Infinity Ward Not Worried About People Comparing Modern Warfare 3 to 9/11

[Logan Westbrook]

Infinity Ward Not Worried About People Comparing Modern Warfare 3 to 9/11

Modern Warfare 3's conflict in New York is more like a traditional war, says the developer, not a terrorist attack.

Robert Bowling, creative strategist for Infinity Ward, says that he isn't worried about people making comparisons between the attacks on New York that occur in the Modern Warfare 3, and real attacks on the city that took place on September 11th, 2001.

Bowling explained that the conflict depicted in the game was very different from any real world scenario, and that Modern Warfare 3's attack was a full-on invasion that had started in Modern Warfare 2. He said that in the game, the Russian forces had already taken Washington DC, and the attack was proceeding organically up the East Coast. He was confident that when people got to play the game, they would appreciate the difference between.

"The conflict that's raging in Modern Warfare 3 is very different from any real life scenario because this is a war," he said. "It's full-on military fighting through the streets, so I think that's going to be very clear once people play it and get hands-on and see what type of conflict this is."

Groups in the UK have already raised concerns about the attacks on London in the Modern Warfare 3 trailer, calling them a "chilling echo" of the terrorist bombings that took place in 2005. With this in mind, it's no wonder that Bowling is trying to downplay any similarities to 9/11. Hopefully, this will be sufficient to assuage the more sensationalist members of the media.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 comes out for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on November 8th.

Source: MSXBOX-World [http://www.msxbox-world.com/xbox360/videos/stream/standard/1916/21047/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3/robert-bowling-interview.html] via CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/313308/modern-warfare-3s-new-york-attack-very-different-to-911/?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=CVG-News-RSS]


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[Sixcess]

I wouldn't worry about it. Crysis 2 beat them to it.

Come to think of it, so did The Day After Tomorrow and Cloverfield and probably other movies or games I'm forgetting. It really didn't take very long at all for New York to go back to being everyone's favourite destructible environment.

 

[brunothepig]

Why does it matter? Because an event took place in real life that's somewhat similar to the events depicted in fiction it's offensive? Were people with AIDS offended by the movie Philadelphia? It's just so illogical, every time I hear these outcries I just get confused.

 

[Strixvaliano]

Way to beat a dead horse then try and ride it through a ghost town Activision. 9/11 happened 10 years ago, I'm sure some people still have trouble letting go of that day (people personally affected by it, and rightfully so and the conspiracy nutjobs.)

Are we to the point anytime someone mentions "New York" or other keywords we default back on "HURR DURR ITS GON BEE NUTHING LIEK 9/11"?

I'm saying Activision because for all intents and purposes the "real" infinity ward is nothing more then a shambling husk of itself.

 

[Nouw]

Well they should have every right not to be worried and not to care. Especially the latter.

 

[Shadowsafter]

Hold on, Russians took DC?!?
What the fuck was half of modern warfare 2 for! Didn't I stand IN THE WHITE HOUSE and set off a flare to announce to our aircraft that we'd retaken it?
I guess that arsewipe you played as in MW2 tripped and fell on his own bayonet, so there was nobody to lobotomise the entire russian attack force single-handedly.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Er, what? I've just rewatched the MW3 trailer (just to be sure) and the Am3rica section of the trailer features a sunken destroyer, a nuclear sub and formations of Russian Hind gunships. Precisely which of these elements provides the comparison to 9/11?

 

[Reaper195]

In a way though, I can see Englands response being somewhat justified. 11/9 (Not being in the US, and putting the date in the proper order) was a terrorists attack in which two planes flew into two buildings (In NY, I'm not including the other planes simply because I'm referring to NY only). In MW3, like EA said, it's a war. But in the MW3 trailer in London, it showed trains in the Underground crashing/exploding, which is close to exactly what happened in the London Bombing.


Also, what the hell, MW3? I totally remember saving Washington. In fact, from the end of the Washington levels, there is no mention of anything else going on in the US. Was Washington attacked, and then the rest of the country about a month later? And what the hell does France and Germany have to do with anything? Even England, although you can argue some of the characters were British/Scottish/Welsh.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Why would they be worried? Even if it was something to do with 9/11 then if you have a problem with it don't play it. Why does everyone get so annoyed over pointless stuff that in the end means nothing?

 

[Bobbity]

Haha, reason and common sense prevailing at Fox News? Unlikely.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Of course they're not worried. Controversy sells, regardless of whether said controversy is legitimate or not.

 

[Treblaine]

Bowling is such an asshat, yet with West, Zampella and co out of IW he is somehow the most important person of the studio.

I'm not surprised that of the half that left IW to form Respawn Entertainment, that Bowling was not one of them.

Remember, Bowling was the key architect in arguing for MW2 on PC going without dedicated servers.

 

[Jonny49]

Robert Bowling, creative strategist for Infinity Ward, says that...

Those damn words have become embedded in my brain with the amount of times he's said something about MW3. Does IW have any other spokespersons other than Robert Bowling? I swear every second he's got something to say.

"Robert Bowling, creative strategist for Infinity Ward, says that MW3 will in fact have guns, and you might even be able to shoot people".

I don't know why that annoys me so much...

 

[teebeeohh]

Er, what? I've just rewatched the MW3 trailer (just to be sure) and the Am3rica section of the trailer features a sunken destroyer, a nuclear sub and formations of Russian Hind gunships. Precisely which of these elements provides the comparison to 9/11?

hinds fly.
i am pretty sure you will have to shoot one or the other down in the game and then they may crash into a building.

 

[Treblaine]

In a way though, I can see Englands response being somewhat justified. 11/9 (Not being in the US, and putting the date in the proper order) was a terrorists attack in which two planes flew into two buildings (In NY, I'm not including the other planes simply because I'm referring to NY only). In MW3, like EA said, it's a war. But in the MW3 trailer in London, it showed trains in the Underground crashing/exploding, which is close to exactly what happened in the London Bombing.

But anyone who has ever been on London's underground should see how detached this is. I mean they are driving A CAR alongside the train... What the fuck? Also there is one very wide tunnel, as wide as a carriage is long. That is quite common on New York's metro but not the London Underground which displaces a minimal amount of earth, the tunnels are mostly singular and tight.


In fact, if it didn't have the preface of "3NGLAND" I'd think it was showing gameplay footage of New York rather than London.

Ultimately it just stinks of poor research and indifference to authenticity.

This was a series that started off pretty down to earth if extreme, now things are happening that are just ludicrous, like driving a car through the London underground.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Er, what? I've just rewatched the MW3 trailer (just to be sure) and the Am3rica section of the trailer features a sunken destroyer, a nuclear sub and formations of Russian Hind gunships. Precisely which of these elements provides the comparison to 9/11?

hinds fly.
i am pretty sure you will have to shoot one or the other down in the game and then they may crash into a building.

I suppose that's true. I should've gotten that one. /sarcasm

 

[Treblaine]

Were people with AIDS offended by the movie Philadelphia?

People weren't offended by United 93 because it was done respectfully.

Modern Warfare franchise is trash. Popular and occasionally quite fun, but still trash.

 

[BlackStar42]

What I want to know is, after only recently emerging from a bloody civil war, how the hell are the Russians able to attack on so many different fronts, and what the smeg happened to the MAD doctrine?! And for that matter, how'd they get troops on the East Coast? Is the US Navy just sitting there doing nothing?