Call of Duty 4 game - pro war propaganda?

[Dangerman]

I was wondering if the video game Call of Duty 4 is pro-war propaganda?

[endarkenment]

1. Sure - in the sense that it makes virtual war loads of fun.

As it is not actually related to the mess in Iraq, it is not directly pro or anti Iraq War.

[Mojambo]

2. Not any more than any other realistic FPS.

Good game. Fun.

[YOY]

3. Played it?

I have. I have to say...perhaps.

Then again...the nuke level where you basically crawl out of a helicopter and die from radiation poisoning post nuclear blast in a destroyed city is hardly "pro-war."

That's the level. You crawl out of a helicopter as a sole survivor with traumatic injuries and succumb to radiation poisoning in the blasted ruins of a city aflame...you can see a playground ahead of you...bodies are there.

There is no way to live through it.

It is not a fun level. You are not killing anything. You are being killed. It is painfully sobering.

Game over.

[Renew Deal]

5. Spoiler Alert!!!!

:D

[YOY]

6. and in living color...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOPs7LMhs1I

[Renew Deal]

4. Is Mario Brothers pro-shrooms?

Is Mike Tyson's Punch Out pro-boxing?
Is Alien vs. Predator pro alien vs. predator violence?


No, no, no!

[flvegan]

7. Ms. Pac Man could get eaten 3 times for a quarter.

Did it promote promiscuity?

[aspergris]

8. In that it makes simulated war FUN

it is. But then so is every other combat related video game.

So, I'm not sure what you mean.

Donkey Kong makes avoiding mischievous barrel rolling apes fun.

etc.

[YOY]

11. The level I mention above really wasn't fun...

It was painfully sobering...

[aspergris]

14. I have the game by my computer

I frigging loved it.

It's pretty frigging realistic, as video games go.

[YOY]

15. Dunno about "realistic"

Any game where you duck behind a barrel and you heal up quick isn't too "realistic" in my book. The fast and furious nature of the game itself as well as the great AI speak volumes though. I am one of those who b**** because it is too short too.

I thought the downhill massacre for the British SAS level was just silly with the amount of Ultra-Nationalist troops they were throwing at you.

[aspergris]

16. I was more referring to the visceral FEEL

of it. Obviously, the powerups etc. are not.

And it doesn't HURT when you get shot.

I just meant the kind of panicky sensory overload tunnel vision thang is pretty well done when you get in a firefight.

[YOY]

17. Oh yeah. I agree there. The surround sound in it kicks some serious ass

In the missile bunker the deafening sound of the firefighting was INTENSE!

[gatorboy]

9. The government already has it's own propaganda based pro-war game...And it's free!

http://www.americasarmy.com/

America's Army (also known as AA or Army Game Project) is a tactical multiplayer first-person shooter owned by the United States Government and released as a global public relations initiative to help with U.S. Army recruitment.

The PC version 1.0, subtitled Recon, was first released on July 4, 2002. Since then, there have been over 20 updated versions released, the most recent being AA:SF (Overmatch) v2.8.3.1. All versions use the Unreal Engine. The game is financed by the U.S. Government and distributed for free. It was originally developed by the MOVES Institute at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Rise of a Soldier is the subtitle for the Xbox version that was developed by the U.S. Army, Ubisoft and Secret Level. A mobile phone version, published by Gameloft, is also available.<1> An arcade version using light guns has been developed.<2>

[YOY]

10. and it's mediocre and unpopular!

Don't forget that part Gatorboy!

[gatorboy]

12. Is it. Well I haven't personally played it so I'll have to take your word.

Me? I'm playing Quake III Arena. :)

[YOY]

13. Now that is teh R0XX0RZ!

Seriously, America's Army is serious suckitude. Unimaginative and didn't exactly create the stampede for the recruitment office like they hoped.

It seems gamers can separate reality from fanstasy...someone tell Joe Lieberman and Hillary Clinton!

[gatorboy]

18. More like teh dinosorz.

:rofl: Our Quake clan leader just became a grandad. Those rociket jumps will break a hip these days. :P

I actually have COD4 for the PS3 gathering dust on my shelf. That and GTA4 and MGS4. I just haven't been able to find the time to try any of them out. I think it's a time thing. With Quake III I can just pop online for instant satisfaction.

[gratuitous]

19. Not any more so than so much else

After all, our society is steeped in the dogma of the High Church of Redemptive Violence. There's practically no way to get away from it, and the influence is so pervasive, it's impossible to escape it. When something like the Nickel Mines massacre happens (guarantee that a majority of folks who read this post will have to Google that reference) and the victims don't thirst for vengeance, the messengers of the popular culture don't comprehend it. So it's quickly forgotten in favor of a narrative where violence is theorized to drive out violence.

Pro war? How could our popular entertainments do anything else?