I’m just not sure I’m ready to be affected by a game in such a way. At least not yet. Emotional responses such as what you had point to a new direction in gaming, which I encourage. I am also willing to have my view point changed.

Maybe I’m shallow, but for now, I think I am just happy to be entertained.

I find this to be interesting. It’s probably the main reason I don’t play GTA and FPS games all that much is because it’s just too senseless.

It makes me want to go back to a game like Mirror’s Edge and give it its due just for being bold in the area of violence.

I think it would be excellent if there was an FPS that had consequences and emotional involvement in your actions.

I think Infinity Ward is assuming a fairly mature audience and I can’t think of a better way to stir the hornet’s nest of emotion then to force you, the “good guy” to do something horrible and then have it be for nothing. I was horrified, utterly horrified, that after all that I was casually executed and used as a pawn. The whole “No Russian” order at the beginning of the level suddenly made sense. The entire massacre was done for my benefit so that an American could take the fall.

I can’t remember the last time I hated an antagonist in a game so much. It was masterfully done.

Could they have found a way to portray how truly evil Makarov was without that sequence? Certainly, but I think the real point is to get a visceral reaction, and they got one from me.

Interesting that the way the story was told in COD4, I felt a certain satisfaction taking out Zhakeav(sp?) at the end. I will enjoy taking Makarov out even more.

Second, I was not even aware of this scenario in the game until Tony had posted it yesterday, I think.

I played CoD4 and liked it. I did not like the multiplayer. However, I found the C-130 level in the game to be very disconcerting. It reminded me a lot of the scene in the movie Patriot Games that was similar with the satellite recon on the terrorist camp strike. It was just too creepy.

From what I understand this level in the new game is HEAVILY scripted in the terms of the civilian reactions and the gore compared to the rest of the game. My biggest question is, what’s Infinity Ward’s point? Why not just view it as a cutscene? The player has to play it out?

I also don’t understand why the biggest game of the year needs to do something like this to generate a controversy and sales.

However, this seems to be the year of controversy in games. It’s like all the developers are trying to push the envelope in so many areas (GTAIV add-ons, MW2, Assassin’s Creed II, Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2).