Does terrorism have a place in video games?
Gamers are warned that the upcoming “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ may have at least one scene they find offensive.
Footage leaked from the first-person shooter, due out Nov. 10, supposedly contains a scene in which innocent people caught in a terrorist attack can be gunned down by game players. The “Call of Duty” sequel pits an anti-terrorism task force against Russian ultra-nationalists.
Publisher Activision said in a statement Wednesday the scene pertains to the ultra-nationalists taking control of an airport and is optional to the experience, meaning players can skip past that part and continue without disrupting the story. Regardless, Activision apparently has been pulling the leaked scenes from wherever it can find them.
Disturbing scenes are not new to the franchise, but Game Guy wants your opinion about something: If a game scene so sure to shock people is made optional, should it matter being in the game in the first place? And what value, if any, does optional terrorism have in a video game?
Don’t be shy, say what you think about the subject — just be clean and respectful about it.
There are plenty of movies that exploit our emotion to move the story along, so why should video games be different? The game is rated M to begin with, so even if you are over 17, if you can’t handle mature content, you should stear clear of the game and are given fair warning. COD4 toyed with our emotions by the player being abducted and killed in the first person in the opening scene and again later in the game when the player in the game is killed from the nuclear blast.
This is no different than GTA III, VC, SA, and IV where you can shoot innocent people. We’ve already had the overblown indignation from those games, we don’t need to hear it again.