Attention Christian Science Monitor: Shut Up About Modern Warfare 2
Modern Warfare 2, no matter what you say or do, will be the biggest selling game of the year. We here at HookedGamers are psyched for it but it seems that, in the face of triumph, idiocy always has to rear its ugly head. The latest piece of absurdity comes from the blog of the Christian Science Monitor who responds to the latest trailer for Modern Warfare 2. They write:
Does the game go too far? Is it offensive?
Many on game forums are quick to point out that this is not the first time the US capital has been destroyed on-screen (remember 1997’s “Independence Day?” Little green men made kindling of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue). And with what’s coming out of the gaming industry these days (Grand Theft Auto IV, anyone?) is this any worse? Maybe not. But this is one of the first times such striking imagery has surfaced since 9/11, when the idea of widespread destruction on US soil was suddenly thrust into reality.
As Innovation blogger Amy Farnsworth wrote this summer, games based on current events are seeing something of a surge. But something tells this writer there’s something of a difference between a cartoonish Flash game where the object is to try to hit George W. Bush with a shoe, and one in which the destruction of a major US city – in near photo-realistic detail – plays a central role.
WTF?
Of course, if you haven't seen it by now and don't want to be spoiled as to a big plot point in the game then well, it's probably too late for you if you are reading this but suffice to say the idea of combating a terrorist army in a war-torn Washington D.C. should easily be one of the most exciting experiences the game will bring to us. But to compare it to 9/11?
Granted, 9/11 was a tragedy of epic proportions and that video games have yet to touch on it but for the Christian Science Monitor to compare to 9/11 to a game based primarily about a war against a resurgent Russian Ultranationalist movement kinda boggles my mind. If anything Modern Warfare 2 seems to invoke Cold War fears more than anything else, taking us back to a time in which we still feared a communist invasion. Has the writer of this blog had his head in the sand for the past eight years? I mean, I can recall many significant instances in which “widespread destruction on US soil” is seen. I don’t need to point my finger in the direction of Roland Emmerich whose disaster movies “The Day After Tomorrow” and “2012” feature the destruction of, well, the entire world in “photo-realisitic detail.” What about movies like Terminator Salvation, Children of Men, War of the Worlds, and The Day the Earth Stood Still, all of which feature the destruction of American cities in vivid detail? Need I go on?
Beyond movies, video games have featured the destruction of American cities with ever increasing amounts of detail over the past eight years, including but not limited to the following:
Freedom Fighters
Shattered Union
World in Conflict
Fallout 3
Homefront
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
Resistance 2
Need I go on? All of the above mention titles have come out within the past eight years and every one of them features an incredible amount of destruction on US soil. Modern Warfare 2 is designed not to send a message but rather be an entertaining experience that leaves the player breathless. Forgive me if I sound like an uncultured heathen, but isn’t the Christian Science Monitor supposed to denounce violence in all forms? I don’t recall them blasting the first Modern Warfare after it featured a nuclear warhead detonating in a fictional Middle Eastern city killing thousands of civilians and US Marines.
It seems that the Christian Science Monitor’s goal is to hit on every single hot topic in every medium and be none the better for it when they receive backlash. CSM, take note: regardless of what you say or do Modern Warfare 2 is going to sell five million units in its first month and probably double that before the year is out. My advice: bring someone onto your staff who is actually a gamer and knows what he/she is talking about. Maybe then you’d have someone on staff who’s actually played a video game since 1989.
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