The recently launched video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is currently under fire due to a controversy in a particular campaign mission that got “rewritten” in it.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare under controversy
The particular mission in the campaign that many gamers are currently criticizing about is the Highway of Death Campaign mission. It seems like the game has rewritten a part of real history on that part and has reassigned the blame for the massive war crime from the United States to Russia.
This part of the game was played from the perspective of a US CIA agent who is tasked with eliminating enemy terrorists across a valley full of shacks and degraded vehicles. The mission briefing revealed that this was caused by Russia’s invasion and now it was nicknamed the Highway of Death on account of the large death toll. However, the Highway of Death is a real place where the US army carried out attacks on Iraqi forces in 1991. It claimed the lives of an estimated 500-600 people. Many gamers have accused the game to be changing things around to make the Russians look bad instead of the US.
Other gamers have argued that this game is only a fictional work of art and should not be taken too seriously and base it literally on real-world events. There are a number of instances that the game would mirror historical events, but it would only take on fictional names for the missions, locations, and characters involved.
Game publisher Activision addressed this controversy in a blogpost:
The Campaign mode takes players through an immersive narrative that at times requires them to exercise thought, skill, and judgment to navigate some of the issues and challenges of warfare in the modern age. The Campaign is a fictional story that does not represent real-world events.
The game is now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Check out our review here.