I still can't help but feel that either most people or myself take the wrong message from MW2.
A game that has me stab a by all means "innocent" man- a soldier just following the orders of his CO- in the chest, while I watch his eyes go slack and roll, made me cring- yet made my roommate laugh out loud.
I truly believe MW2 speaks against how "cool" war is and how an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
I mention in a piece of mine the moment you get behind a helicopter-mounted turret in DC and, no matter what, you're going to cause massive amounts of damage to classic buildings and war memorials. Such a loud, violent set piece made me reflect on what led to this moment: my actions.
Not to mention within 10 minutes of the first level, it begins with US Forces bombing one of two similar looking towers, while the soldiers cheer its collapse.
That couldn't have been coincidence.
MW2 was slickly packaged because it's a blockbuster, it had to be, but I think there's a much larger brain behind that game than it's getting credit for.
Saying its just a game is like saying Apocalypse Now or First Blood are just war movies; these are social commentaries on the state of warfare and its effects on the individuals who are caught up in them. It being a game isn't the issue though. I believe that Infinity Ward is trying to say something with this game about the state of 'modern warfare' (No More Russian ring a bell for anyone?) and while I agree with retardjames that sometimes a game is just a game, the MW IP is not just another Halo or Unreal Tournament.
In response to Aaron, I believe laughter can be a coping mechanism; people frequently laugh when they don't know how to react in a social situation. Perhaps you friend doesn't know how to react, so he laughs. I also think people turn a blind eye to the obvious commentary that you do not. I also believe that more people would find MW 2 disturbing if they look past the game facade and try to understand what Infinity Ward was trying to do.
Well, you Americans do like your war movies, you do like your war games, you do like your war propaganda, and after all, you do like your wars.
As an example, Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan made me cringe, in all the wrong ways. And yes, it will ever be "too soon". Thinking about it, a more recent movie comes to mind, Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds. I really wonder if this movie has been engineered for a very specific target audience (read: Americans), which I just don't belong to. Or if this movie intentionally achieves what it does: Come across _very_ differently in the cinemas of the world - here in this country, it made people leave the theater in a state of appalled disbelief. Talking of cultural differences is no longer a matter of the people from India, China, Japan vs. the people from the western countries. Nowadays, since you kicked of your "War Against Terrorism", it seems to be very much about the people from North America vs. the people from Europe.
To blame it on (the success of) a game like MW2, or Crysis 2 for that matter, is kind of missing the point. This game is just a tiny little symptom of what makes the USA the greatest country in the world, and what makes you so "special" up and above of everybody else in the whole wide world.
No, you don't want to think about the millions of people, women, kids and elderly, who have been harmed or killed by your long history of defending freedom, or at least your way of life. Neither do you want to think about the billions of dollars that your weapons industry is making by providing the world with the necessary means to do all the harming and the killing.
So, you may indeed consider leaving it at "MW2 is just a game". If MW2 rubs you the wrong way, and makes you uncomfortable, do as I do - steer well clear of it, and don't play it. This may just be enough to contribute your little part in making this world a better place.
And please, there is really really really no social commentary at all behind the facade of Saving Private Ryan's or MW2's in-your-face action of American heroes killing people. Neither is in Brad Pitt cutting a swastika in the forehead of a POW at the end of the movie, for no other reason than just the very sake of coolness. This is just people trying really hard to earn money by doing what they do best - making movies and making games, respectively, for entertaining their paying audience.
Not to start a flamewar, but I consider it a bit ironic that a German is lecturing Americans on their love for warfare.
On the subject at hand, maybe I'm unique, in that MW2 did not bother me, and in fact, didn't grab me at all. Modern Warfare did. I was amazed at points during that game. Things stuck with me. But by the time MW2 rolled around, it felt gimmicky. I wasn't bothered by MW2, because I wasn't really emotionally involved.
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I still can't help but feel that either most people or myself take the wrong message from MW2.
A game that has me stab a by all means "innocent" man- a soldier just following the orders of his CO- in the chest, while I watch his eyes go slack and roll, made me cring- yet made my roommate laugh out loud.
I truly believe MW2 speaks against how "cool" war is and how an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
I mention in a piece of mine the moment you get behind a helicopter-mounted turret in DC and, no matter what, you're going to cause massive amounts of damage to classic buildings and war memorials. Such a loud, violent set piece made me reflect on what led to this moment: my actions.
Not to mention within 10 minutes of the first level, it begins with US Forces bombing one of two similar looking towers, while the soldiers cheer its collapse.
That couldn't have been coincidence.
MW2 was slickly packaged because it's a blockbuster, it had to be, but I think there's a much larger brain behind that game than it's getting credit for.
Modern Warfare 2 shouldn't make anybody uncomfortable. It's just a game people, not real.
Saying its just a game is like saying Apocalypse Now or First Blood are just war movies; these are social commentaries on the state of warfare and its effects on the individuals who are caught up in them. It being a game isn't the issue though. I believe that Infinity Ward is trying to say something with this game about the state of 'modern warfare' (No More Russian ring a bell for anyone?) and while I agree with retardjames that sometimes a game is just a game, the MW IP is not just another Halo or Unreal Tournament.
In response to Aaron, I believe laughter can be a coping mechanism; people frequently laugh when they don't know how to react in a social situation. Perhaps you friend doesn't know how to react, so he laughs. I also think people turn a blind eye to the obvious commentary that you do not. I also believe that more people would find MW 2 disturbing if they look past the game facade and try to understand what Infinity Ward was trying to do.
Strike another for the ludologists.
No comment from you on this, Leigh? That's why I come to your Blog after all!
Well, you Americans do like your war movies, you do like your war games, you do like your war propaganda, and after all, you do like your wars.
As an example, Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan made me cringe, in all the wrong ways. And yes, it will ever be "too soon".
Thinking about it, a more recent movie comes to mind, Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds.
I really wonder if this movie has been engineered for a very specific target audience (read: Americans), which I just don't belong to. Or if this movie intentionally achieves what it does: Come across _very_ differently in the cinemas of the world - here in this country, it made people leave the theater in a state of appalled disbelief.
Talking of cultural differences is no longer a matter of the people from India, China, Japan vs. the people from the western countries. Nowadays, since you kicked of your "War Against Terrorism", it seems to be very much about the people from North America vs. the people from Europe.
To blame it on (the success of) a game like MW2, or Crysis 2 for that matter, is kind of missing the point. This game is just a tiny little symptom of what makes the USA the greatest country in the world, and what makes you so "special" up and above of everybody else in the whole wide world.
No, you don't want to think about the millions of people, women, kids and elderly, who have been harmed or killed by your long history of defending freedom, or at least your way of life.
Neither do you want to think about the billions of dollars that your weapons industry is making by providing the world with the necessary means to do all the harming and the killing.
So, you may indeed consider leaving it at "MW2 is just a game". If MW2 rubs you the wrong way, and makes you uncomfortable, do as I do - steer well clear of it, and don't play it.
This may just be enough to contribute your little part in making this world a better place.
And please, there is really really really no social commentary at all behind the facade of Saving Private Ryan's or MW2's in-your-face action of American heroes killing people. Neither is in Brad Pitt cutting a swastika in the forehead of a POW at the end of the movie, for no other reason than just the very sake of coolness.
This is just people trying really hard to earn money by doing what they do best - making movies and making games, respectively, for entertaining their paying audience.
Not to start a flamewar, but I consider it a bit ironic that a German is lecturing Americans on their love for warfare.
On the subject at hand, maybe I'm unique, in that MW2 did not bother me, and in fact, didn't grab me at all. Modern Warfare did. I was amazed at points during that game. Things stuck with me. But by the time MW2 rolled around, it felt gimmicky. I wasn't bothered by MW2, because I wasn't really emotionally involved.
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