Going Dark, Call of Duty : Modern Warfare is Bleak
spoilers for Call of Duty : Modern Warfare
(I should also preface this with Call of Duty Modern Warfare at one point briefly mentions the Highway of Hell, an important part of the Gulf War and a tragic event/possible war crime committed by US led forces that’s suspected of killing a lot of civilians and refugees as well as surrendering Iraqi forces but blames it on Russia, and yes it’s a fictional game, but I find that a move in incredibly bad taste and would not blame anyone for not spending money on this game.)
Video games always talk about how they’re going to make you think, or feel, about your in-game actions. RPGs are usually the culprit, though also usually the only ones that occasionally get it right, it just never clicks for me. The choice between the good side or the bad side never had consequences that mattered to me in games like Knights of The Old Republic, or Mass Effect, of course I’d prefer my John Shepard be a good guy, but it never quite mattered either way.
In the lead up to the 2019 E3, Call of Duty development team Infinity Ward really started hammering the fact that you will think about your finger trigger, who you’re shooting and why during Modern Warfare’s Campaign. I thought that was some heavy promises from a Call of Duty team, Call of Duty has never made me think about shooting, it’s just been a mechanic, how could this year be different? Stand out missions like Piccadilly, a London terrorist attack that I think was purposefully reminiscent of the 2015 Paris attacks, Clean House and Hometown help force that feeling in a unique way.
Piccadilly’s mission structure is no different than any other Call of Duty standard mission, it’s linear, it’s a rail gun shooter in a sense. But it is different, the busy streets of this part of London have plenty of civilians, and as Sgt Kyle Garrick of the SAS, you watch a lot of them get shot while you are trying to stop the attack. And maybe you accidentally shoot some too, because you can, and the game supposedly knows if it was an accident and won’t fail state you (I didn’t test this, but in later parts of the game it did fail state me for accidental friendly fire or civilian deaths). Maybe it was just me, I know these weren’t real people of course, but I was more careful with my trigger after I realized I shot one.
Piccadilly sets up that civilians are the casualties of war, the fifth mission Clean House sets up something entirely different. Clean House takes place in a London town house that a terrorist safe house. You are once again Sgt Kyle Garrick (He might be one of the best characters in the game, but that will be hard to argue since Captain Price returns in peak male body form, that mustache though), following Captain Price through the town house, clearing room by room, room one has a women being hold at gun point, you shoot the man holding her hostage and she reaches for the gun to fire at you. This mission didn’t sit well because it gets worse from here, almost too gritty for it’s own good. Room two has a woman holding a crying baby, there are other civilians in the house too, and also other terrorist hiding under their bed.
Hometown is possibly the most unique Call of Duty experience I’ve ever played, but needs some background first. Hometown is centered around Farah, the rebellion leader of Urzikstan (a fictional Middle Eastern country that’s story seemingly mirrored that of Syria’s), except Hometown takes place 20 years before the events of the game, you play as Farah as a child. You are child Farah watching Russia invade her home, watching Russian troops kill Urzikstanian civilians, using a gas mask to avoid the chemical weapons being used. Hometown gives you a fictionalized take on the worst part of war, the view from a child.
Call of Duty made me think, and feel in a sense, ways it never has before. Modern Warfare upped the game in a way 2020’s game probably won’t and that’s the burden of three teams working on different games for the same series. It made me uneasy, and I hope video games in general stop using the the West’ monster of the week as the enemies, if you can write a fictional victim country, you can probably write a fictional invader as well, and maybe stop erasing or shifting American war crimes. I’m now off to play Luigi’s Mansion and hopefully it also doesn’t use the cheap tactic of children for shock and awe.
