Spoiler Warning:
This article discusses an infamous scene in Infinity Ward’s latest game Modern Warfare 2. If you’ve somehow managed to avoid spoilers so far and would like to continue doing so, look away now.

When a controversial scene or level is added into a videogame, we must wonder if it’s been put there in order to create some cheap publicity or to aid in the telling of the game’s story. There’s a specific scene in the latest Call of Duty title, Modern Warfare 2, which has prompted me to ask this very question. Even if you haven’t played that level (entitled ‘No Russian’) yet it’s likely that you’ll have heard some of the cacophony surrounding it as gamers and media try to grapple with its content.

For my purposes there’s no real need to discuss the actual content of the scene itself in great detail, but a quick description is necessary. Playing as an undercover CIA agent, you must get and stay close to the primary bad guy of the game, Vladimir Makarov. In the course of your mission you must accompany him and his followers as he commits a despicable terrorist act; entering an airport and opening fire with assault weapons into a crowd of civilians.

Your participation in this scene is actually optional within the game itself (you’re given a warning and the option to skip it), but even if you choose to play it you don’t have to shoot any civilians yourself. If you wish you can simply sit back with the controller and remain passive, but either way you will have to watch. Watch as people run everywhere but away from the bullets, watch as a man cradles his wounded stomach and attempts to crawl to safety and watch as a policeman gets shot in the face with a shotgun. All you do is amble along at a controlled pace, taking it all in, forced to bear witness to the horrifying actions of the big bad.

There’s a lot wrong with ‘No Russian’, but there are some things it gets right too. I’d argue that the inclusion of this kind of scene, terrible and unsettling though its content may be, is good for gaming. Infinity Ward are breaking barriers down and placing gamers into dubious moral positions. With gaming being the only true interactive art form, I think ‘No Russian’ is broadly a step in the right direction. Playing through it forces emotions from people, making them engage with the game on a whole new level. Whether it provokes outrage at what’s depicted, guilt for having pulled the trigger or revulsion at the wholesale slaughter of innocent digital people, there’s a strong emotional reaction there that other games cannot stir.

Whilst I think this is a good thing for the medium of games, it was inevitable that it would kick up controversy – particularly in a world now so shadowed by the spectre of international terrorism. I’ve seen it argued that this scene has no narrative purpose and its inclusion was likely a marketing ploy, using controversy as a tool to drive sales. I’m inclined to think ‘No Russian’ itself is integral to the plot, but integral or not it does seem that Infinity Ward have benefited from the additional word of mouth and news coverage.

If I have one big concern it’s with the children who will inevitably play through that scene. When I stood in line to buy my copy of Modern Warfare 2 (at 7:30am) not only was I surrounded by fellow adults frustrated that they had to wait in line to play it but there were plenty of school children about too. Standing with their parents, who either weren’t aware of or didn’t care about the type of game they were about to purchase, they were as eager as I was to get their hands on the game. MW2 would’ve been an 18-rated game without the inclusion of ‘No Russian’; that that level is present only adds a further edge to the adult content.

Daniel Lipscombe