One gamer’s take on the controversial scene from Modern Warfare 2
Unless you’ve decided to poke your eyes out and become a deaf-mute, you would have heard about a certain highly controversial scene from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 that has hit a bit of a tender spot among various people.
I’ll try to get through this without giving too much away in terms of spoilers for all those concerned… and there will be warning where I have given some it away…
Following paragraph contains some minor spoilers.
The scene in question where you, the player, take part in massacring innocent civilians in a terrorist act during the game was apparently leaked to the public not long ago. Before too long, the game and developer, Infinity Ward, was being accused of promoting terrorism. It has even made a few gamers question whether they really want to play through this themselves.
// End of spoilers… for now.
Obviously it’s going to make people feel uneasy (or worse) about taking part in such a horrifying act, even if it is just pixels on a screen and no one real is getting hurt. You aren’t meant to feel good about it no matter where you stand on the issue… and that really is the point of why that scene is in the game.
“It’s like I’m PLAYING a movie!” Cinematic gaming and you
From the title, I know that YOU know which game I’ll be talking about in this article, but I assure you that this won’t be a one game entry. There are a lot of other games out there that aim for a cinematic experience other than Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, though most are nowhere near as effective as what Naughty Dog has pulled off with their PlayStation 3 exclusive.
As the technology used for video games advances, developers gain the abilities to add cinematic elements to their games. There is no single method for this and each game, depending on the developers chosen style, go about this concept in many different ways.
“Look at me now.” Game characters and their new looks
When you have a character that has been around for a long time, eventually you will have to reinvent and modify certain aspects of that character to reflect the style of contemporary times…
…at least that’s what some characters go through. Other characters who seem to have changed over the years are changing for different reasons. Some characters change their appearance due to art style, others change because of their new circumstance, and some others don’t really change, they’re just a lot more… well equipped than they were before.
“I was really there!” Game immersion at its best
It’s been way too long since my last entry, but better late than never (and other suitable cliché’s) for this one.
It can be an extremely satisfying experience when you’re standing at the top of a tall Gothic styled building and looking down at a group of thugs below. You then jump straight down and into the middle of the thugs and before they can yell “It’s the Batman!!” you’ve already taken them out with some brutal melee moves that send them flying to the ground. You are the goddamn Batman and you love it. That’s the feeling I got while playing Batman: Arkham Asylum and it really does impress me how far this game goes to make you feel like the dark knight. There are many games that feature established characters like Batman, and sure, they do feature their trademark moves and gear, though few manage to make you feel like you really are that character and can pull off all of their moves just like how it’s done in their TV show or movie or whatever.