Before I start this blog, I need you to know that, as you probably guessed, I am a gamer. I am not ignorant of what is acceptable in games, and I do play mostly violent games. I'm not a conservative middle class mother. I don't think GTA is a bad influence on society and I don't think it should be banned. However, there is SO much wrong with this mission, 'No Russian' from Modern Warfare 2 I can hardly describe. I've watched gory and disturbing films, and yet this was hard to watch to the end.
Through Charlie Brooker's Twitter I saw this had been leaked onto the net, just like most of the game. I had also known already that the second instalment of Infinity Ward's 'FPS for Dummies... In a Modern War Theatre' series gets darker than the first, but I had no idea it went this far, and it doesn't surprise me now that even Brooker himself found it nasty.
Call of Duty for a while now has been attempting to show the 'brutality of war' in their games. Like any sane person, I hated CoD: WaW, but I genuinely though they pulled off the harshness quite well, such as shooting surrendering Japanese soldiers were they stood. This wasn't nice at all, but you realise this is part of the nasty experience and you put it to the back of your mind. These were soldiers, they would kill you if they had the chance. It becomes a somewhat different when they're innocents that you're madly mowing down as if they were trying to blow YOUR head off. This is only comparable, I think, to Splinter Cell: Double Agent, when you have the choice to kill thousands of innocents on a boat to gain the trust of the enemies you're working undercover with. However this isn't shown to your face as you simply push a detonator. Modern Warfare 2's shoving-down-your-throat of a brutal slaughtering in an airport, on the other hand, is downright sick.
For goodness' sake Infinity Ward, do you know who your games appeal to? I'll tell you, you fucking morons, 12 year old kids. CAAWWLL OF DOOOTY is a mindless FPS where you run, aim and shoot. Endlessly. With no depth. So it seems they've had to put it some massive shock factor to keep some actually interesting storyline in the game. Yeah, no agrees with me, so what. I'm happy enough to believe I'm the only sane gamer out there. Because of how simple the game is, it appeals to the younger, idiotic generation of gamers that infest Xbox Live, and so they'll be the ones so eagerly anticipating the second Modern Warfare, and damn it they will play it. And they'll play this mission, where you casually stroll into an airport and empty endless rounds on literally hundreds of screaming, terrified civilians, who you mercilessly finish off when they try to crawl to safety. And they'll probably think it's really cool. Do I sound like an overprotective mother? Yes, I suppose I do; they're actually right this time.
I imagine a criticism I'm going to face is, 'it's only a game'. Yes, thankyou, I can see that. You know what? People like games. People pay attention to games. As such, generally speaking even the most violent of games usually have boundaries which they won't cross. You can shotgun and enemy to bits or shove your boot through its skull, but only because it would do the same to you. And yes, this isn't real, and these people you massacre don't actually have husbands and wives and kids and lifestyles, but this is the most realistic simulation of pure modern sadism I've seen. It disgusts me.
No doubt with the death of a few hundreds civilians, GTA comes to mind. But there is a difference, at least I think. In GTA, you're given the FREEDOM to kill the innocent bystanders, but you face the consequences of having the police after you, and you might even get killed yourself. This, however, TELLS YOU to do so. It's your OBJECTIVE, and there's only one bit where you can get killed by the Counter-Terrorist forces. You might as well be telling these kids, 'THIS IS OK, AS LONG AS YOU'RE A TERRORIST.' Also in GTA, there's a certain comedy factor to the whole game, such as the stupid screams they make, or in the older games how their heads pop like balloons. You play this, and try to see it as a joke.
So this is what gaming has come to. Extreme, shocking violence to those who don't deserve it, shown in the most graphic and realistic way possible, as if it is realising a sick and twisted fantasy of the game's developers. No doubt due to the game's inevitable success, other developers will jump on the bandwagon as well in later years. Fuck you, Infinity Ward, and I hope your overrated piece of over-the-top shit gets banned.
Wanna watch it? Enjoy...
EDIT: I would just like to add that Infinity Ward had the nerve to release this the day before Remembrance Day. If this is their idea of honouring the glorious dead, they should join them.
