Spoilers for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare ahead.
Out of the gate, fans knew that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was looking to break with franchise norms. And while Call of Duty has never shied away from controversy, with Modern Warfare 2 containing one of the most controversial moments in gaming history, Modern Warfare 2019 has upped the ante with a campaign designed to make players uncomfortable. It works incredibly well in some areas, but misses the mark in others.
Modern Warfare hits on a number of subjects in one go, which isn't necessarily the best thing considering the narratives' brevity. In the span of about five hours, Modern Warfare tries to portray global acts of terror, torture, chemical warfare, and mass shootings, among other things. These moments did have an emotional impact in the actual moment.
Many thought that Modern Warfare’s campaign would make "No Russian" look like a Pixar film, and Infinity Ward did deliver on that promise - for better or for worse depending on public perception. Witnessing harrowing events in first-person, almost always trying to prevent a humanitarian disaster, does have a profound effect while playing. There are lives on the line whenever shots begin to ring out on a city street, and there’s an actual feeling of guilt whenever the player fails. No one will be able to save everyone, no matter how hard they try.
There are plenty of other moments throughout the campaign that step into the realm of “controversial”. An early portion of the game has players call in a white phosphorus attack - white Phosphorus being a massive point of contention before the game’s launch. Chemical warfare itself is a massive plot point throughout the game, with one of the most emotionally impactful missions in the game depicting its effect on civilians rather than combatants. It’s another aspect that has real weight - even if the effects of white phosphorus are massively downplayed in their depiction.
The list really doesn’t end until the game does, mostly pertaining to civilian casualties and the line between justifiable actions and war crimes. From a gameplay perspective, it’s a delicate balancing act. How much should players be able to get away with? What should happen if players, say, shoot a baby? Infinity Ward’s intent with Modern Warfare appears to be drawing attention to global issues, and for the most part, the depiction is highly effective. That is until the cutscenes kick in.
In a weird twist on typical FPS norms, player characters seem more affected by the horrors they witness while playing a level rather than during the big-budget cutscenes. Is it just players projecting emotions onto themselves? Yeah, sure. But that’s the entire point. If a game is unable to elicit a feeling when it intends to, it’s evident of a larger problem in the game’s design. Luckily, Modern Warfare has no problem eliciting those uncomfortable feelings while playing. But the cast seems largely unaffected by the horrors they’ve seen as soon as first-person transitions to third.
It's almost as though everyone is competing to be the most "hardcore", Kyle being the notable exception. It is a Call of Duty game, so everyone trying to reach a certain level stone-cold of badassery does make sense in the confines of what the series has done before. But this is intended to be a different experience, far more of an emotional roller coaster than what players have experienced in the past. There's a clear disconnect here - one that hurts the overall experience.
That's not to say that Modern Warfare is a bad game. In fact, many fans believe that its one of the best Call of Duty games this generation, and thus far many Modern Warfare reviews seem to agree. It hasn't gotten the media attention many thought it would for its portrayal of the horrors of war, but that gritty realism has become more commonplace in the industry since 2009's Modern Warfare 2.
That doesn't mean that Modern Warfare will never find itself embroiled in controversy, though. While studies generally find no link between video games and violence, they're one of the first things to take the blame in the wake of a tragedy. With Call of Duty making controversial moves in so many different avenues, it feels like its only a matter of time before it's blamed for having a role in a tragedy, despite that likely not being the case. Still, the feelings a player gets during a mission are downplayed during the cutscenes. It isn't the end of the world, and the cutscenes are still solid on their own merit, but they do downplay what players have witnessed in a level, and that's an area Infinity Ward could've improved.
