I don't think it's "glorified". Indeed, it is an interactive cutscene, and as the RPS article notes Infinity Ward are the only ones that rival Valve in this field. But this wouldn't work if you just mention it during the mission briefing, it's a bit too complicated to summarise. It wouldn't work as a non-interactive cutscene in a game that doesn't feature any other, and it would also be too long. It wouldn't make any sense to kill one of the playable characters in a cutscene either. Making it playable is the only way to introduce it into the overall context.
What's glorified is the hype surrounding it. The media also distorts it by linking it to 9/11 - seeing a plane is the only common element. I believe it's closer to the Munich massacre (you filling the same role as the athletes that helped the terrorists to jump over the fence) and to Franz Ferdinand's murder.
As for the "bad timing" complaint from the RPS article, all I can say is this: one moment you're kissing your girlfriend, the next one a brick falls on your head. Life is filled with such high contrasts, and art is trying to emulate them. Asking it to maintain a steady pace or to follow certain "commonly accepted" patterns is restricting art. Of course, if it's an esthetic disaster, you should demand regulation. But IW hasn't done anything in bad taste or without any artistical merit.
Shocking the player isn't bad taste. The game treats the mission seriously and even with certain respect. It doesn't allow you to have fun. If it was meant and if it was built as a fun action scene, that would've been bad taste.
Baranga
Oh that's not exactly what I dislike about it, rather its just a waste of the design potentials.It has some very very heavy subject matter, and all it really... really is, is an interactive cut scene, having the players roleplay as the CIA agent, there is nothing terribly compelling about it.
As the RPS article does point out its plot flaws, that's also not what makes me dislike it so.
If you are going to put in something so bold into your game, and drive home an emotional impact, then the developers need to have a message underlying the game systems involved in the sequence. Something that really strikes home the players actions and or decision making.
Otherwise all it is something very shallow - as much depth as a cut scene of the material , a total waste. Just because the player is with the other virtual actors in the scene, doesn't mean its any more compelling (Iward would like you to think so it seems). Its completely absent of potential artistic merit.
If you are going to do something so damn provocative, then do it right, shows the unique potential the medium has.... other than something that could be done in a freaking film except this time 'its from the first person perspective woooah'. Difference is Valve understand game systems and narrative MUCH better than Iward does - hell 2K also does (with Bioshock for instance).
Iward make some spectacular scenes, but there is as much depth and complexity in narrative design as hollywood blockbuster, or an episode of 24. Its nothing unique to the medium other than perspective.
Its a waste, as RPS points out "Part of me likes to think that the whole section – in fact, the whole game proper – is actually a statement that the blind following of orders leads to the death of the world. The one irony of the twist in the plot is never commented on in the game"
Even COD4 had its own statements - the Americans 'shock and awe' blunder - the 'dumb power' of military might is no substitute for information, and the bastard brutality of the SAS, showing just as much mercy as the 'bad guys' (e.g. the execution parallels). Its nothing spectacular but it gave the events in the narrative a compelling edge, other than excuses for scipted sequences.
But the No Russian mission is just a waste. By game design, narrative design, and the statements and undertones that could have been there.
Of course its nice to see Iward do something so 'ballsy', however its a colossal disappointment, and goes to show Iward's understanding of the unique storytelling qualities of games as a medium is not nearly as mature as a developer like Valve.
Log in to comment