It’s pretty wild that one of the most popular video games franchises in the world, played by people of all ages, is a violent first-person shooter about the righteous Western (usually American) military. Call of Duty has been so huge for so many years that we tend to forget how unnerving this should be, even as a part of a long legacy of military fiction. But the sheer brutality and amorality of the recent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare have thrust these issues back into the spotlight. Between this and the ongoing Hearthstone Hong Kong controversy, Activision Blizzard sure is having a great year when it comes to politics in its games.
We’re not saying to ban the game or anything. We’re just saying that Call of Duty swings between soldier cosplay paintball and actual interactive war crime so wildly, maybe we should talk about those war crimes. And because this is a website, we’re going to rank them. #1 will shock and awe you. And special shout out to Call of Duty Mobile, because free-to-play games should also be illegal.
5. Infinite Warfare’s Confusing Planes
This is less a war crime and more a funny/sad example of how our war criminal of a president is so dumb and easily poisoned by this country’s own propaganda. In 2018 stable genius Donald Trump praised America’s F-52 fighter jets in a press conference with the Norwegian Prime Minister. But this was fake news. Those jets only exist in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, a futuristic military dystopia we’re well on our way towards thanks to Trump.
4. Modern Warfare 2’s No Russian
Every time Call of Duty tries to be legitimately shocking with its contemporary violence (basically all of Modern Warfare 3) the game is just trying to recapture the controversy of Modern Warfare 2’s “No Russian” level. You play as an undercover CIA agent, and to gain the trust of the terrorist cell you’re embedded in, you need to participate in a mass shooting at a Moscow airport. Cool.
3. Modern Warfare’s White Phosphorus
One way the acclaimed Specs Ops: The Line criticized heroic depictions of the military in video games was through its use of the horrific white phosphorus chemical weapon. Seven years later, the latest Call of Duty also features some flaming hot Willie Pete, just without the military criticism.
The new Call of Duty continually references or namechecks real world events – the Highway of Death, the Haditha massacre, Benghazi – and rewrites / reframes them to make America always on the side of good and light. It’s basically open fascist propaganda at this point pic.twitter.com/o1E1UuffKO
— Chorizo (@andrewrstine) October 27, 2019
2. Modern Warfare’s Highway of Death
Here we’ve come to the reason I even wrote this article. The Modern Warfare reboot is currently burning up the sales chart by reminding folks of the most legendary game in this franchise. But this 2019 update ratchets all the gritty combat carnage and rule-breaking realism up to 11. It looks like disturbing leaked footage of real war zones.
However, one aspect isn’t exactly ripped from the headlines. In one level players travel across the Highway of Death, a field where hundreds were killed in Kuwait by American-led forces during the Persian Gulf War. But in Call of Duty’s fictional fascist propaganda world, it was those scary Russians that did the dark deed instead. Not that this is even something that matters, but the game is at least being review-bombed for its gross pro-American historical revision.
1. Black Ops 2’s Oliver North
So what Call of Duty war crime could be more heinous than rewriting a real American war crime? How about hiring a real American war criminal for your marketing campaign. Former colonel (and NRA president and Fox News host) Oliver North was convicted for his role in the Iran-Contra affair, illegally selling weapons to Iran to fund right-wing South American rebels. So it’s extremely good and cool and normal that he was featured in marketing videos about Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, a game not only about the spooky future of warfare but also the past warfare of the 80s when North did the crimes he’s now famous, rather than infamous, for.
