Activision’s latest Call of Duty game may be their biggest, but according to the Russians it is the most controversial. They’ve got it all wrong, here is why.
First it was the American press who got offended by the game, “how dare you kill an armed female,” they cried. Now it’s the Russians; they are review bombing the game on Metacritic and calling it ‘russophobic’.
You might also like
- Activision boss Bobby Kotick brags about Modern Warfare outselling Joker.
- Buy Call of Duty: Modern Warfare before they ban it!
I agree, that at first glance, the game may seem quite anti-Russian, but if people bothered to play it through to the end they would realise that the Modern Warfare soft-reboot is not singling out Russians as the bad guys.
Sure, Modern Warfare takes some elements of history and twists it up, after all this is a fictional game based on an alternative timeline. Most war-themed games just take the Cold War scenario and pump it full of steroids. This has been the case for the majority of Call of Duty games, but not the new Modern Warfare game. As a matter of fact, the games gives us a look at the bad guys through a modern lens.
Russian Modern Warfare ban should be lifted
Although I think Russia’s decision to outright ban the game was a bit extreme, I do understand why they are upset. It is important to understand that Russia is the greatest ally to the most moderate and western-compatible countries in the middle east. Throughout modern history, Russia defended the smaller nations who wished to remain sovereign; so the conflict between the fictional Urzikstan and Russia seemed a little strange, but. like I said, it is only a videogame.
But then again, I doubt that the Russians who are review bombing the Modern Warfare game actually played it, they probably just got outraged when they heard their favourite YouTuber talk crap about the game; after all the game is banned in Russia.
Towards the end of the game the word ‘terrorist’ loses its definition and the line between good and bad becomes severely blurred. It’s hard not too talk about this in detail without spoiling the game, but at one part you find yourself sinking to ‘terrorist’ depths and doing things that today are considered war crimes.
“We get dirty and the world says clean.
John Price
Modern Warfare is about understanding all sides and knowing that what we perceive as evil acts of terrorism may just be another countries way of preserving their culture.
There’s a moment in the game when two siblings who grew up as victims of war get torn apart because they perceive each other to be enemies simply because they have a slightly different interpretation of what terrorism really is. If two of the games protagonists can appear to be so closed minded to other people’s ideologies, then why hate Russsia for thinking they too are terrorists.
The entire point of Modern Warfare is that anyone who meddles in foreign affairs is a terrorists; the last thing Farah says literally spells that out for the gamers. Through her terrifying journey of loss and sacrifice she has learned that it’s about protecting the people at home rather than attacking others.
What about Modern Warfare in Russia? It is an amazing game. I think the Russian government should reconsider their decision on the ban because, in the end, I did not look at Russia as the bad guy. The message couldn’t have been more obvious; imperialism is the real evil… whether it is achieved through war or diplomacy.