Battlefield 3 gets controversial Modern Warfare 2 style, except with cops and a romantic setting
Electronic Arts are under a fair deal of scrutiny after a sequence in the game has come under the spotlight. The sequence requires the player to shoot down police officers in order to progress.
It seems that Battlefield 3 is taking a page out of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s book and adding a bit of controversy in one of its missions.
The latest ratings from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), which implements suitable age ratings on video games, highlighted that Battlefield 3 “players shoot police officers to complete a mission objective.”
The scene has been immediately compared to the infamous “No Russian” stage in Modern Warfare 3, where the player was required to mercilessly shoot down droves of civilians in a Russian airport.
Modern Warfare 2’s sequence was on the receiving end of a huge amount of controversy, which later prompted the developers to make the “No Russian” stage optional for players; it could be skipped if players did not want to play through it.
While the Battlefield 3 sequence may not be the same, shooting at police officers is not the kind of thing that the media or the public take to lightly, especially when the people doing the shooting are soldiers from the United States Marine Corps.
Luckily for everyone, Electronic Arts were quick to respond to the controversy and attempted to prevent the matter from blowing out of proportion. Unfortunately, the explanation they gave may not convince as many people as they would like.
The publisher stated, “I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situation. For God’s sake, there is a nuke in Paris! Millions of lives are at stake!!”
It seems that the publisher was trying to provide the context to the situation and explain why players would have to shoot down men in police uniform; however it is unlikely that many people who heard that statement would have come to the same conclusion.
Instead to many, it would seem as a gimmick to add controversy to the game in an attempt to gain publicity; something that is extremely useful when someone wishes to create hype.
Video games these days have the same production values as many major Hollywood films and it is sequences such as this one which add tension, drama and immersion for the gamer.
At the same time, the element of morals and how EA have not added a choice in the sequence could be interpreted by the, usually biased, media as another feather in the ‘video games breed violence’ campaign.
It would be best to wait until the game releases or at the very least, until the sequence is shown before any opinion should be formed. For all anyone knows it may just turn out to be one of the most dramatic moments in gaming (That is a big ‘may’ though).
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