Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is getting review bombed by angry Russian fans because they feel that a key element of the game’s plot unfairly portrays the country as the villains in an actual historical event where that wasn’t the case. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has already been controversial leading up to release for the way it chooses to portray the violence involved in war, and while developer Infinity Ward has repeatedly insisted that the treatment would be handled well, fans have been concerned over depictions of child soldiers and civilian casualties.
That hasn’t stopped Call of Duty: Modern Warfare from being one of the holiday season’s biggest releases, however, as the game is already raking in millions in sales despite being a bit more scattershot when it comes to critical reception. As it turns out, Infinity Ward’s handling of the horrors of war might not have been as tasteful as many hoped, with several reviewers finding issue with scenes that involve players killing an unarmed civilian among other troubling elements. The game’s mechanics themselves, however, have been praised near universally, which makes it an intriguing case study for just how much troubling political implications can actually hamper an otherwise strong game. The result so far? Not much.
That might change, however, with the game’s current MetaCritic score and its reception from Russian players. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is currently getting review bombed badly, and it’s largely by Russian players who feel the game is being unfair in its treatment of the country. While the portrayal of Russians as villains likely doesn’t help Infinity Ward’s case, it’s actually how liberally the developer changed a real bombing event known as the Highway of Death during its in-game implementation. The bombing took place during the Gulf War, and Russia wasn’t involved in any capacity - but in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the country is depicted as the ones responsible.
Obviously, games can take liberty with historical events to present a more compelling narrative - Assassin’s Creed does it all the time, for instance. What games probably should avoid is taking sensitive historical events and attributing the villainous behavior in them to a country or group of people who wasn’t involved. Earlier, it was reported that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare wouldn’t be sold on the Russian PlayStation store, and it seems highly likely that Infinity Ward’s decision had something to do with it.
It’s also the latest instance of community members attempting to take out frustration with developers by tanking a game’s overall review score on aggregate sites. Historically, the practice has done very little to actually impact a game, so it’s possible it’s a mostly harmless way for upset fans to have their voices heard. Still, it’s another controversy for a game in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare that seems to be attracting them from all angles, and it will be interesting to see if Infinity Ward will respond in any meaningful manner.
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Source: MetaCritic
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
