Line in the Sand

Okay guys, this is an old blog that can still be considered up to date, even today. Although, generally speaking, the event that inspired this blog is old. Still, don't just skip over this as this is an important topic in the gaming world. Have a good read, and I hope it makes you think. 

We as a society have etched a universal line in the sand. And if you’re not on the right side, you’re on the wrong side. However, there will always be people that balance the fine line to see with how much they can get away with. These people are part of the multimedia world as they make content that is sometimes borderline wrong. Or completely wrong just to see what kind of a response they will get.

Where lies your line in the sand?


Examples of this can be found all around. Books, movies, music and even in games. For example, in Scarface: The world is yours, you are a man on the rise to regain his drug empire. This you do by dealing in yeyo the whole nine yards. From acquiring, to selling, to laundering the money. This is Yeyo that you’re dealing. The stuff that makes people addicted and that will eventually kill them. People are so addicted to it that they will continue to use it during pregnancy! And you are supplying it to these people.
Another prime example is 24: The Game. You are playing as a CTU agent that has but a limited amount of time to complete his task. Time is running out and you encounter a man holding an innocent woman hostage. What do you do? If you wait, you have a good chance that you will fail because who knows what you will encounter ahead. And not to mention that there are other men approaching to kill you as well. So what do you do? Do you take your time to aim and risk getting killed? Or do you just shoot the lady, hope its not lethal and then kill the bad guy?

Would you cross that line?

In the end however, its all still fiction. It isn’t real. Does that make it right? I don’t know. That is your personal opinion. To me it is nothing more than a way for that medium to do what it is supposed to do. And that is to let the audience experience something that they wouldn’t experience in real life. In these situations however, you’re experiencing something from the other side of the line. And that’s a scary thought, even for the people that want to experience new things. To do something that you don’t want to do but it’s necessary to go on with the game. Or its necessary to see it to understand the movie.
There’s been a few moments in gaming, for me at least, that are like that for me. That I do something that I don’t want to do. Pulling the trigger on The Boss, guiding Snake through that hallway in MGS4, fight Tatsumaru in Tenchu II with Ayame, Fight the sensei with Tatsumaru in Tenchu II or killing your family member as a DK in The Lich King.
These are all emotionally heavy moments that are still well inside the right side of the line.

If given the chance, would you cross that line in a fictional world?

So, let’s get to the reason why I’m writing this blog. Which is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Not so long ago, footage has been leaked on to the world wide web of this very videogame. It shows you in the position of a terrorist walking out of the elevator with two other men. They aim their guns and open fire on a group of innocent people. You have to do the same.
Let me write that again, you are a terrorist at an airport. You walk out of the elevator and see a group of people huddled together. They are with their family, friends and loved ones. This being 2009, the graphics probably depict these people realistically with real emotions and unique faces. You need to open fire on these people and end their lives. You need to stand there in game and press the button that pulls the trigger that kills the people that have long and fruitful lives ahead of them that will be ended because of you.
The developers have definitely crossed the line here. Hell, they strapped a rocket on this game’s back and launched it over the line with a giddy look on their face.

How far over the line is this?

We live in a post 9/11 world. There’s no denying it. It will be many more years until the world would be ready on its own for a game level like this. 9/11 was a tragic incident where terrorists claimed the lives of too many people. They also crippled New York by leveling two of its more prominent buildings. And now to take on the role of terrorists and actually kill innocent people yourself is something that’s too horrible for words if you look at it like this.
We also live in a world of misinformed knights in media armor that spread misinformation to parents everywhere about gaming. Shortly put, the media is turning gullible people against gaming by spreading lies and half-baked truths. And its games like Modern Warfare 2 that only put oil on their fire.
But why did they cross the line like that?
Which is an excellent question, wouldn’t you agree?
In the Call of Duty franchise you play as one or more person on the right side of the line. You hunt down the bad guys and stop them in their tracks. What did they do wrong? In their earlier games it’s quite obvious what the bad guy did wrong because you are fighting Nazi Germany. (Where you aren’t just fighting true Nazi’s by the way. Most of the soldiers there were just soldiers like the Americans and not interested in the politics of Hitler. They were doing it because they had to.) In Modern Warfare you were told the tale up front and during the story. There they also gave you a good reason to fight the bad guys by making you go through the execution of a man and by letting your character die in a nuclear explosion, who still survives long enough for you to control him around and see the devastation before you breathe your last breath.
In Modern Warfare 2, this level is your reason. This will be your reason to fight these monsters and destroy them! You experienced their wrongs at first hand and after that you have the chance to kill them all for the cause of the righteous!
And because they knew that what they were doing wouldn’t sit right with a lot of people, they added the option to skip that scene altogether. Which I will not recommend anyone to do.
The timing for this game is perfectly right. Because the following years will be about 9/11’s anniversary. If they were to release this game during that time, the backlash would be unbelievable. So either you would have this in 2012 or now.
Truth be told, this entire thing is awesome. Terrible, yes, but a huge step forward in storytelling and experience. This will raise questions that haven’t been asked before or in a while. Games are meant to be entertaining and fun. That particular level won’t be, which will cause a ripple effect throughout the entire game. Yes, you will have fun killing terrorists but you will also have that one event in the back of your mind that will make it an entirely different experience. It will make you think about everything that you will be able to do in that game. Because what if you were the choice to just drop a nuke on a city like in Fallout 3. Would you do it? Having done what you’ve done to innocent people, knowing how that make you felt?
Brilliant, that’s the only way I can describe that level. Absolutely brilliant. If I had a current gen console, MW2 would definitely be one of the games I will buy as fast as possible. Which will be because I want to play that part. Not because I will think it will be fun, but because I think it will be educational. What can it teach me? More about myself.

Do you see that line? Cross it!

I hope that this blog has given you a few things to think about and please leave your own thoughts about this blog and this subject in the comments.

ATTN: Media – This game is rated 18+ for a reason. So don’t go about saying its bad for the kids. They shouldn’t be playing it to begin with. So if you’re going to complain, bitch about bad parenting and not the game. It’s your job to keep this game away from your kid. If you allow your kid to play it, then you’d better be damn sure he or she knows the difference between right and wrong. Which is once again, parenting. Try it folks. Just don’t come back bitching about games if your kid turns out to be the next Ted Bundy.