Warning, MW3 spoilers below.
Modern Warfare 2 baited the tabloids with the infamous No Russian scene, but this year’s game takes things a little further. Too far?
Don’t watch if you’re easily offended, and also want to avoid any spoilers. We’re assuming this will sit behind a similar question to the one that skipped over the scene in MW2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhhpeLUyjbQ
The section involves a terrorist attack on London, an exploding van and the release of toxic gas. And, in dramatic fashion, the death of a family.
Update: the video has been removed by Activision
Update: There’s another video but expect Activision to have this one removed soon too.
UKZ-N3M1515
Doesn’t bother me.
Could this happen in war? Yes.
Is this a war game? Yes.
In GTA can you kill civillians? I beleive so. Where is the uproar for that game?
teflon
The uproar for GTA pops up whenever it’s being released.
Forrest_01
In fairness, someone somewhere probably has been speculating since the release of the trailer that GTA5 will now let you murder dogs because they are in the game.
UKZ-N3M1515
I more meant from the gamers themselves, the papers will bitch about any game. But GTA is massively supported with little complaint about the violent nature of it by gaers themselves. Sorry if i wasn’t clear.
stonyk
This is quite funny really…I’m sure there wasn’t this much outrage when Limbo came out. Just think how many horrible and well animated deaths that poor little boy had to go through….Surprised they didn’t ban that one :-)
nemesisND1derboy
As always, there is a tasteful way to do things. Limbo is a completely different style of game with a different setting and, as a game, there has to be some threat for the character.
This scene is completely out of context and in there for no other reason than to cause some controversy and press.
Totally different situation.
C_S15
It’s not out of context. It’s a terrorist attack in the middle of a tourist-centric area, there will be children there as well as adults, the elderly, animals and they would all be killed if such an attack were to occur in London at that point.
nemesisND1derboy
It is out of context though. These are random people that aren’t part of the story (from what I can see) that are just being murdered for shock value, and one of them is kid. There is no emotional connection there, it’s simply in the game to shock people who are seeing it and get cheap press.
Smallville2106
How can you tell if it is out of context or not? It’s a 1 minute clip of a game you haven’t played yet.
colmshan1990
Of course it’s out of context of the plot.
Unless the British army has suddenly started recruiting children, that is.
C_S15
The only context you need is that there is a terrorist attack on London happening. That’s all you need. I don’t know about you, but I have an emotional attachment to children naturally. Why? Maybe in-part, because I work with children, but mostly because I’m a human being that gives a shit. She’s a child, you should care if one dies.
“that are just being murdered for shock value”
So are we not allowed to feel shock as an emotion in video games? Terrorists do not give a fuck who they kill and this scene highlights that perfectly.
“it’s simply in the game to shock people who are seeing it and get cheap press.”
Again, rubbish. It’s in the game to shock people and evoke an emotional reaction. Which a lot of the people complaining about it have just done. So it’s done it’s job of making you feel uneasy, perfectly.
Kennykazey
Why do they feel the need to do this? It’s not like the game is in dire need of more media coverage and it will only help put CoD in a worse light.
Smallville2106
They do stuff like this because it gets sites like this and people like us debating about it. There’s no such thing as bad publicity.
BIGAL-1992
This is sadly, one of several reasons i’m not buying the game. This scene just looks and sounds like headline baiting to me. Call me cynical if you want, but i’ve seen worse then this in films and tv series.
C_S15
It’s designed to give you the emotion of being shocked. So if you’re one of those people looking at it thinking “oh my god…”, guess who it worked on. Nobody /likes/ to see a child get murdered, but it happens, unfortunately. I highly doubt that terrorists give a shit if they hurt children anymore than if they hurt adults so why wouldn’t a child get murdered here?
nofi
Video removed, post updated.
Death_In_Flamez
I don’t understand why everyone is up in arms about this and in fact No Russian. This game tells a story, as did MW2, and these things are powerful. I checked, you do not have to kill a single civilian in No Russian, only police, so if your not in the mood to go with the story and play a spy desperate for information that option us available. Is watching this family die any worse than the Dead Island trailer? You will probably say but this is realistic! Well, to an extent yes but again this is just a story. This isn’t real time events….For BF3 campaign players, you know in the mission Comrades something MUCH worse happens than this. The only difference story-wise is you see the personal level of death. One of the most powerful tools in story telling, edging you on to kill whoever did this even more. Try and argue against that
ScottyB
Correct me if im wrong but, I didn’t think retail games were allowed to show the killing of kids?
colmshan1990
I think it’s just they’re scared to- see Rockstar, who say repeatedly, that there will never, ever be kids in GTA.
E8_BALL_
It’s a fps, your shooting, stabbing & blowing people up, normally russians. One scence offensive lmao. (all US propaganda, at the end of the day.)
E8_BALL_
I take offence, at a country considering to nuke another country, or massacring a select group.
On a gaming level, bf3s’ take on “no russian” in the menu, is offensive.