for players to look away from the Internet if they want “a spoiler free and pure ‘Modern Warfare 2′ experience.” A leaked video involving what are ostensibly terrorist operations from the game has stirred up plenty of controversy, and voices in Australia, a worldwide leader in game censorship, are on the front lines.
“Expecting game designers to be responsible by not glorifying terrorism will always lead to disappointment,” South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson said, according to The Age.
In rundown over on GamePolitics.com, several Australian sources issue grievances with the game for allowing players to presumably act as terrorists in “Modern Warfare 2,” at least one of whom expects video game content to be evaluated as a “leisure activity” instead of an entertainment medium or artform on par with films or novels.
“The consequences of terrorism are just abhorrent in our community and yet here we are with a product that’s meant to be passed off as a leisure time activity, actually promoting what most world leaders speak out publicly against,” Australian Council on Children and the Media president Jane Roberts told the Australian publication.
Tom Hoggins provides analysis of the controversial new Call Of Duty – Modern Warfare 2 game at The Telegraph.
As soon as the controversial footage of Modern Warfare 2 made it into the public eye this week, there was no doubt a sharp intake of breath from the gaming population the world over. Played from the first-person, the player apparently takes control of a terrorist gunning down innocent civilians in an indiscriminate attack on a public airport.. As he emerges from an airport elevator with his squad, the terrorists open fire on a group of travellers gathered in the baggage reclaim area.
As the footage continues, the player joins in the attack, turning his machine gun on civilians attempting to pull other injured people away from the carnage and even propelling grenades across the airport concourse.
Let’s not beat around the bush here, I’ve seen the footage and even as a lifetime gamer – supposedly ‘desensitised’ to this kind of thing – I was shocked. It was harrowing, terrifying, despicable and made me feel intensely uncomfortable just watching it. It echoes the recent Mumbai killings all too obviously.
So, here’s the big question; has this scene done its job in the way it was intended? While it will cause intense controversy and reignite the debate over video game violence, it could also be a watershed moment for video game storytelling.
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In my opinion the reason why they added this scene is to insue a very emotional response to it, to get the player enraged and wanting to fight the terrorists more.
IT’S supposed to be graphic, disturbing, and disgusting.
I agree with Clark, the scene was made to generate an emotion, hatred, disgust, for a group responsible for the deaths of innocent people. And when the player becomes the soldiers fighting the terrorists, you feel that anger. Like when September 11th 2001 occured, we wanted to strike back, so we went to war.
I find it a bold and daring move by Infinity Ward
john clark is your name… really? you would pull a name from tom clancy
Wow. What a bunch of junk. B-film territory. First of all, deep cover or not, no CIA agent would participate in the massacre like depicted in that silly scene. The idea that 4 guys could brazenly walk through an airport, murdering civilians without any competent, much less strong, response is also idiotic. Headshot, anybody? Oh, and then our idiot “deep cover” CIA agent finds out he’s the mark for a setup….jeeeezzzzz. As stupid as that scene is, it leads to an even MORE idiotic storyline: Russia invades the United States! Oh…and it was a surprise attack! Another jab at the CIA…by a bunch of storytelling clowns. Next time IW might want to hire a decent writer.
“A book cannot be moral or immoral, it can only be well or poorly written”-Oscar Wild. “It’s the same thing for videogames”-Sessler’s Soapbox, G4TV
I actually hadn’t heard about this and was completely shocked that the scene was in this game. Throughout i felt disturbed, disgusted and appalled. Not by the game designers, mind you, but simply by the actions i was witnessing. And to “Gette Realle”, that is the point the designers were trying to get across, as far as the “no agent would blah blah blah” the game puts you in the shoes of a person in deep cover having to witness horrible things in order save millions. I guarantee you that a CIA operative would not hesitate to take part in questionable acts, or even mass murder, to get close enough to not only take out Osama Bin Ladin, but his whole operation. That was the point of this mission. I think it was an incredibly bold move. There’s Art and there’s Entertainment, the difference is that Art evokes emotion, and this scene most certainly does that.
I just played the level yesterday and indeed it was a very intense level, with a very strong message. I think it wanted to not only open the eyes of viewers to what actually happens in a massacre like that. Alot of people go for the “a CIA agent like that wouldnt…” or “Russia would never invade…” lines, but that is not the point. If you had paid attention this wasn’t a normal CIA move, Shepherd the General in charge set it up, and ordered the man to take part in the massacres. About the Russians invading, it is not about the possibility of them invading right now, but the fact that this could of happen and in the future might happen. Micheal Atkinson was entirely wrong in his take on the scene, it was not meant to “glorify” terrorism but more reveal it for how horrible it really is. As for the ease of which they went through, it was a Russian airport and thus didn’t have the same security an American one does. Many people grief about Airport and Border security, but it is meant exactly to prevent this.
P.S. Did anybody feel like they were in the Fallout prequel during the DC fight, before the nukes flew?
Your question was “has this scene done its job in the way it was intended?” and the answer for me is I don’t know. As I played the level, I was disturbed by the scene because #1. the scene looks awfully real and #2. this was done through a 1st persons point of view and I had full control over the actions of the individual I was playing. I couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger on anyone in the airport. But I easily open fired on FSB officials. What the level showed me was that I won’t shoot at innocent people but I can shoot at anyone out to kill me.
I think Infinity Wards message was this: Looking through the eyes of the individual, could you pull the trigger and kill people that are unarmed and running for their lives in fear? Now if that was their message, I’m glad to say I couldn’t do it. Sadly though, a lot of people playing this game would have no problem killing innocent people, in the game or in real life for that matter.
I played this level, but I kept shooting the terroist, the devlopers should have allowed the undercover private to make a second choice and kill the terrorist instead if you try to kill them, they are like superhuman, you die right away.