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EA has described Infinity Ward’s decision to include the infamous terrorist level in record-breaking first-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as “very ballsy”.
Modern Warfare 2 met with controversy before it was even released when footage of the terrorist level leaked onto the internet.
In it, players assume the role of an undercover operative who has infiltrated a terrorist cell. Players are then given the option to shoot innocent civilians in an airport scene. The level can be skipped.
In an interview with VideoGamer.com, EA Montreal boss Alain Tascan, whose own game Army of Two met with controversy in 2008 over levels set in modern day Afghanistan and Iraq, said MW2’s terrorist level “made sense” and was “interesting”.
“I think it’s very intense,” he said. “But me seeing that, again… I’m thinking, I don’t know how I would have pitched that to EA. But when I listened to what they [Infinity Ward] said, it kind of made sense. I felt like, yeah, okay, now I feel like a terrorist and I feel like a bad guy and a good guy.
He added: “I was talking to a few screenwriters, and they wanted to do things so that when you create a character and he’s a villain, he doesn’t know he’s a villain, really. He’s not a hard villain. He thinks he’s doing the right thing. Showing the humanity of the villain, it’s an interesting way to go to. So it’s like, how do you play with it. I have to finish the game to really see, but for sure, they have been very ballsy.”
EA hopes to challenge Call of the Duty with a new Medal of Honor game, due to be released this Autumn.
