In the more than ten years of history of the “Call of Duty” series, too many stalks have been born. Among them, “Press F” is the most widely circulated. This interactive prompt from the cutscenes in “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare” in 2014 can be described as a typical case where the plot does not give players a sense of substitution, resulting in slightly embarrassing player interaction.
‘Press F’ becomes meme for adding inexplicable forced interaction to memorial service
It is precisely because of its abrupt existence that “press F to show respect” has become a stalk that is generally understood by players around the world, and is often used to ridicule various related situations. As time goes by, there is much less of a joke, and now you can often see a series of “F” next to “RIP” on the Internet.
However, in general, most of the stalks of “Call of Duty” in the past are unintentional, but the latest “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 2022” is different – the developers have created a game in the game that is difficult for players to ignore. The situation has created a new stalk that may be comparable to “F” in the future.
In the game level “Border Tracking”, the Mexican special forces played by the player and the drug lords who crossed the US-Mexico border will arouse the disgust of local citizens when crossing residential houses. In the curse sound of the NPC, a prompt will appear in front of the player, “Long press the right button to ease the conflict with the residents”. In fact, when the player presses it, they will find that the gun head is aimed directly at the other party. At this time, the residents will immediately raise their hands and surrender, begging for mercy.
Many players were caught off guard when they first saw this scene. Whether it was the original “de-escalating” or the Chinese-translated version of “ease,” combined with the situation shown in the game, the officials clearly played a black humor here.
Unsurprisingly, it was quickly regarded as a new name scene by domestic and foreign players, and controversy followed.
Regarding this matter, the views of overseas netizens are generally divided into two factions. Headed by YouTube blogger Jacob Geller, who thought the scene was “unbelievable”, his serious emotion attracted millions of netizens’ views.
Jacob Geller’s tweet has exceeded 40,000 likes
Hasan Piker, a well-known Twitch anchor, saw this scene in the game and suspended it, explaining to the audience that this situation is not worth promoting, and then he also called the game a “war simulator” on his social account.
Many people have also expressed that IW is too playful and not serious enough to deal with such issues. In an environment where gun attacks are on the rise, and even in an environment where games are accused of influencing juvenile delinquency, this kind of joke is not a smart move.
Overseas game media Polygon specifically inquired about some police or military training documents, but did not find any written request and basis for the threat of raising a gun to “ease” civilians, but actively communicated with them and reduced violence, which was confirmed by some police in practice. Very useful.
Of course, there is another group of people who adhere to the “it’s just a game” philosophy and think that others are somewhat overreacting. Call of Duty’s “Modern Warfare” series was once known for its spectacles of war, wild imaginations, and “No Russian,” which was notoriously uninhibited. Now, subject to various reasons, the COD series is often criticized for being petty and boring. Now it’s just such a design, and the game also has the possibility of being “inflamed”.
In fact, some netizens believe that the actual situation is just the opposite of what Jacob Geller and others think, and it is the developers’ mockery of some real situations.
After all, no matter how everyone reacts, it is unlikely that the “Call of Duty”-style “moderation” will be officially eliminated in the short term – it is worth looking forward to, regardless of the impact in reality, people may see it often in the game community in the future.