Call of Duty 4's Modern Combat Theme Makes Dad Think Twice

Seems like a double standard here.

Its ok for his son to kill Nazis, but the killing of the made up Middle Eastern soldiers has him feeling uncomfortable?

Yes it has real world ties, but that is the world we live in, and I for one feel the IW did a fantastic job with this game and its portrayal of this war.

I have to disagree, I understand and agree with him on the fact that this war we're in is well, a little outside the legitimate range to be nice about it. But the Nazis were (and sadly in some cases still are) real people as well. If he's worried about his son getting too close to the "real world" violence of war, he shouldn't be letting him play these games in the first place.

I think there is a problem of "historical distance".

World War 2 ended more than 60 years ago, and now it's part of history. Plus, there is a large consensus on most historical facts, and although there are still ideological debates about this or that point, there is no debate about the fairness of this war. This is why most games about WW2, realistic or not, happen in a clear histortical context. Same thing for any wargame that happens in Napoleonic period, or Medieval Times, or Roman Era, or American Civil War, or even Vietnam war (though, in the 80's, there was still an ambiguity about this one).

Now, Iraq war is not over yet, we don't know all the details of it, and everything about this war is subject of a polarized debate, even the war itself. Call of Duty 4 may be a great game, but its context isn't as clear as previous COD games, which explains why some people view it as a recruiting tool, if not a propaganda tool. We're playing a war that's happening right now, and I understand why some people are uncomfortable about it.

I find it hard to think of the Nazis as mythical or even semi-mythical, the horrors they inflicted still affect those WW2 veterans that survive to this day and I sometimes wonder how they feel seeing a war where they may have lost friends and loved ones being turned into an entertainment medium for todays youth, but by making a game that takes it's narrative and creates it around events that make it appear familiar with what's happening in the world today is somehow inappropriate?I can't agree with this and I have to agree with InsidiousMrMoo in that it does come across as a double standard being that the only connection the game has to the real war is that some of it happens to take place in the Middle East, tenuous link at best. I don't remember anyone making a fuss about the Conflict Desert Storm games which took the content for their games from an actual war and also went as far as to naming the enemy as Iraq.

@ J Taylor

I agree with both you and the InsidiousMrMoo.

However, I think the biggest problem this guy has with this game is that he thinks it’s about a war he doesn’t agree with. Most Americans thought we were doing the “right” thing during Desert Storm. So, naturally, they would have an easier time swallowing that game. I doubt that he would have a problem with this game if he agreed with the war in Iraq.

The WW@ theme couldn't be repeated forever. That is why CoD4 became modern.

InsidiousMrMoo is right. Thisiis a double standard.

Stopped caring when he said it was ok to kill Nazis.

I'm pretty sure most of the Germans that fought and died would have rather not been there had someone given them the choice. I imagine there were a lot less stereotypical 'Evil Nazis' around than people would like to think.

I don't like double standards, people are people.

Perhaps someone needs to remind him that not all Wehmacht soldiers were Nazi's. It's a bit like saying that all US troops are of the same political bent and opinion as their Commander in Chief. Yes, the Nazi party and it's members were, as a rule, nasty folks but if he's worried about painting in broad strokes, perhaps he'd best stick to WWII games that only show SS Divisions (which were almost 100% Nazi party members). Or, as it's been better pointed out by others, stick to games without armed conflict.

Can you say "Rated M for mature?"

If he's old enough to play the game, he's old enough to understand moral dilemmas.

I think someone needs to do their research here... and by someone I sure as hell don't mean us! (I think I see a trend here. Hmm.)

CoD4 is a very violent and disturbing game. (I challenge anyone here over the age of reason to prove me wrong in that statement.) It is rated M for a reason. CoD4 makes the battles at the start of the game seem epic and movie like. It is almost romantic. That is until...

*SPOILER ALERT TO ANYONE WHO DID NOT PLAY THE GAME OR SEE THE TRAILER TO IT IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM*
(Skip the rest of this commentary and move on to someone more humorus if you don't know the story)
...
...
...
...
...

When the nukes come out to play. (yes, that is the spoiler and that is all I am going to say about it.)

After that moment, the game went from a fun new CoD game to something almost sick. At that moment I thought back to when Bush said he wanted to use nukes to combat terrorism [read: Iran]. That scared me then, and after playing that game, it made my fear of war even worse. Of course, nothing compares to the reaction my grandfather had watching the first few minutes of Saving Private Ryan. He was a soldier in WWII and when he saw what was on the screen he could not take it and had to walk out.

In short, the article by Cruz is a little ignorant. Let me break it down:

1) If you don't approve of the game... why the hell would you let your kid play it? We here at the GP comments section call that "irresponsible parenting".

2) If you find it easier to morally shoot a Nazi, then I hope you have some nice evel skipping cheats on hand because most WWII shooters pull out the Nazi forces (SS) only later on in the game. Usually you find yourself offing conscripted soldiers, who were mostly French, Polish or German non-party members (especially for most of your Normandy first line of defense. Thank you History Channel!).

3) Try a little harder to pretend to know what you are talking about. Research and facts are better than assumptions. Learn the story and stop labeling any Middle Eastern guy in a game that is purely fiction as an Iraqi. Most of the missions in the middle east take place in either what is real world Saudi Arabia or, in one instance, Kuwait. Geography class is your friend and so is a little research.

I am done. Going back to sleep now.

Ugh...why don't we hear Iraq vets chime in? Why do people try so hard to depict fictional themes to real things? Anything and everything is inspiration for the next movie, book or video game.

I got the same slightly uncomfortable feeling when I played the Insurgency mod for Half Life 2. I still kept playing though - very fun game. Dirka dirka etc. : )

this is my gamer tag for online
this game was not intended to harm anyone, emotionally of physically.
I am 18 and a senior in high school
i play games like these all the time, yet still have the brain and will power to keep all my grades above 95.
For al those people who think this kind of game deserves to be pushed around and slaughtered so diligently, please stop.
IT'S ONLY ENTERTAINMENT!!
My age group usually has plenty of time to spend after all those late nights with homework and chores and all, so we want to play something that looks good enough to want to play again and again.
Sure, my parents weren't the best of 'adults', and i've played worst games since i was 12 years old.
But still, it's not REAL!
It's for fun, and created for that purpose and that reason alone.
Yeah, if you want to get theoretical about it, you can.
BUT WHERE'S THE PROOF?
.. that this game is for those who just want to kill Iraq and Russian soldiers?
It's '''''''FICTIONAL'''''''
Fiction is in all of our live's, it's in the news everywhere.. in the stories we read to our children, to think about the fantasy we want our lives to become one day.
No, i dont want to become a U.S. soldier and save the world, i just want to be, well, entertained.
Now, for all of those so called 'dads' who dont want there sons to see any of these games for what they really are made for, shame on you.
Open your eyes, people!
We are living in a new world, away from tyranny and communism, years long gone from Hitler and Stalin and Japan. We live in a thechnological world, and so what if games today want to portray what we have in store for anyone who wants to fight against us?
It's our world, our life, our entertainment.
Dont talk about what you hate, but what you feel, for what we deserve or not.
Thank you

@Simon Roberts

True..

@GO

They're known as Ragheads over here. I think we both agree that's worse.

Give me strength

A) Its not stated that its set in Iraq.. let alone based around the current skirmish so null and void right away - any article he wrote based on that assumption shows him up as the poor journo I suspect him to be. Sensationalism about Video game violence and managing to shoehorn the Iraq war in at the same time - good job! /end sarcasm

B) If you can stomach killing Nazi's, or any other 'human' lifeform in a video game but not supposed Iraqi soldiers thats known as a double standard and loses you any and all credibilty on the subject of video game violence

You dont mind offing Nazi's based on real soldiers (with real families) in a real war, with a headshot... but you have a problem shooting ficticious members of a ficticious, middle eastern terrorist organisation that sets Nuclear bombs off? *sigh*

Its a game! A GAME!

If the World War was now.. right now.. would you be ok playing Call of Duty, killing Nazi's while real world soldiers were piling over the trenches to certain death?

FWIW - I am a retired vet who's career included a lot of ground-time in countries that closely resemble those in COD4.

@ Kendra
I do remember those days where I was just a hedgehog running as fast as I oculd to get the gold rings. Unfortunatley today, I think a lot of games have a politcal agenda and a lot don't but we add to them later. Is there one behind CoD4, I don't now, what about Halo? Any kinda of anti-racism point behind that one, maybe or maybe not. Point is, this world would be a lot better place if politcs was not so political ;)

A quick food for thought.....Did the Roman government deal with any political pressures for the Gladiators acting out battles in the collessium byiasly? Granted I do not want to watch men and women kill each other for my entertainment, but to them the Gladiator fights were the same as we feel about our video games. Moral issues aside, since we are judging people who lived 2,000+ years ago, I wonder if the Republic dealt with these same thoughts or issues.

"Somehow I found it morally easier to kill Nazis…"

Thou shalt not kill..except for Nazis. I think this guy is morally reprehensible. Shindler was a memeber of the Nazi party, so go ahead and plug him full of holes, Billy!

This "Dad" is basically saying it's necessary to de-humanize your opponent before you kill them and the propaganda machine hasn't done a sufficient job on modern enemies yet. We still see them as human, wtf! I can't let Billy kill someone who may have a family! But we all know that Nazis were evil (I guess that means Shindler is a Target of Opportunity), the eat puppies and don't have wives and children.

This "Dad" is perhaps the most reprehensible person I've ever read about. His "logic" is the same one that was used by the KKK to butcher blacks and Jews.

@JohnMidnight

Now CoD3 wasn't in any way a bad game. It was a watershed.

Now Treyarch had better let you play as the Germans in the single player, otherwise they're going to find themselves out of the deal with Infinity Ward and Activision.

@GO

But for some reason, all the Germans you kill were members of the SS.

@BlackIce

Certainly alot of places that end in 'stan.'

Odds are you communicated on networks me, or my team established.

Double standards like his make me sick.