THAT Modern Warfare 2 Scene: It IS Only A Game, Right?
My take on MW2s No Russian level.Published 11/11/2009 at 11:10 by FRUIT0FDOOM
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It is only a game right? The media will be on this like a fly on sh… well, you know. Modern Warfare 2 isn’t exactly Oscar winning in story or narrative and the airport level “No Russian” seems a little slapped on. But I have played it and wrote this to try and explain what I think the game was going for (Operative), what I “think” a sick twisted individual would be thinking (Terrorist) and what I personally felt and thought when playing the level (Gamer). Let me know what you think and how you felt.
The Operative
The lift door opens and there they are just going about their everyday lives. They are saying goodbye to love ones, and welcoming back family and friends after weeks apart. Their backs turned with no idea of the immediate danger now stepping out of elevator doors to their rear. The hesitation before pulling that trigger lasted seconds but felt like hours, guilt and duty danced a confusing dance in a ballroom populated by so many thoughts. The explosion of the first round leaving the barrel was thousands of degrees hotter than the cold heart that pumped icey blood to the finger and squeezed on this instrument of death.
Ten people had been fatally wounded before the first shell casing had hit the floor and the screams were already louder than the cannon I used indiscriminately. Each spurt of blood drowned my soul deeper and deeper into an abyss where souls are lost forever. Every bullet that left the weapon took apart of me with it on a one way trip to the town of no redemption. They told me this would save thousands of lives and that it was for the good of my country, perhaps even the world. But that doesn’t matter right here and right now when sons are being made orphans and lovers now widows.
If anyone lives to tell the story they will tell of ruthless men slaughtering innocents in a sick and twisted terrorist attack.
How would the country, the world, ever understand that I was assigned this mission to protect them? Surely even my superiors will not forgive or pardon the horrible things I am doing. Is this their fault? Can I find some little comfort in this darkness, a light that may signal this is the right thing to do? The end is here, the van doors open to reveal a tiny space where I’ll be still to think, a prisoner in my own mind. White! Everything is now white. I feel hot as if the fires of hell are reaching out to pull me to the grave that had instantly been dug with my first step off the elevator. Am I on fire?
What is happening? What have I done? Cold – so cold – help me – forgive me – what have I done? Nooooooo.
The terrorist
This is what I was born for! To make a statement and have the world see the lengths I will go to just to be heard. There they all are. Going about their miserable lives without a care for what is going on around them. Without the guts to do what needs to be done to cement their beliefs in the history of this pitiful society. Pulling this trigger will end their lives as cowards and will teach the world we are not to be fucked with!
Stop screaming you wimps or I’ll shoot your children too! Silence! Just die you pathetic people and maybe with your deaths you can serve a better purpose, perhaps I am now God, redeeming your usefulness for the greater cause. Look at them, crawling away like bugs, trying to escape the inevitable. You pitiful piece of shit, come here….there, you can’t escape fate you dogs. Ah, the van. Finally the world will now see the… uh! Suddenly cold… what is happening? It is too late… I have succeeded!
I will be made immortal in the history of these events. I WILL BE HEARD… ehhh.
The Gamer
What the hell! It’s so freakin’ dark! Pause this bitch whilst I go close the curtains. Stupid sun glare! Oh bollocks I’m out of Red Bull. Oooo the lift doors are opening. Wow look at all the people, that is quite impressive, not as many non-playables as Dead Rising but still a fair few. What the hell? I gotta walk? Fuck sake… any achievements in this level? Holy crap! I gotta kill them all? Good job this is only a game… here goes. Bam… ba ba ba bam – whoah this is quite intense!
Am I meant to feel a little guilty here? Oh damn the police are here, stupid Veteran difficulty. Ha! Your riot shields won’t stop my grenades bitches… mu ha ha haw! Oooo… a riot shield. Think I’ll just hold this shield up and hit those checkpoints. La da da dee, la da da darrr. Wahoo a van, must be the end. How the hell do I get in… you bastard! You shot mmm… oh I see. Ok… I can live with that. So what the hell was all the controversy on this all about? Lame ass media… its a freakin’ game dumb asses.
Right, lets try Spec Ops.
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
Vandix | 11/11/2009 11:20
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Nice write up Liam.
cc_star | 11/11/2009 11:23
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I thought it was poorly implemented, the fact it had a warning was probably what created the headlines.
“Warning the next scene is controversial” should have read “Here we create headlines from The Daily Mail and Fox News”
Infinity Ward could have really made you feel emotion during it by making you kill a couple of innocents in cold blood, face to face, not a generic, almost cartoony crowd, practically in the distance – that certainly would have caused healthy debate. As it was I didn’t think it was any different to a Rockstar game like State Of Emergancy or GTA.
I guess we’re going to have to wait until Heavy Rain to have an adult debate on videogame content.
nofi | 11/11/2009 11:24
Wants a custom tag.
4309 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
I disagree. It felt uncomfortable to me, despite the context of the level. Also wasn’t necessary.
MaxJCT | 11/11/2009 17:31
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I wholeheartedly agree, thoroughly depressing level. Quite frankly, I’m ashamed with IW.
moakesice | 12/11/2009 08:52
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i couldnt agree more…i was playing the level and thinking “whats this for?” if a game has an option to not play a certain level at the start, surely the question should be “do we need it in the game???”
cc_star | 11/11/2009 11:33
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Sorry, awesome write up Liam
MaxJCT | 11/11/2009 17:34
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I think it’s a lot worse than State of Emergency/ GTA, just because of the realism, (graphics and other technical aspects wise) and because it’s so plausible in this current situation the world is in.
I certainly would not want to “kill a couple of innocents in cold blood, face to face” and I wish I had skipped the whole thing now.
lewis815 | 11/11/2009 11:29
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I wasnt shocked or anything like that, although I agree it felt pretty slapped on and pointless up until the part where the police come. Seemed like walking through the airport took too long and was just for shock value, I didnt even shoot one I couldnt be bothered. Playing on veteran difficulty I relish to rare moments where i’m not been shot at!
Gastos84 | 11/11/2009 11:34
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I’ve yet to play the game so I can’t say if it has affected me or not, but I don’t like the idea of it.
I’m all for Games/Film/TV breaking taboos and pushing the envelope, when it’s done in a tasteful manner. I think it is slightly worrying that IW gave you the option to play this level. I could understand it as a method to drive the story, but again was there a need to make it playable?
My question is, did it add to the game’s experience?; i.e did it bring something to the game that wouldn’t have been possible had it not been playable?
cc_star | 11/11/2009 11:41
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I really think they backed away from it, perhaps it was Activision’s corporate influence that diluted it. If you’ve seen an episode of 24 – this was a thousand times less controversial than that (IMO)
Because it was diluted, it felt tacked on and pointless so it added nothing (other than publicity)
Gastos84 | 11/11/2009 11:46
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Which makes me think that it’s been handled in an even more insensitive way. At least with 24 and simliar programmes, these scenarios are used in such a way that drives the story forward; and 9 times out of 10 they are handled in a respectful manner.
But, like I say, I have yet to play so these are just opinons from hearing and seeing the responses of others.
3shirts | 11/11/2009 12:11
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I actually think they have shot themselves in the foot a bit. They made it so you can opt not to play that stage and because of that, they had to make it so that missing it wouldn’t affect your enjoyment of the game, understanding of the plot or things like trophies. That means that it really sticks out instead of being tightly integrated like other levels and that, in turn, makes it feel unnecessary
jonny_bolton | 12/11/2009 01:58
Chooses The Impossible
1986 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
Diluted is the exact word to describe my opinion of this level. Totally unnecessary in the sense that it provided little to the gameplay experience and to the story in general. There was no real before or after moment. You’re just given one level as Allen, then dropped into the airport to get on with it.
Still, even if the “dilution” is down to the higher ups I still can’t see how they would have made the level relevant enough to keep it in.
3shirts | 11/11/2009 11:52
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I actually decided to do this section without killing any innocents, and apart from the riot police who I suppose are innocent/the good guys in a sense, you totally can (I was on Hardened difficulty). Ok so you are still part of this massacre but the gamer DOES have the choice to do this scene but NOT kill innocent people.
BrendanCalls | 11/11/2009 12:17
Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc - YOHIMBÉ!!!
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I felt quite uncomfortable playing through the scene. I wouldn’t say that I was offended but i can definitely understand why children should not be exposed to this.
Zoddi | 11/11/2009 12:39
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I think the possibility not to shoot anyone feels strange if you are undercover and all others are shooting except you.
I think games would work without such scenes and that things were released only for creating the hype
poorwretch | 11/11/2009 15:22
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Exactly my thoughts. Thats why I shot right above their heads, with the hope I wasn’t gonna be found out by the terrorists.
shields_t | 11/11/2009 12:41
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Though I was somewhat desensitised to the idea of the scene by knowing a few weeks prior to the release of the game that it was there and what it involved, I also found that my suspension of disbelief was well and truly breached.
For a start, I never started shooting when the NPCs did, and they showed no apathy towards me for just strolling through the airport terminal while they shot it up.
But the far more glaring problem that well and truly took me out of the game was the exploding luggage trolleys. The items on the trolleys blast in all directions and all fly through the air in their own respective ways depending on their material properties, but by the time I actually walked past them, given that the player is reduced to crawling along at a snails pace until the escalator the individual items began disappearing beneath my feet, one by one, presumably in the order they hit the ground. Now surely they could have allowed these objects to be on screen for another 10 or 20 seconds just so the effect didn’t look so crappy?
TRiLoGY | 11/11/2009 12:50
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I personally didn’t have an issue with this.
I dont see the difference between shooting someone whos armed and shooting someone who is not., Its just a game. whats the difference between this and running over someone in GTA. Its rated as an 18 anyway, so if younger kids do get hold of it then its the fault of the people selling it to them and the parents etc. Just my opinion ofcourse
Doddsy | 11/11/2009 12:51
Totally Oscar Mike
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I realised I was a gamer through and through by noticing that these are pixels. Just like the pixels I shoot later in the game. The fact they were meant to be civilians was lost on me as I just shot everyone I saw.
SpikeyMikey23 | 11/11/2009 14:02
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Lol im glad im not the only 1. Its rare to be able to play as a bad guy these days so I took advantage and shot everything that moved!
Aitrus | 11/11/2009 15:01
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Sometimes it’s very healthy to cut gaming down to what it actually is: you press buttons to make pixels on your screen change colour.
BadBoyBoogie | 11/11/2009 16:30
Let There Be Rock
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I don’t have the game yet, but I guess that’s why it has an 18 rating. However, it is just a game. It’s not real life, it’s just make believe. As adults we have the choice of whether to play that particular scene or not, depending on whether we think we will be offended/affected by it.
Crazy_Del | 11/11/2009 13:29
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That scened shocked me the whole, I did not shoot anybody except riot police ( I was on Veteran) and I personally think this has gone a bit too far. I shot the terriost and they called me a traitor and killed me lol, I think that scene should have been removed IMO it was taking a bit too long at the start I realised I couldn’t because of this big badass weapon but it is meant to happen that way lol.
MuggleMind | 11/11/2009 14:02
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I actually wondered if it was added because I still remember the days when many Americans used to think there was a “commie pinko” round every corner. Maybe it was aimed at giving them a chance to take some of them out!
rht992 | 11/11/2009 16:35
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well someone pointed out Activision supported the Bush administration so they might be trying to convince players that an act of terrorism can justify warfare.
xdarkmagician | 12/11/2009 05:15
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If you knew anything about american politics you’d understand that MOST major corporations support the republican party, because they favor tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.
shrimpeh | 11/11/2009 14:35
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I found myself just shooting the tvs and other scenery as I couldn’t bring it upon myself to murder the civis.
Colinbarr66 | 11/11/2009 16:26
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I found the level quite fun. I know I was supposed to feel guilty but I didn’t until the end when one wounded guy was left and was crawling away so I left him. I didn’t think this level fitted into the game at first but thinking about it, it is a key scene, without that level the *spoiler* war between Russia and US would have never started thus ending the story. It could have been done another way but it did the job it was supposed to.
rht992 | 11/11/2009 16:34
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Seems like they are going for a shock tactic with the story telling. I’ll still give it a shot. Its not like i would skip every emotionally heavy scene in a film so why should i do that for a game?