Skip it.Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked Japan and its prime minister for a $7.6bn (£6.1bn) package of financial assistance it has given Ukraine as well as for the "decision to accept wounded Ukrainian servicemen for treatment and for 100 additional trucks". Therefore: why does it matter to the game, at all? There's no reason for it to be here. But as it stands, Modern Warfare 2's depiction of the murder of hundreds of innocents is delivered without any real moral burden at all. Allen is an empty nothing of a character in the grand scheme of the story, but a braver game might have kept him alive to deal with the emotional consequences of his actions. Allen's death completes the brazen, nihilistic sequence that is "No Russian." So long as it pricks people's attention, no matter how fleetingly or artificially, Modern Warfare 2 will kill off anybody. It's a stretch to be truly convinced of that intent, though. If the American's undercover operation has come to nothing, it only emphasizes the needlessness of the massacre. Yet it could also be seen as a fine punctuation mark at the end of the level. The death of Jackson in the original Modern Warfare, in a nuclear explosion, won attention and plaudits, and Allen's murder seems like a cheap attempt at recreation. Here, one can't help feeling that developer Infinity Ward is playing up to its past successes. As the attackers climb into their getaway van, Makarov reveals that he knew all along Allen was an American spy, and shoots him dead. In its closing moments, "No Russian" almost grasps this. And the massacre itself would appear, fittingly, a senseless tragedy. Viewed from the other side, without that understanding (or with it stated less explicitly), Makarov would seem so much more frightening, since you'd be running for your life from him. Instead, since you play as Allen, "No Russian" seems to imply that any atrocity is worthwhile so long as it permits the American military and intelligence services to complete their missions. To have to cautiously pick around the environment, avoiding the attentions of the terrorists, would have been a riveting experience. More importantly, if you were to play as one of Makarov's victims, rather than his accomplice, Modern Warfare 2's sympathies would lie with the right people. Having just taught players precisely how its stealth systems work and feel, Modern Warfare 2, once "No Russian" begins, is at an ideal place to use those systems to explore something narrative and affecting. If you were to play as one of Makarov's victims, rather than his accomplice, Modern Warfare 2's sympathies would lie with the right people. A single wrong move can compromise the entire operation, so enemies must be dealt with quickly, while player movement remains gentle and precise, making as little noise as possible. Its infiltration of a Russian airforce base is tense and tentative, the careful picking off of patrols essential to progress, over full-frontal assault. And conveniently, the section directly preceding "No Russian", called "Cliffhanger", provides one such occasion. Like the original game's "All Ghillied Up" mission, there are several levels wherein you must sneak around guards. From his unkempt beard and slow, phlegmatic voice, we understand Zakhaev, by juxtaposition, to be Modern Warfare's antagonist. Details such as these, always present but perhaps not explicitly telegraphed, are what sell fictional characters to us. And the game's makers want to shock and thrill players, of course-but while Alavi has said that the mission's there to serve the narrative above anything else, the scene plays out in such a way that it fails to satisfyingly flesh out the personality of Makarov, and supplement the wider story.īy giving them, respectively, a distinctive mustache and a jocular, London accent, the original Modern Warfare makes Captain Price and Gaz feel like close friends. We are primed, excited, to find out how much this upcoming level is going to hurt us. Like the Kingda Ka rollercoaster and its record-breaking 418-feet drop, Modern Warfare 2 encourages us to be emotionally masochistic. When "No Russian" arrives, it feels not so much like a surprising and confrontational turn in the narrative, but a macabre reward for having strong stomachs. We are primed, excited, to find out how much this upcoming level is going to hurt us.Īnd so, we play the first three levels of MW2 in ghoulish anticipation. Modern Warfare 2 encourages us to be emotionally masochistic.
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