John1966 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Charlie Brooker on the FPS: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/13/charlie-brooker-modern-warfare-3 Christ knows what he'd think of CM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenAsJade Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I dunno what he'd think of CM, but I agree with him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisND Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I imagine it would be some pretentious twattery about how we can't use CM to explore the full consequences of war and the oh the horror and what not. An over-reaching swipe at the state of video games today could be thrown in for good effect. I can already see one of the quotes: "As my squad ran past the farmhouse, I couldn't help but notice that no attention is paid to the poor farmers surely huddled within, caught within the middle of the fantasy battle. Instead the game chooses to ignore these poignant souls while sociopathically focusing on groups of men blowing each other up in a sanitized battlefield." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Friggin hysterical! Almost tempted to buy the game just to appreciate the joke more .. but nahh, there's a commonwealth module coming out I hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franko Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Thats a fun read. And the writer has a point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 My favorite line: "Ignore the gunfire and it's like a soap opera set in a ballet school." Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Knight Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I read that article today, raged, and later saw the new module information on battlefront.com, so I decided to swing by the forums and check things out. I'm always ticked when the different sites I visit somehow interconnect. While I was reading that load of garbage, I was seriously considering signing up for an account and posting an essay on why he's the biggest f*ggot I've ever found online. And that's not a pejorative I've ever wanted to use for anyone before in my life. Of all the countless complaints he could make about MW3, he picks the portrayal of killing during wartime to get all self-righteous about? Normal Dude had a good one, but I think he'd be more likely to churn out something like this: "As the German forces surrendered, did my men cease firing, as any decent human being would have done in such a situation? No, of course not, they kept raining fire down on these unarmed men, killing them all in a heinous act of evil madness that made me wish I could give an order to execute them for their crimes on the spot. All because there was another enemy soldier or two still firing on them! And these are the kind of people I'm expected to want to lead to victory? Later, when my men were breaching a building, they surprised a group of Germans. Did they try to knock them out and spare their lives? Did they try to talk them into walking away? No, they mercilessly gunned them down, shooting them repeatedly in the back. This game is a disgusting travesty and I felt dirtied by playing it and having anything to do with the awful, awful human beings depicted within it. For shame, for shame." The guy also clearly barely played the game since he manages to describe Yuri, a battle-hardened soldier, as an "impressionable young Russian", and projects his own gay fear into every scene of the game he encounters. Crawling behind another soldier = gay? What a stupid, hopeless idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 While I was reading that load of garbage, I was seriously considering signing up for an account and posting an essay on why he's the biggest f*ggot I've ever found online. And that's not a pejorative I've ever wanted to use for anyone before in my life. Of all the countless complaints he could make about MW3, he picks the portrayal of killing during wartime to get all self-righteous about? Whoa, lighten up! I think he's just calling those games on relying on cheap'n'shallow 1980s action flick machismo. In which he is absolutely correct. Nothing wrong with 1980s action flick machismo, of course, but it's hard to take the characters or plots in Modern Warfare seriously when they appear to be written by a committee of five-year old kids. It's basically what Axe Cop the Video Game might be like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Knight Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I think it's his childlike inability to understand the presence of killing during wartime that gets to me. He seems like the kind of guy who would spit on a returning soldier because he's a "murderer". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I think it's his childlike inability to understand the presence of killing during wartime that gets to me. He seems like the kind of guy who would spit on a returning soldier because he's a "murderer". :confused: Have you read the column? You seem to be raging about something that is not present in the written piece. He's not even talking about war, he's talking about a game. Don't you think that the people who turn human tragedy into gauche war porn such as Modern Warfare are more analogous to "guy who would spit on a returning soldier", anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Knight Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Specifically it's these two paragraphs here: So we both stop in our tracks, and moustache man snatches the guard, pins him against the wall, and stabs him right through the throat with a hunting knife, killing him instantly. Then the body hits the floor, moustache man says "OK, come on", and we continue sneaking into the compound. Or rather, we were supposed to. But I stopped after a few steps and walked back to where he'd killed the guard. I just stared at the blood on the wall. And I thought, "I don't want to be friends with the man who did that." So they're moving through hostile territory and one of the guys takes out a guard. Quickly and humanely, no less. OH MY GOD! WHAT A MONSTER!!! Obviously there was no means of expressing a thought like that within the game engine, so I had to keep it to myself. Moments later, moustache man orders me to climb a watchtower and dispatch a guard myself. I climb the ladder to find a man asleep in a chair. Just dozing with his back to me. And as I walk near him it says "Press X to take out the guard", so I press X, and rather than bonking him on the head, or maybe just persuading him to leave, my character also grabs the guard and stabs him right in the throat. And I thought, "I'm no better than moustache man: that was an appalling thing I just did." They're infiltrating an enemy camp surrounded by hundreds of hostile soldiers, and this guy thinks his character should bonk the sentry on the head or PERSUADE HIM TO LEAVE? Is this guy SERIOUS? And then, after his character offs the sentry, he gets all maudlin about the whole terrible experience, probably suffering from PTSD in real life afterwards. The fact of the matter is that the killing is justified. You're trying to stop a weapon of mass destruction from being detonated in a major urban center, and you're killing mercenaries to do it. He's unable to realize the fact that taking lives in this context is above reprehension. The fact that he couldn't get his mind around this concept is why I think he might easily think that U.S. soldiers are just as bad as murderers for not "knocking them out" or "making friends" or something else similarly infantile. The middle of the review is pretty much standard fare even though it's evident to me he's just pulling stuff out of his ass to support his negative feelings towards the game, but then at the end he projects a whole bunch of his gay fear into the game and ends with this stunning gem: Perhaps that's why Modern Warfare 3 will make more money than Delta Force did. Because presumably they've done market research and discovered that that's what their consumers want. I just wish they'd be honest about it and let the lead characters kiss. And press X to use tongues. Basically saying that anyone that enjoys this game is a homosexual. A fitting end for a review written by a homophobic retard. What I don't understand is that there's a million other things he could have discussed that would have been infinitely more valid and relevant. The game is a veritable cornucopia of flaws. At one point it crassly portrays a child getting blown up in a cynical attempt to get an emotional rise out of the player, for instance. But he doesn't mention that. He complains about the horrible time he was force to stab a mercenary in the throat in order to save the world instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 And then, after his character offs the sentry, he gets all maudlin about the whole terrible experience, probably suffering from PTSD in real life afterwards. LMFAO! THAT was good. Mord. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Schultz Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 That was a hilarious article. That dry British wit gets me rolling every time. Press "Up, Left, X" to persuade and hug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrailApe Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Don't go into the deep end about what Brooker writes, he just rips the piss out of everything - including himself. He probably loves all of these types of games and yet has the ability to step back and laugh at himself - and us. Mind you I have hated him since he married Konnie Huq and took her off the market. When I heard the news I buried my Blue Peter badge with full military honours and wore an black armband for a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Knight Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Don't go into the deep end about what Brooker writes, he just rips the piss out of everything - including himself. He probably loves all of these types of games and yet has the ability to step back and laugh at himself - and us. Oh is this guy like Yahtzee or something? He didn't seem like he was speaking tongue in cheek at all to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatEtr Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I completely agree with Dark Knight. We all know in videogames and movies machismo is usually over done or over the top. The writer is just trying to be clever or witty by using the new CoD to imply those who like it are possibly gay. He's clearly just trying to garner attention from his article. Since we all know, the CoD series is hugely popular. It's similar to that one saying, "The guy who drives around in a big monster truck is making up for his other inadequacy." Also it's hard to take a writer seriously when, as already pointed out, takes the actions of a videogame character out of context. Simply put, it's ok to be disgusted by the taking of a life, even in a virtual world. But in a combat environment, it's as natural as a leaf blowing in the wind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak_43 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 If you haven't read anything of Charlie Brooker apart from this article, I urge you to youtube "Charlie Brooker's Newswipe" or "Gameswipe". He's a former videogame reviewer so he's probably played more games than you've had hot dinners, he also co-authored "Dead Set". In my opinion he's one of the best commentators of "modern media" out there and he doesn't take himself at all seriously. Read his 6th November article in the Guardian on "running" if you don't believe me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrailApe Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Hello DK. Not sure who Yahtzee is, and I can't guarantee that Brooker is being 100% ironic with this piece, but from his past output I would reckon that he is. Lets face it, how many of the ‘commentators’ out there even play the games that they shoot down? So at least give him his due that he’s actually played the game. From my reading of the piece (with the benefit of watching stuff that Brooker has done in the past) he’s not saying “FPS games, and the Modern Warfare series in particular is a total bundle of ****, don’t buy it and if you do you are a twat” What he’s doing is making a valid point about how he thinks the plot of these games leave a lot to be desired and this lightweight aspect is covered by having bigger and more numerous bangs (heh heh). From what I’ve seen of him, he probably has a few cans of beer on a Friday night, orders a takeaway and then lights up a Call of Duty/Halo/Gears of war and then suddenly its 1:30 in the morning, there’s noodles and hoi sin sauce all over the sofa and his wife is in the huff and there’s going to be a distinct lack of nookie that night and the chance of getting to the match on Saturday without initiating divorce proceedings is looking distant. Just my take on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1966 Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 Is this guy SERIOUS? Er, no. He isn't. It's a humorous column. I thought it was rather funny. He is sending up the game and the people who play it. He plays the games himself. That's deliberate irony. Brooker is a funny bloke. Of course, if you're not familar with his persona then I can see that the article might be open to misinterpretation. But trust me, he's not being altogether serious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrus58 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I think this might be a case - as George Bernard Shaw put it - of two countries (England and America) seperated by a common language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boche Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Well for one I absolutelly loved the story in Modern Warfare 3. best campaign out of the lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BletchleyGeek Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Many of the missions require you to adopt the guise of Yuri, an impressionable young Russian lad hanging around with a pair of impossibly butch men, one of whom, Captain Price, is the aforementioned guy with a moustache – not just any moustache, mind, but a full-blown leatherman's handlebar number. I think Captain Price's "look" was designed by Tom of Finland. Your other companion is a Scottish lad called Soap. I'm not sure why he's called Soap, although I think it's because Captain Price once picked him up in a bathhouse. This was hilarious He's got quite a few points, but fails to see the actual point. Who would like to play a COD with a "realistic" storyline rather than a rehash to the nth power of Schwarzenneger's "Commando"? Say, inspired by Generation Kill or Jarhead. I'd dare to say: "nobody". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boche Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I would jeje i mean I also loved the campaign in Medal of Honor and that was based on DEVGRU and Ranger units in operation Anaconda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1966 Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 If I had a penny for every time I've spent the opening moments of a game sitting in the back of a transport vehicle listening to a soldier called Vasquez repeatedly use the word "motherf**ker", I'd have enough money to buy the Sesame Street game instead. And even that probably starts with Sergeant Grover warning Private Elmo that "**** is about to get real". That's funny. Every pixel of Modern Warfare 3 oozes machismo. It's all chunky gunmetal, booming explosions and stubbly men blasting each other's legs off. Yet consider what genteel skills the game itself requires. To succeed, you need to be adept at aiming a notional cursor and timing a series of button-pushes. It's about precision and nimble fingers. Just like darning a sock in a hurry. Or creating tapestry against the clock. So true... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Paulus Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Well this guy is representative of the psychological questions weakening our modern society there. Here in Europe post-WWII socialist school has made a good job of numbing many heads. And on the other hand you've got a population disconnected with the idea of the melee infantry servicemen. What you would have to do for your country, etc... It just smells like bad news for the future, that's it. And to me this kind of article is scary. We're weak, weak in front of "less questioning" people around the world... Sad, isn't it ? And the most pretentious thing is to think we Europeans, detain the key to wisdom. Haha. Sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts