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Modern Warfare 2′s “No Russian” seems… Unnecessary?

November 11th, 2009 at 3:56 pm · 166 Comments

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modern_warfare_2_no_russian

I don’t know what to think about the controversial level of Modern Warfare 2 called “No Russian.” On one hand, it’s obviously grotesque, but on the other, it’s supposed to be a narrative tool to show just how villainous the game’s “Big Bad” really is.

Me? I just think its Infinity Ward attempting to be “shocking” and trying to one up their nuke blast death scene from Call of Duty 4. Why? because of how absolutely unnecessary the whole scene is.

The video of the scene for reference and a little discussion, after the jump.

Ok, just so we’re all on the same page, now that the game is out, here’s the controversial scene. Skip ahead to about the 1:40 mark.

[Warning: Very graphic and NSFW.]

Really? WTF was that all about? I honestly felt a little sick while I was “playing” that scene.  I consciously decided to not shoot anybody for two reasons. First, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Second, I wanted to see if the villain, Vladimir Makarov would notice that I was not participating in the carnage. My guess was that the whole thing was scripted and that the character wouldn’t react.

Unfortunately, I was right. There is no mention of my lack of participation by the villain. As the scene plays out, you’re eventually tasked with killing every FSB agent in your way as you make your escape.

After playing the scene, I couldn’t help but think: Was that necessary? Couldn’t there have been a half of a billion ways to show that Makarov was a bad guy within the game’s narrative, other than playing out a first person terrorist attack?

The scene’s lack of necessity is underscored by the initial warning you get when turning the game on that allows you to completely skip the scene. Furthermore, you get no Achievement or trophy for completing it. Why? Because it’s  unnecessary.  This further entrenches my belief that it was made just to “shock” rather than push the game forward.

Even if you’re staunchly in IW’s corner on this and you believe that video games need this to push the medium forward or whatever other argument you have for artistic integrity, or other convenient comparison to GTA IV you throw out, I really can’t see a reason for a scene like this to exist in a video game.

Is there an entertainment value in it? I think that is the REAL question. Modern Warfare 2 is ENTERTAINMENT. It’s not a meditation on the modern soldier, or a fucking dissertation on world politics.  It’s an excuse to shoot a gun. It’s an excuse to “play Army” and tweak that part of your brain that enjoys video gaming. When do we get to the point where there’s entertainment value in playing as a suicide bomber that goes into a market place and detonates his bomb?

How bout flying a jumbo jet into a skyscraper?

What are your thoughts on the scene?




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  3. Is Modern Warfare 2 such a must-have game without competitive multiplayer?
  4. Making a Mountain out of a Modern Warfare Molehill
  5. Modern Warfare 2 Single Player video leaked!!!

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Categories: Editorial

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  • http://www.brutalgamer.com moosehound

    Oh dear. Why when Lono posts these DISCUSSIONS to be take it as a free-for-all bash at why they think Lono sucks.?

    The point is pertinent. MW2 would of been just as good without that scene. How about your characters walks in to the aftermath of the slaughter rather than walk through it and participate? You still see the horrors of the Markarov character but your participation is not needed.

    I can fully appreciate what IW wanted to do with this scene and similar sequences have been used in movies and tv BUT IW dropped the ball on it. They disappeared a little bit too far up their own arse and just bungled it. There are scores of ways this could of been better portrayed. Flashbacks, split second stills, a black screen with screams and gun clicking off. You can convey the “emotion” of a scene without resulting to visceral stimuation of that nature.

    I will NEVER play that scene again, ever. I walked through, not firing a shot, as I needed to appreciate what this scene had to offer. Please anyone who has NOT played the game just don’t comment until you do. Watching the bloody YouTube video is not as relevant; you have no context. If the sequence lent weight to the situation or was contextually relevant I would be saying so and my opinion would be swayed by that fact.

    I want my game developers to push boundaries I want my content to make me think and induce emotional responses from me just please let’s not have such a ham fisted attempt again.

    MW 2 is a great game – the campaign is entertaining if completely bat-shit crazy and this Airport controversy is getting wearing. My suggestion? just skip the damn sequence, the game will be better for it.

    Moose, brutalgamer.com

    • Timewarp

      yeah but it’s not your choice to make, i edmit it was kinda nasty to see a group of innocent people being mowed down but the way i see it it’s not real people, it’s pixels! PIXELS! This is game not real life, in GTA IV do you feel sorry and start crying every time you “accidently” run someone over, in fallout 3 did you blow up megatron and cry when you saw the ruins. No! So why is this any differant, the context that this was shown in was not only did macrovic trick allen into thinking he was safe but he forced allen into parcipitating in acts of violence against people whom had done nothing wrong before killing allen himself, the idea was could you do something morally wrong to keep your cover? Could you watch as a horriable man brutally gunned down people? Of course some people can’t take this so they gave the option to skip.

      • Kraaft

        Timewarp, you’re both desensitized and uneducated. (uneducated for the run-ons, misspelling “admit”, and an unconvincing way of writing in a way that is supposed to be convincing. ie. PIXELS!) I don’t play GTA, but I’m pretty sure no city is plagued with someone consistently getting away with numerous hit-and-runs day in and day out. Real life doesn’t have anything called “megatron”. We have had terrorist attacks much like was shown in MW2, and it wasn’t “fun”. I dare you, actually, to say you found it fun. I played that level too, but I will never play it again. As soon as it ended, I had to go for a walk! I understand what you’re saying, but I do not want to be the guy that contributes to that type of heart-wrenchingly realistic carnage. Plus… you just get murdered at the end anyways. Totally unnecessary.

      • Ben

        nicely said

      • Anonymous

        @kraaft
        “We have had terrorist attacks much like was shown in MW2, and it wasn’t “fun”.”

        We have wars much like they’re shown in any war game published to date, are you telling me no wargame ever made was fun?
        Or is it just that you’ve become desensitized to that? ;)

    • Ben

      if you dont like it, dont buy a shooter?

    • Carnack

      Okay here is my take.

      I didn’t get broken up over this for one reason.

      It’s fake.

      Yes it happens all over the world but in the game it is fake.

      Was it fun to play?

      Not really. I play shooters because I want to kill bad guys (or good guys as I like being the antihero sometimes).
      Wiping out a bunch of innocent people who can do nothing to retaliate is not fun.
      In real life it’s tragic.
      In the game world not so much.

      However the “smoking gun” here is the option to skip and lack of an acheivment/trophy.
      This shows that the piece doesn’t belong. It’s on rails so failing isn’t to likely.
      The challenge isn’t there nor is there a reward. It’s pointless. THAT I have a problem with.

  • http://sdeming.blogspot.com Seth

    Well, I gotta be honest here. This game just came in the mail for me via Amazon.

    During the third mission you’re put in the role as a undercover agent who goes along with a group of thugs during a terrorist mission. Now, the game gives you the option to skip this mission, but oh my God. I felt like I was playing Columbine the video game.

    Seriously, you walk into a public area as people are shopping, and eating and waiting in lines. The terrorists show their guns and there’s this moment of scilence as the crowd realizes they’re about to, well, die. And then you watch (you can actually shoot at the civilians) as these terrorists unload on the helpless crowd. I started feeling physically sick when the game told me to ‘fire a grenade launcher’ into a group of cops behind riot shields. Less than a minute into this, there are bodies everywhere, some people are trying to craw away while bleeding to death. I watched one NPC (non playable character) convulsing while holding on to his femoral artery.

    Now, I’ve played a lot of violent video games in my time. But this one takes the cake. This was the very first time I played a game that puts you in the role of a “Seung-Hui Cho” or more recently, as a “Major Nidal Malik Hasan”. The creators of Modern Warfare were very aware that this chapter in the game would be reminiscent of our countries most recent shootings. It’s tragedy porn.

  • Shaxster

    Having spoken of how the video made me feel sick, I went to school the next day, to hear my friends laughing about how fun it was to kill the civilians. I found this shocking, and I think that people like these can’t empathise or sympathise with the victims of these horrible attacks. I now know why this game is an M, my immature 14 year old friends do not understand how wrong it is, even when I attempt to explain, and I am ridiculed for not wanting to play it. Normally I am against age ratings, and completely disagree with the fact that games desensitise you to violence, but I was wrong. I have realised that if you are not Mature you shouldn’t be playing these games, and I think you could stick some of my friends in the Workd Trade Centres and they would come out laughing. What I am trying to say is that people like these give all gamers a bad reputation, and shouldn’t be allowed to play the game, in case they do something like this in real life. Now before you comment, I am also their age, but I am more mature than them, which is proven by the fact that I felt physically sick just watching that video, and if I get the game I will not play No Russian. I am here to stand up for child gamers and say that we are not all that bad.

  • Wyxor

    Ye it sarks.

    Bye.

  • Simon Jones

    The scene was supposed to be sickening. The US has, throughout history, engaged in some horrible things that were rationalized because the result of inaction would be even more terrifying. And having a war waged against us under false pretenses, even a fictional one in a video game, ought to give us just the faintest appreciation of why some countries view us the way they do.

    War takes a toll, both physical and spiritual, on its participants. Modern Warfare 2 cannot inflict physical pain on players, but it can take a little bit of our souls. And I applaud Infinity Ward for having the courage to do that.

    • Timewarp

      well it’s why i view america the way i do. All the americans i’ve ever met are rude (in real life not on the internet) and the thought of george bush staging 9/11 to justify the war in iraq as insane as it may sound does seem like something they would do.

      • http://www.sarcasticgamer.com Lono

        Idiot Confirmed.

      • Ric

        It’s the opposite with me. I’ve met nice Americans in person, but rude (not to mention racist) ones on the Internet.

        Oh, and to Lono: Aren’t you kind of confirming what he’s saying?

      • NoobToobHero

        have you ever been to america
        honestly, just asking

  • WarGamer

    In my opinion, the worst part about this is that YOU are expected to take part in the violence. Lots of people are talking about how this spins the whole plot into place, but like moosehound said, IW could have displayed the attack in less disgusting ways. To see the aftermath of the attack would be hit hard and get the point across. They don’t have to ask you to pick up your gun and kill the innocents. You don’t HAVE to kill innocents in Fallout 3. You don’t HAVE to kill innocents in GTAIV. Both of these games give you that option, but it’s really your choice. Technically, you don’t have to kill them in MW2. But it more or less asks you to. I think if the company behind a game has a scene that they KNOW is so disturbing and gruesome that they make it so you can skip it, the game would be better off without it.

    • Timewarp

      you DON’T have to play this level so your point is invalid. They let you skip the entire level and if you choice not to not knowing then just get someone else to play it.

    • Simon Jones

      The scene reinforces the notion of sacrifice for one’s country… which is that you must set aside your own *choice*. The player is put in a position of not only abandoning his personal safety, but his morality as well in service to his country. That is exactly what war is… every soldier is told to break the First Commandment. “No Russian” not only fills us with disgust at the loss of innocent lives, but compassion for the soldier tasked with taking those lives. Try as hard as we may, there will always be civilian casualties in any struggle (and to their family and loved ones, knowing that we “tried our hardest” is little consolation). We the players are given only the briefest taste of what real soldiers face… and already, most of us barely have the constitution to stomach it.

      Common criticisms leveled against war-based first person shooters are that they make a mockery of war, that they make brutality easy to swallow (even fun), that they present an event of incredible moral complexity with one-dimensional shallowness. In all honesty, those are fair statements to make of most FPS games. MW2 is trying to rise above and beyond that. I could only wish that others would do the same… not necessarily to match the brutality per se, but to present to the player the true moral dimensions of warfare.

      • http://www.sarcasticgamer.com Lono

        I think the biggest mockery is the total lack of any logic that sets up the scene itself. IW throws any rational thought and presupposes that IF a CIA agent had infiltrated a terrorist organization, it would allow such an act of terrorism to take place which, despite some of the dumbass comments above, just would not happen.

        The real trick is how IW insults the collective intelligence of the gamers playing the scene.

      • Simon Jones

        *Spoiler warning*

        –>IW throws any rational thought and presupposes that IF a CIA agent had infiltrated a terrorist organization, it would allow such an act of terrorism to take place

        That in itself requires the supposition that the CIA wouldn’t do such a thing. I can’t prove a negative. But what we do know is that the real-life CIA has been involved in weapons deals which supplied militants who were considered terrorists in their own country with advanced US weaponry, and even fought alongside them. The CIA has also been instrumental in placing dictators into power who later turned out to be despots, murdering thousands or maybe even millions of their own people, and were allowed to continue because it behooved our own agendas. That’s only the stuff we *know* happened.

        Within the context of the game itself, Sanderson may never been actually in the employ of the CIA. It’s certainly possible that the entire thing was arranged by Shephard.

        But both of those things aside, the whole crux of the story is based around the logical extremes of “patriotism”, those who serve “ideology” rather than “people,” those who would do everything to “win,” those who would weigh the outcomes by potential lives lost. There are people who think like a General Shephard, make no mistake. Do we have enough checks and balances in the system? We hope so, but as Captain Price said, history is filled with liars.

  • jeosen

    In my opinion it is the most necessary scene in this game because every war needs a strong reason in order to start. The major situation tha ? understand in this scenerio is this war is the result of the generals plans. he hired Makarov . he assingned a agent to him and he wanted to kill everyone in the airplane and the agent too. by the way when the agent is found the thing that american did that .

  • Timewarp

    @lono

    self rightous asswhole confirmed. That’s why people say what they say to you becasue they start off being nice and you treat others like crap and if you don’t like it then you can just suck it.

    Why is it so important to you that everyone shares the same opioun as you

    • http://www.sarcasticgamer.com Lono

      Rather than argue with you, which serves no real purpose, because most of what you post in the comments section is just crazy talk anyway, I’ll just use one of your own comments as an example of your profound insanity:

      “All the americans i’ve ever met are rude (in real life not on the internet) and the thought of george bush staging 9/11 to justify the war in iraq as insane as it may sound does seem like something they would do.”

      That is batshit insane.

      • Timewarp

        wow your right, i should have said “all the americans i’ve met are rude, in real life not the interent well apart from lono”

        your only purpose here is to insult people, i didn’t mean all americans i just meant george bush seems like the guy who would go that far as to stage an act of terriosm and i’m not even suggesting it might be true just that it’s possibly and is it crazy talk.

        Honestly lono i’m not sure there’s been a single person here who didn’t sure the same opioun as you who didn’t end up being insulted and referred to as an idiot. You are an idiot it’s the reason you think everyone else are idiots and i’m sick to death with you getting away with being rude to everyone so shut up and suck it.

      • http://www.sarcasticgamer.com Lono

        Actually Timewarp, I only insulted you… You’re insane dude…

      • Ric

        “That is batshit insane.”

        Really? Justify your answer with something more than “insane”, you’re no longer in grade school.

        I find your naive belief in the goodness of the CIA amusing. However, we here in the Philippines, where your government supported the dictator Ferdinand Marcos for twenty years, have a better understanding than you of what the CIA is capable of. So much for supporting democracy. See Simon Jones’ comment above.

      • Kraaft

        Well, I’m not American either, but unfortunately, I do feel as if Lono is a bit more educated that you fellas. I wouldn’t call him a high schooler. As an outsider looking in on this pointless argument, I definitely feel as if Lono has the upper hand in this debate. >.<

  • sam

    if you don’t like it fine, sell the game, but don’t tell me what i can and can’t handle some of us are grown ups and know that it is make believe

  • Timewarp

    @lono

    think back to the F.A.G.S video everone who didn’t argree with you was ever a moron or an idiot. Even when i was on your side i couldn’t stand being on your side becasue your only argument was, it’s discrimitive and your an idiot.

    The only reason your calling me insane is becasue i’m calling you off. I never insulted you before you started on me so why start on me just becasue you don’t like my opioun.

    • http://www.sarcasticgamer.com Lono

      I’m calling you an idiot and saying you’re insane because you actually wrote that you thought George Bush would stage 9/11.

      Period. Well, that and your previous posts across multiple articles where your batshit crazy rantings have dubbed you “loony”.

      • Timewarp

        becasue george bush is the smartest guy in the world? I don’t think he did i think it’s a possibility, i’m not the scientologist type if you wanted to know whether i believed it was true you know you could have asked me. It’s what people normally do when their confused by what somebody has just said.

        I’m not even insulting the intelligence of the american nation i’m sure the moron that used to be president dosen’t know what the word conspiricy means. I’ve only met one american in real life and she was a rude self obssesed bitch, my point was i’m not going to round up your nation around one person who happened to be a horriable person.

  • Nemisys

    I’ve finished the campaign a couple of times, and I played the scene both times.

    I have a slightly different opinion about the scene in question Lono. I think IW was intent on making this game stand out in terms more closely related to a work of art. I think they felt as if they needed something in the game that would shock and spur conversation (much as we are doing now) not so much for the sales of the game, but more for the artistic scope of the game.

    By introducing a few minutes in the game where a player has to actually participate in a terrorist act IW is forcing people to become emotionally vested in the game. People who have their emotions turned off throughout the game are quickly reintroduced to a morale decision that they will make either consciously or unconsciously. In doing so, IW invokes a response from the its player base that stirs the same level of controversy that a shocking work of art might.

  • Crackerjack1388

    i think that the scene is slightly irrelevant, however the game is “Modern Warfare” and since it has been a staple of the series to show “real” battle experiences, i can see where they are coming from. sure it could have been handled differently, but i think its main purpose it to show how a modern CIA operative might have to do some very unsavory acts in order to save the lives of other innocents that would fall to the same terrorist organization if nothing had been done. the act of penetrating a terrorist organization in order to find out valuable information about their leader and a way to catch him to save the lives of thousands might be worth the lives of a few hundred civilians to some people, and this is IW’s way of showing it. forgive me for being cynical, and feel free to flame me since i know it will happen, but i think IW made a good call here on including this horrendous act in the game as i DO THINK it adds to the game-play and puts you in the shoes of the characters more.

  • OPAS

    This scene, despite what anyone may say about it being irrelevant, has done its job. People are so disturbed they talk about the morality of showing such a thing in a game. Yes, it was disgusting, revolting, and yet at the same time it detracts from the story if one doesn’t see it done first hand. You wouldn’t talk about it if you walked in AFTER the fact. But because it’s happening before your eyes, you’re moved to the point you HAVE to share your opinion. This makes a game good, and because it could really happen, I give Infinity Ward kudos for having the courage to put in in there.

  • Prototype

    Timewarp… STFU

    • Timewarp

      no how about you shut the fuck up, i’m not going to be nice to someone when they call me an idiot

      • Kraaft

        idiot

      • He

        Idiot.

      • John

        Idiot.

      • NoobToobHero

        moron

  • johnthe5th

    Yes, this part of the game is very violent, chilling, and disturbing, but let’s face it, the best way to make someone hate the bad guy is by showing them firsthand the awful things that he does, and giving you an option of participating. The point is to make you hate the bad guy as much as possible and provide a moral incentive to defeat him, which greatly enhances the experience. However, this doesn’t only apply to the game. This really makes you think about real terrorism that goes on today, where otherwise people would think, “Oh, another car bombing. Who cares? It doesn’t affect me” and not even think about the innocent lives that are taken. I’m not even a fan of the Call of Duty series, but I would say that this is one of, if not the, most powerful video game scenes ever. Oh, and Timewarp, no, George Bush is not mentally retarded, and no, he it is not possible that he could have staged 9/11, and no, Americans are not all like that, so please be quiet and stop making yourself look like a stereotyping idiot.

  • wishmaster

    I can’t wait to masturbate during this scene.

    • nanozmobieee

      LMFAO!

  • NoRussians

    lol why do so many people hate timewarp?

  • s_d

    you know i wasn’t going to comment on this, but i think your being REDICILOUS. If you bought and played this game the day it came out you would know that ORIGINALLY you couldn’t skip this level, but because of the whiny babies like you in the world, they had to make that an option. there WAS an achivement for this level, but because of the way the public reacted they took it out. There is nothing wrong with this, you whiny little kids just need something to complain about, and this is the newist thing to b***h about. How about you go complain about something REAL, like REAL FRIGGIAN TERRIOSIM, or AIDS, or cancer, or maybe you can leave your couch long enough to see that theres worse things in this world…I know, suprising right? Theres worse things in the world other then one level in a video game (note the sarcasim)

    • Kraaft

      So you are helping those causes instead of playing this game, then?

  • rj

    and yet, you’re here posting a useless comment as if it’s going to change anything. take your own words and apply it to yourself.

    and i do believe violent games desensitizes the way people view violence. the same way porn desensitizes the way people view sex. i love my violent games regardless.

  • http://www.gmail.com Jeandre

    I Honestley think it’s not that bad. It’s a very important level in the game. It tells you why Russia decided to attack the USA in the game. Plus you have the choice to skip the level, so they don’t expect you to take part in the gruling horror. So skip the levelle if it bothers you.

  • http://www.gmail.com Jeandre

    I Honestley think it’s not that bad. It’s a very important level in the game. It tells you why Russia decided to attack the USA in the game. Plus you have the choice to skip the level, so they don’t expect you to take part in the gruling horror. So skip the levelle if it bothers you

  • http://www.gmail.com Jeandre

    Sorry i repeated my self i didn’t see :)

  • ssvelikiye

    ..i was reading through others’ comments and wondered to myself, “how could anyone possibly be on this lono’s side”..

    I read that one person was saying that they could have ‘left the scene out and skipped to the aftermath’ or some shit like that..
    thing is, if you did, you wouldn’t know what happened for one, and..
    Aren’t we human?! We all WANT to know what happened and the truth and all that bullshit, so why wouldn’t you want to know what went down in that airport..?

    • Kraaft

      You obviously never played the level for yourself.

  • shabazik

    Timewarp: you are not alone.

    And I can ensure you, about 50%, or more, of the people of the world, think in the same way:

    That the terrorist attack was staged: specifically by Bush? not necesary, but by the USA.

    And why it make about 50%, or more, of the people of the world think that it was done by the same USA?

    because, and is truly a shame, there are too many examples of that, made by the USA before.

    “Remember the Maine”, and I say, remember other 140 military interventions made in Sudamerica…

    About every war, that the USA have fight, have been triggered by something discutible, and that, many years latters, will be proben wrong….

    “remember the Maine”, the Battleship sinked in Cuba, in 1898, that began the USA-Spanish war…

    but more importantly, remember that in 1998, 100 years after it, when the archives was dis-clasified, the USA simply smiled to Spain, and say “don’t worry: it wasn’t your fault about the Maine…”

    …and the worse is, that is not the only example….

    The Lusitania? a poor excuse, that was the culmination of a campaign to get involved in the WWI, that take years….

    And who will know, when the 2041 come, what will be, finally, desclassified…

    Because is already know, that the USA was activelly attacking japanese, and acting against them, BEFORE the war began…

    I know this had few to do with the game, but I think, It must be said.

    And to say to somebody is retarded, because they think in a different way, isn’t the way of doing things.

    Or, Mr. Londo, you also think the Japanese government is retarded, and simply crazy?

    Because, they arrived to the same result that Timewarp: that 9/11 was stagged, and by someone in the USA, with interests created…

    And the CIA, eh, they are no angels.

    7.000 deads in Chile, 20.000 to 40.000 in Argentina, and only god know how much in Perú, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, Panama, can say you that…

    And how much in Africa, the middle east, and far east?

    I don’t think the USA is the “devil”, as some Anti-USA say…

    But is the crude reality, and the crude real politics, and interests, that move this world, in this path of destruction…

    And this scene?

    Well… I have never played the game… but seeing the video make me think in Osetia, in Chechenia, Russia, Georgia, Euskera, ex-Yugoslavia, Somalia, Etiopia, Colombia, and yes, also, in USA…

    Even with a skip option for the scene, even if isn’t anything more than pixels, programs, 1 and 0, there is a bondary, that musn’t be breaked…

    And to say is okey, to play a Terrorist strike, and mass murder of civilian (pixels)…

    Then we will also be okey, in the next generic WWII shooter, be a Waffen SS or Einsatztruppen, killing ethnic minorities, because they are, just pixels?
    Or maybe a para-military serbian killing bosnian muslims, and ethnic cleansing an area?
    that sure will be fun.
    Or a Etarra, planting bombs outside residencial areas?
    Or as a Sudanese Yanyauid?

    Is true, you aren’t supposed to learn morality from a game, and that is good that this generate discussion…

    But I think, there MUST be a boundary:
    Even in a game, even if these are nothing more than pixels, and programs…

    • Kraaft

      too long. didn’t read it.

      • nanozmobieee

        fuck me in the ass NOW!

    • Ben

      so we’ve gone from a mission on mw2 to the terrorist attacks, just realise they put it in because it was part of the plot. to go undercover and have codename alex borderin or w.e dead at the end, and you can skip it so stop complaining you lot

    • NoobToobHero

      a very good point

  • Liam

    I think that this scene in itself was a good scene, because it can show us the horrors of human nature and the acts performed by those who carry out such acts. Seeing the act play out is one thing. Walking through it (Virtual or Real) with the choice to shoot or not is in itself a powerful tool.

    How many people have played this scene and felt sickened from it? Its not glamourising violence in a video game, it is doing the opposite of it. How many people argue that gamers are desensitised to violence? This shows that we are not, if something like this can touch us.

    We are given to choice to play through level, We are given the choice to shoot or not.

    The choices are ours to make so why must we blame others for the choices we make? You get no rewards or achievments for playing through the level and you are told that when you start it up. I played through that level, I walked. I couldn’t shoot, I just followed. I was disturbed. But not anymore so than by what you can find on movies. I’m just glad that I can still be moved by what is labelled as an attrocity Either Virtual, Scripted or real.

    • nanozmobieee

      i think ure a fag

  • http://reddawn.blogspot.com Kripa

    God, Kraaft and Lono and the other bitchy whiny pea dicked testosterone suppressed “men” need to get a life. You guys clearly aren’t even really into gaming since we know what the difference is between real life and the virtual world. Games give you the freedom and the CHOICE to engage in whatever activity you choose to. The fact that IW offers gamers the CHOICE to play the level is good enough for me. Stop complaining and enjoy it you pussies because its NOT REAL.

    • Ben

      i like you

    • AvtomatKalashnikova47

      Its not that they’re pussies, its that they’re more educated and much less stupid than you. Do you even realize what happens to the human brain when it is bombarded by light waves coming from a television screen?
      Well for one, the left side of the brain begins to numb and activity switches to the right. FYI, the left side of the brain is responsible for critical thought and analyses, shutting this down means that you think much less, or filter less, of the information going straight to the subconscious mind, which is what puts people in that ‘zombie’ like state which makes them very vulnerable to suggestion. Sound familiar? well that’s because this is exactly what happens to the brain when a person is hypnotized.
      The right side of the brain also begins to releases endorphins, which are ‘pleasure hormones’ similar to those found in heroine, meaning you feel good every time the tv’s on, and possibly simultaneously shooting unarmed people in an airport.
      I want you to realize that this info isn’t in any means new, politicians like the republicans have been using this to their advantage for years on tv ad’s talking about how evil Al Gore is or why universal health care will somehow cause people to die more often while the whole party is actually making billions of dollars each year from shares and endorsements from private healthcare and drug companies.
      Of coarse I don’t really expect this to sink in by the looks of your comment and thought process.

      • Jian

        I like how a people try to diss others by citing some ‘scientific’ or ‘reasonable’ explanation as to why people do the things they do. Whether it’s true or not, no-one really cares. Video games are created solely for the purpose of having fun, and they are rated and categorized by certain aspects of the game; i.e. ripping off a person’s head as a trophy, shooting unarmed personnel in an airport, etc. , which is why we have the ERSB and similar things like that. Besides, if videogames/TV are so unhealthy for someone, then why are’nt they banned off the shelves? You don’t see cigarettes being criticized that often nowadays, and they’ve been giving people cancer for decades.

  • push the envelope

    a game can become reality for a lotta ppl, which is why ppl engage in stuff like second life. it’s escapism — helps u to escape ur reality and believe u r something ur not.

    what if no russian wasn’t just massacreing innocents, what if it also included a brutal gang rape? or child molestation? even if a player chose “not to participate,” is it still OK to watch? and what point is being made?

    someone mentioned gamers are accused of being desensitized to violence. if that’s true, it happened by watching repeated reenactments of violence — and how long before even a scene like no russian can’t elicit a compassionate response? if u play through it repeatedly, it does start to lose its seriousness and u find urself less noticing of the bodies u walk over to exit the building in ur focus to beat the game or maybe even shooting an occasional civilian “just to see”

    in either case, iw got the attention they wanted

  • c-money

    I was very suprised to see a playable level where you can massacre unarmed civilians! A few years ago, maybe less, this game would have recived a Adults Only rating. It’s amazing how much censorship has backed down from video games. Of course I think it is a good thing, but this scene really suprised me. I wasn’t that disgusted with playing the scene but at the same time it felt wrong. The truth is, I am desensitised to violence and I have been for a while. But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna go out and kill people. But it does mean that a scene like this in a video game doesn’t really sicken me or turn me off to playing.

    I still don’t fully understand it’s true purpose. There seems like theres a lot of messages being portrayed. Maybe like………..

    Terrorists attacks are horrid and this is what they look like.

    The Makarov guy is one evil nasty character. All terrorists are like him, heartless killers.

    The only reward for killing innocent people is your own death.

    I don’t know what else to say. The scene didn’t make me sick but felt wrong. I really don’t think it was neccessary but w/e the developers knew what they wanted. I’m still suprised that the level actually exsists and was even released.

    On one final note, this game seems to be prepping the young generations for World War 3.

  • Josher

    Ok I’ll admit it was kinda disturbing. BUT before you even started playing Modern Wafare 2 you agreed you would not be offended. Also, it’s rated M for MATURE 17+ that means you should be mature enough to deal with a level like No Russian. And now you have the option to skip it so STOP WHINING!!!

  • AvtomatKalashnikova47

    Whether you people like it or not, or whether you like Lono or not, he makes a good point. How would you react if you played a re-enactment of the terrorist events on 9/11, Columbine shooting, or even a fictitious shooting taking place at you’re local airport or commandeering of an airplane to crash in some city? Imagine having to shoot at people screaming out in english so you can actually understand every scream for help or mercy as you shoot men, women, and children, or slit people’s throats with small knives to take over an airplane your going to use to kill thousands of people. If that happened there would be public outrage and the game would probably be banned in the states.
    The problems is that people don’t realize how threatening this is for our society, the fact that everyone is being desensitized to violence and brainwashed to enjoy this with the argument of it being simple entertainment or an expression of art which is completely stupid. Video games are meant to be played and enjoyed. Simple put, a games that you DO NOT ENJOY DOES NOT DO WELL. When you have a society that begins enjoying simulations of human massacres that they personally get to manipulate, you have a serious problem. Not even thirty years ago the game Texas Chainsaw massacre was released for the Atari, a game were you played a pile of blocks in the shape of leather face with the objective of killing as many people as possible. I’ll tell you right now, the game did horrible because even with horrible graphics people refused to play the game because of the nature of it, and because people had a much better understanding of what the acceptance of these kinds of games leads to. The fact that there are people arguing that this is ok just proves my point, games like these make people more comfortable with the idea of killing in general and to say that this has no realistic consequences is retarded.

  • AvtomatKalashnikova47

    BTW, I see a lot of people using the argument ‘its rated M for a reason’, well let me ask you this, how many of you have played M rated games even when you were too young to play them? If you were too young to play an M rated game and didn’t play it, its very likely because you either didn’t like the game, or you were too cheap to buy it. Think about it M = 17+, that means that by those expectations about half the people in high school shouldn’t be playing it. If you believe people actually care about ratings or say that you listen to them, then your either a liar or naive idiot.
    Just think about it, we have kids in elementary school growing up to these games, remember
    ‘they are rated M for a reason’

  • http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/index.php/2009/11/modern-warfare-2s-no-russian-seems-unnecessary.html MW2ROCKSMYSOCKS!!

    i thoguht it was EXTREMELY fun!!! i cant stop playin tht mission, i keep playing it OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER again, as a matter of fact im playing it right now!! hahaha

    the little pecker heads tht dont like this mission, ummmm, u guys are dumbasses, at the begining of the game, be4 u do ANY mission it asked u if u would be ofended by it, so if u thought u would of…. y the FUCKK did u say u would not be offended by it??????? and if u did say u wouldent be offended by it, when tht mission comes along (no russian) it asked u again, do u want to continue? and if u say yes it even asks u again, are u sure u want to continue, if u dont want to play it, why would u even press YES THREE FUKIN TIMES???? and then u get on here and complain bout your own god danm mistake tht u made THREE FUKIN TIMES!!! so u guys quite bitchin!!!

  • An American

    If this scene had happened in a movie, book or any other media would there be this knd of discussion? Probably not. The power of video games is that we not only see, we also do to some degree. Gaming is about immersion within a created world. When you found out how used you were in Bioshock, did you not feel both offended and outraged? Personally I shot at the civilians because I was in the mind set of the character. But that doesn’t mean I would do so in real life. I am not a worker in IW so I have no idea what their intention was but what I took out was that terrorism is very real and this level convinced me ever more that I will stand opposed to terror as a weapon anywhere. Whether or not you shot everyone here has been changed because of “No Russian” and I grateful that IW had the collective guts to take a stance against terrorism in a creative way.

    • Simon

      [SPOILER]
      I agree with your ideas to a point but the fact that you’re ultimately betrayed in the end lead me to the conclusion that you were always a pawn, and had always been fighting for a terrorist, the difference being that Shepherd flew your flag..

  • Jian

    Another thing, many of you have either beaten the game or are close to it, why aren’t you whining about the fact that the object of the game is to KILL. With the exception of the very first level (the training grounds) you’ve been killing computer-generated enemies without hesitation, but as soon as you seen one in a business suit without a gun in his hand, you freak out like you’re actually killing him. I’m just saying

  • Cody B.

    This was the funnest level in the game.
    besides this tells why the Russians attacked America you could not piece this together in a cut-scene and if you don’t like so don’t play it you raging pussy.

  • Chris

    You guys who take this level offensively, have to take into mind that MW2 is trying to simulate a little something called “War”, and in war there is a lot of “Death”, and plus, its just a damn video game, who cares…

  • Simon

    While I agree with many of the comments about this scene being excessively violent and perhaps unnecessary I do remember being prompted at the start of the game to decide whether I’d like to filter the ‘violent and potentially disturbing content’. I selected no having heard about the scene from a Zero Punctuation review but the offer was still there. If you were really hurt/offended by this scene then my suggestion would be to either not buy MW3 or simply turn this filter to off before playing it should you decide to buy it. You’ll never get around this kind of content in an increasingly violent world and its depiction in video games (Manhunt for example) nor will you get past people who thought this was the most thrilling aspect of the game… Although these people may wish to seek Psychiatric help at the earliest opportunity.

  • Guerrier de Dieu

    Ok “Lono,” you are taking this mission WAY to seriously. First of all it’s just a frikin video game, second, without this mission it wouldn’t make modern warfare 2 what it is. And yes, this mission is a little bit unnecessary, as is any other mission on a good video game, like Red Dead Redemption. There were some missions that were even more unnessary than this mission, but that’s what make a video game a video game. Besides, if you think this mission is so unnecessary, then why’d you play it? You had the choice not to, it even said before that “no russian” could be disturbing or offensive to some. Didn’t you take a hint that this mission would be “unnecessary” in your eyes. :P

  • Guerrier de Dieu

    another thing is that MW2 is “M” for “t” for 17+, so just like the other said, you should be mature enough to handle this.

  • Jesus Garcia

    It’s a video game. Not real. Fiction. Fake. Whatever you want to call it. I don’t care if it’s “Modern Warfare”. It’s not real. Just deal with it. It’s a disk you play to enjoy yourself and kill some time. If you don’t like the scene where you kill all of the civilians then don’t fucking buy the game. And for those of you who did buy the game, quit fucking complaining!

  • Jesus Garcia

    It’s a video game. Not real. Fiction. Fake. Whatever you want to call it. I don’t care if it’s “Modern Warfare”. It’s not real. Just deal with it. It’s a disk you play to enjoy yourself and kill some time. If you don’t like the scene where you kill all of the civilians then don’t fucking buy the game. And for those of you who did buy the game, quit fucking complaining!!

  • The Guy

    i think you’re a dickface… the game is fine the way it is.. stot bashing the shit you dont like… if you didnt like it why did you get the game in the 1st place? go buy a fuckin dildo and fuck yourself in the ass.. dont bother making another review on a game if ur gonna talk shit about it…

  • Lono should listen to the Guy

    I so totally agree. Lono please fuck yourself in the arse. It might loosen you up and make you a better faggot than the one y0u are now.

  • Ben

    sometimes, when i’m in an EVIL mood (or just feel like KILLING A LOAD OF RUSSIANS (BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!) ill play this level for ‘FUN’ but the reason that there are no acheivements are for the people that would be offended don’t miss out on anything

  • Ima_noob

    you guys are a bunch of pussys. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.Go buy a wii and go play mario kart.Maybe thats why they rated it M for mature?

  • TC-Gamer

    Lets get this straight. If you are going to complain about the severity of how real this is (and I understand why) then please leave your comments to yourself. Also, people that choose to skip this mission are missing a crucial part in the MW2 storyline. If you think I’m lying about this then think. Say you just bought the game and are eagerly playing through it with pure content for the story. You get to this mission and the disclaimer you read says you can skip it, and you decide to do so. Now the game picks up where Russians are attacking the U.S. and you are sitting at your Xbox/PS3 and are thinking “Wtf did I miss?!?”. Yes the scene is very violent and not meant for weak hearted, but if it wasn’t included the storyline for the entire game could possibly be screwed up.

  • NoobToobHero

    just imagine what would happen if the mission took place in america
    a guy walks up to you and says no english
    they speak in arabic the whole time
    and plant a lead to iran
    it would considered wrong

  • http://what.com NotImportant

    Yeah, I wasn’t able to shoot anyone either.
    When I walked out of the elevator, I saw my teammates shooting people without guns and i’m like…what the hell am I doing here?
    I guess it really comes down to your morals and principles.

    • nanozmobieee

      PUSSY

  • Pansies

    You guys seriously cant be this big of pussies. It’s not that fucking serious, I read everyones comment on this page and I must say, those who are offended like Mr.Moosehound up there who needed to “Take a walk” after the game are complete pussies. I honestly can’t even come to explain how retarded you “Offended” people sound right now. I honestly lol’ed the entire time.
    When I played the mission, I was a terrorist. I shot everyone I saw, and even chased down the ones crawling away. It was fun. No one was harmed, no one was killed and no one was hurt at all. So suck it up, it’s a game.

    • Timewarpsucks

      I agree with u 100%

  • Tom.pickup

    I played the level and i wont play it agian, I think it was a very dark mission but in todays society it is very poinient. Stuff like this happens everyday and and i think it is a good idea to highlight some of the evil in this world. I didnt enjoy it but i felt like it was,in some respect “necessary”. And everyone who has commented on this thread obviosuly has had some experience playing games, in most games now punching bullets into bodies/slashing people in two is the normallity but thats alright because its just a game. The only way game designers can progress is by doing somthing different (surprising us/Shocking us). The real problem is people being over sensative. We are allowed to sit through shocking films, tv shows and games all the time this doesnt mean we are inhumane….. or so i think :-)

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