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Mexican mayor slams GRAW2

By Tim Surette, GameSpotPosted Mar 9, 2007 10:37 am PT

Mayor of border town Juárez says new Ubisoft shooter instills poor values and portrays his city as violent.

The line between the real world and a digital world based on the real world is becoming more and more blurred as next-gen systems and high-end PCs crank out sophisticated graphics and physics. Storytelling in games is also getting more realistic, and for shooters set during modern times, that can mean some ruffled feathers.

The mayor of Mexican border town Juárez, Héctor Murguía Lardizábal, has condemned Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 and is asking Mexican federal authorities to act immediately to get the game out of children's reach, reports the El Paso Times. Lardizábal believes the game paints a negative picture of his city and encourages tension between the United States and Mexico.

The city of Juárez in GRAW2.

Set in Juárez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, GRAW2 sees an elite combat unit battling Mexican rebels in the year 2014. Lardizábal sees the game as a criminal act against the intellectual capacity of the people of Juárez, whereas Ubisoft sees the game as a fictional story, according to the paper.

The Tom Clancy games, which include the Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell series, have upset government officials before. 2004's Ghost Recon 2 drew harsh words from the North Korean government, and closer to home, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas upset Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman, who said the game could be "economically harmful" to his city.

Whereas Lardizábal waited until the day of GRAW2's release to voice his protest, Venezuelan legislator Gabriela Ramirez spoke out against Pandemic Studios' upcoming Mercenaries 2: World in Flames way back in May 2006. Ramirez said the game, set in Venezuela with the object of taking on a "power hungry tyrant," was "a justification for an imperial aggression."

Ubisoft was not immediately available for comment.

Rated T for Teen, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 is now available for the Xbox 360 and PC and will be released on the PC, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable later this year. For more information, read the review of the Xbox 360 version.

820 Comments

  • Kaihato

    Posted Sep 1, 2007 2:12 pm PT

    Lordblakjak, I have to agree.

    I bet the USA Government would immediately take major action to butt hurt the company who made such a game. LOL

  • Beeker1

    Posted Jul 9, 2007 11:22 am PT

    I really don't care because I am not from Mexico or America still the Mayor is giving of about nothing

  • Trathen

    Posted Mar 29, 2007 5:48 pm PT

    he should be thankful that they don't make a GTA game based on his city. IF they did then people would really hate his city.

  • alpriego76

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 10:44 am PT

    Anyone who know a little bit about marketing knows that it doesnt matter whether it's good or bad talk about a product. It's still advertising a product and I bet Ubisoft is very happy with all the talk this game is causing. In the end, this is just a game. It is no different than a movie - those take place in other countries all the itme and show Americans shooting everyone and I don't see anyone complaining there. A movie has more media exposure than a game, yet look at this madness over a little game that no one will remember a year from now!

  • Lordblakjak

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 8:36 am PT

    I hope the Mayor is happy, now idiots have more reason to get at the Mexicans
    ....
    The people who give the idiots the excuse are as bad as the idiots themselves.

  • doktron

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 4:51 am PT

    Mexico is a pathetically corrupt country and I wouldnt listen to anything they say until they get their act together.They deserve their pathetic reputation. They have blamed canadians for murdering canadian tourists that theiir own people have commited in order to protect their tourist industry!

  • EMAN2g

    Posted Mar 25, 2007 5:32 pm PT

    ..lol PS3 lol

  • poromenos

    Posted Mar 24, 2007 7:09 pm PT

    I would like to see a game that you are a terrorist and kill Americans....
    i wonder how USA would react to such a game.

  • MyDamnUsername

    Posted Mar 24, 2007 2:47 pm PT

    This is probably the one and only times in our lives we will ever consider the mayor of Juarez. Absolutely no one will remember this story in a couple months.

  • Destiny_Hero

    Posted Mar 24, 2007 11:33 am PT

    GO AMERICA!!!!!!!!

  • ssh83

    Posted Mar 24, 2007 10:13 am PT

    LoL. Lordblakjak. Everyone hates Americans because Americans aren't respectful of other countries? So why doesn't Americans hate all other countries since none of them are respectful of Americans? Also, when you think of something bad about Americans, don't stop there, also ask yourself, did any country "around the world" also did the same yet they're not hated? Why is America always in the center of the spotlight? Other countries do worse things on a weekly basis. Genocide, slavery, rampant coal burning, neuclear weapon testing, and much more. Yet they always focus on the little things from America? Why?

  • Lordblakjak

    Posted Mar 24, 2007 7:02 am PT

    djord02 what are you saying about Iran and North Korea? Are you saying that Mexico are better than them, because they speak Spanish, or becuase they are your neighbours? Anyone who wonders why America is now one of the most hated countries in the world, take djord02 as an example

  • Lordblakjak

    Posted Mar 24, 2007 6:40 am PT

    How come when a movie depicts a town like Las Vegas in the same way as a game, the mayor is happy because it gives the city good publicity, but when it is a game, it could *harm the city economically*
    That mexican mayor is just trying to cause a stir, the town being portrayed in a game is probably the only interesting thing that has happened in a decade, or he just wants and excuse to get at the Americans
    Like everyone else does nowadays. (But with good reason)

  • SolInvictus-HGG

    Posted Mar 23, 2007 8:09 pm PT

    They can cry more.

  • DoctorFu

    Posted Mar 23, 2007 6:24 pm PT

    djord02:
    Maybe they were trying something new and something that wouldn't stir up major conflict. They are a business and have investments you know. The less risk the better these days in the video game making world.

  • wonkisjones

    Posted Mar 21, 2007 11:16 am PT

    latinking530: you should be more respectful

  • bored_gamer

    Posted Mar 16, 2007 7:34 pm PT

    Personally, I think that this Mexican mayor is dumb. and I'm Mexican myself. I live in USA though. It's just a game that takes place near the US and Mexican border. Just as long as it isn't killing people crossing the border, then I would want to have it. (I don't even have the first GRAW but I DID want it) GRAW took place in Mexico City and I was okay with it. Like I said I'm a Mexican myself and it's bull what the mayor there did. I bet mexicans there want to play it

  • halo2sfcmike

    Posted Mar 15, 2007 2:25 pm PT

    okay? its just a game people and besides Ubisoft games ARE DA BEST!!!!!!!!!!! SO QUIT HATING!!!

  • djord02

    Posted Mar 15, 2007 11:44 am PT

    It's a great game and all, but I always thought it was strange that the game puts you in control of U.S. special forces soldiers and rewards you for shooting our Spanish-speaking southern neighbors. Seems like Iraq or North Korea would be a more fitting setting.

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