The Controversial Call of Duty: MW3 Cut Scene: What Do you Think? Is this Wrong?

!!!!SPOILERS CONTAINED IN ARTICLE AND VIDEO!!!!

Modern Warfare has always pushed the boundaries when it comes to offensive media in their games, Call of Duty MW2 brought with it the Airport Massacre and now MW3 has included the death of a family caught on camera.

Is this right or wrong? When does gaming and storytelling cross a line? are people overreacting when there is as gruesome content in TV and film?

[Yi-Long]

... or in a book!?

No.

...so it's not 'wrong' here.

[Gazondaily]

The MOST violent video game doesn't even come close the some of the most violent movies or books- The Hostel, Saw etc.

[HappyGaming]

Exactly this is perfectly normal in the entertainment business!!! And what I hate to see is things like this happening and the child walking away while everyone else dies!!! :/

[nveenio]

For something not interactive, no, it's not terrible. The only reason video games are treated more strictly is because some of it is interactive, and no one can agree on whether or not playing graphic scenes hurts the player psychologically.

[-EvoAnubis-]

I agree. Why is it that only games have this same level of scrutiny? Hell, this is NOTHING, even compared to the episode of Dexter I saw two days ago. This guy cats like there were blood and guts all over the place, with the kid's mangled corpse prominently displayed in the foreground.

If THAT'S "wrong and completely insensitive" to this guy, maybe he should stick to Viva Pinata, Super Mario Brothers, and other games that aren't clearly marked rated M.

[radphil]

Honestly I think that since video games are making more of an impact now on the entertainment series than movies, books, and music others try to hold it under scrutiny because of the ease of ability and access to this media.

Quite frankly though, the scene doesn't even come close to some of the other stuff you see in games. You even see far worse stuff on the news.

I'm more surprised that there was a damage icon for the father holding the camera. :p

[LordStig]

it's because video games are an interactive media, you can assume the role of the hate filled mob boss while in movies you can only watch and observe. It's just another form of blame MTV, because if there's something you don't like or find offensive you'll highlight these things to make your argument valid.

[Yi-Long]

... yes it's 'interactive', but shooting someone in a videogame might LOOK violent and might be a re-enactment of violence, but it never really FEELS violent. It's just a skill-based game of 'tag', so to speak. There's no personal emotion involved in the form that it's an act of 'agression'.

With movies and books however, you often DO get a personal emotion cause you can relate to characters, you don't know what to expect, it's out of your control, etc etc. It's much more common to weep and cry about a movie or a book, than it is to do so from an interactive experience.

Not that I'm saying violence in books or movies are 'bad' or 'wrong'. You just have to be a mature and responsible person and know and decide for yourself what you do and what you don't want to see.

I know there's some stuff I just don't want to expose myself to, so I just stay away from it. Very simple.

[LastDance]

that explosion looked crap

[theonlylolking]

For people who do not play games with graphics better than call of duty. Everything that happened couldnt look any more real.

[SignifiedSix]

that's because it wasn't the frostbite 2 engine ;)

[rdgneoz3]

@theonlylolking so everyone who never upgraded from a ps2, xbox, or gamecube?

[chazjamie]

a cut scene, lol. i wonder what the next mw would be: text.

[Michael-Jackson]

This is stupid if it hits the news. Like Fox news, they might be all over it in the coming days.

I've seen similar and worse stuff on free TV so I can't see why this is controversial. Oh wait it's in a videogame so it's bad...

[grailly]

I don't think it's "shocking" or anything, but I do think it's dumb and out of place. Do we see scenes like these in transformers or die hard? no, because it makes no sense to put them there.

even in war movies, and catastrophy movies we don't have these. there also is no reason to why you would see it through a camera. It's just bad story-telling...

[Prophet-Gamer]

I've seen much worse in movies, anime, and other entertainment media. This is pretty tame compared to some of those.

[brettyd]

hhahahaha wrong? that was awesome.

[Cirran]

I have never purchased a CoD game in my life...I may now.

[killershadow117]

I have seen worse on cable TV. You see NOTHING! Hell, you can make the argument that the kid is still alive since you see no body or aftermath from it. This isn't wrong at all, and if someone tries to make the argument that it's wrong because it is interactive then you are stupid. You are controlling a camera here and have no other control besides whether to look left, right, up, or down.

[Jayjayff]

previously i thought that it played somewhat like "No Russian" where you're actually the one that can make the killing (Didn't find it offensive) and was against doing it to children but yeah even thought it is use as a cheap way to get attention ( like they don't have enough anyways )i feel like they didn't cross any lines.

[SaxScrotumz]

Seems very fitting for a war game.

[FLOWCity]

That was pretty funny....Came out of nowhere.

[isntchrisl]

The author writes that he believes a video game is no place to show something like this, yet provides no reason why this is the case. Games don't even get close to the amount of violence/gore seen in film and books, yet they receive much more criticism for it.

[damnyouretall]

children love videogames, more than most things now adays. people only want to sheild their children from things. its easier to monitor movies than it is videogames. cause parents dont watch their kids play games. ever heard the shit talkin lil kids online? you know their parents aint in the room. people say "thats gone too far" "it shouldnt be in a game" well what about the million assholes that bought the m rated mw3 for their pre teen and teen kids yesterday. their to blame, not the industry

[Fylus]

I feel that sometimes these dark ways of story telling are the only ways to cause people to take notice. Personally, I havent played the game but I'm a sensitive enough person to feel a shock towards it. I find great entertainment in the emotions of loss and disparity. Don't get me wrong, this isn't the same entertainment as a funny movie. I'm not a sociopath.

Its a form of entertainment that could instill a light heart-break sensation for this family. You feel hurt for them, and that is a sort odlf entertainment in its own. For those who understand, at least.

[Fylus]

odlf= *of* typo. apologies.

[KonaBro]

I'm not going to lie, it kinda caught me off guard. It's not as bad as "No Russian", but still pretty jarring. Of course, with me being in the military, anything involving war and children kinda sets me off.

[TBM]

meh it's what they do now to try and get shock value, this is not surprising at all.

[Trenta27]

That explosion was pretty much WTF? There was all this talk about a controversial scene. I saw nothing but stupidity.

[Sidewinder-]

...It is actually quite shocking to be fair.

Though the acting was terrible.

[modesign]

a moving truck blows up in a girls face, whipty doo

[Ranich]

God bless those fucking birds!

[Wizziokid]

"What Do you Think? Is this Wrong?"

Nothing all these people who complain about this stuff need to realism it's not real, it's a game!

I have the pressing argument that, what do you think would happen to children if this happen in real life? same with 'The Walking Dead' when a child gets shot or killed (zombie girl) people complain, but what do you expect, they wan't these things to be a real as they can get it make it a much more 'closer to home' story, if this sort of thing happened in real life kids would die, they don't just disappear of the face of the earth every time there's a disaster.

I can see that people don't want to think about children dying but at the end of the day, we all die, kids are dying in africa everyday, all we can do is try and stop it, and if we fail, then we fail

[gcolley]

just unnecessary and looking for publicity

[NeloAnjelo]

Obviously this is COD trying to get some talk around this scene again like MW2.

Anyways... This happens in films and books and on TV and is given an appropriate rating as a result. The same applies to games. Most people don't realise that only 10% of games have a mature rating. The rest and Teen and Everyone.

[Pledius]

books, and movies have worst cases.

and besides, before you play single player it ASKS players if you want to see this "forbidden" content or not.

whoever saw the scene obviously said "no I won't be offended" twice since they double check on it.

so what's the problem here again?

[dragonhearts]

I thought they were gonna Make explosion or something to do with the tower in the back... but this is plain Unnecessary.

[dragonhearts]

Seems like everyone is stuck on the book and movie excuse now

[phatfreddy1978]

I've seen better explosions out of my ass after too much Mexican food.

[nolifeking]

I found it more funny that controversial. Then again, I have seen a kid get their leg eaten by a rabid granny.

[Impaler]

It would be more dramatic if they used a new graphics engine...

[overlorduk]

Poor pigeons :(

[Alcohog]

Its just fucking stupid, honestly.

[MrFunny]

Why are people moaning about this cutscene. I Mean, this isn't as bad as No Russian. If you are sensitive or scared of scenes like that don't buy games rated M for Mature or 18 if ur in the UK.