WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.020 Imagine you're sitting on your couch and you're 00:00:03.020 --> 00:00:05.559 totally engrossed in a massive blockbuster action 00:00:05.559 --> 00:00:08.779 movie. Right. It's loud. It's fast paced. The 00:00:08.779 --> 00:00:11.539 adrenaline is just pumping. But then right in 00:00:11.539 --> 00:00:13.380 the middle of the second act, the screen goes 00:00:13.380 --> 00:00:16.300 dark. Okay. A controller is placed in your hands 00:00:16.300 --> 00:00:19.640 and the movie suddenly asks you to actively participate 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:23.179 in an unthinkable, horrific atrocity. You don't 00:00:23.179 --> 00:00:25.019 just watch it happen. Exactly. You are forced 00:00:25.019 --> 00:00:27.579 to walk right through it. Welcome to the deep 00:00:27.579 --> 00:00:31.230 dive. Today, we're pointing our lens at a single 00:00:31.230 --> 00:00:35.070 15 -minute sequence that just completely shattered 00:00:35.070 --> 00:00:37.429 the boundary between passive entertainment and 00:00:37.429 --> 00:00:39.710 active complicity. We're looking at the infamous 00:00:39.710 --> 00:00:42.770 No Russian Mission. Right. From the 2009 video 00:00:42.770 --> 00:00:45.969 game Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2. It's a sequence 00:00:45.969 --> 00:00:50.750 that, even years later, remains this massive 00:00:50.750 --> 00:00:53.350 flashpoint in media history. I mean, video games 00:00:53.350 --> 00:00:55.350 have always featured violence, right? But there's 00:00:55.350 --> 00:00:57.929 this unwritten rule in the medium about who you 00:00:57.929 --> 00:01:00.390 target. and the context of that violence. And 00:01:00.390 --> 00:01:03.270 this specific level just took that rule, tore 00:01:03.270 --> 00:01:06.090 it up, and set off a cultural shockwave that 00:01:06.090 --> 00:01:08.609 went way beyond the gaming community. It really 00:01:08.609 --> 00:01:10.629 questioned the very limits of interactive media. 00:01:10.989 --> 00:01:13.569 So for today's deep dive, we have a really comprehensive 00:01:13.569 --> 00:01:16.469 stack of sources. We're pulling primarily from 00:01:16.469 --> 00:01:19.010 a highly detailed Wikipedia article that breaks 00:01:19.010 --> 00:01:21.930 down the mission's content, its really unusual 00:01:21.930 --> 00:01:25.150 development, and the massive global fallout that 00:01:25.150 --> 00:01:28.010 followed. Which was huge. It really was. Our 00:01:28.010 --> 00:01:30.329 mission today is to figure out how one short 00:01:30.329 --> 00:01:33.129 sequence polarized an entire development studio, 00:01:33.510 --> 00:01:36.090 triggered international censorship, and forced 00:01:36.090 --> 00:01:38.390 society at large to ask a really uncomfortable 00:01:38.390 --> 00:01:41.730 question. Can video games tackle real -world 00:01:41.730 --> 00:01:44.129 trauma? Or maybe the better question is, should 00:01:44.129 --> 00:01:47.150 they? Exactly. It's a heavy topic. It is, but 00:01:47.150 --> 00:01:49.030 an incredibly important one for understanding 00:01:49.030 --> 00:01:51.409 the evolution of interactive media, especially 00:01:51.409 --> 00:01:53.370 when you consider how much further the technology 00:01:53.370 --> 00:01:56.599 has advanced since 2009. Okay, let's unpack this. 00:01:56.900 --> 00:01:59.019 We need to start by looking at the mechanics 00:01:59.019 --> 00:02:01.640 of what actually happens inside the game. To 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:03.579 understand the controversy, you really have to 00:02:03.579 --> 00:02:06.239 understand the player's position. So walk us 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:08.300 through the setup of this mission. Sure. Who 00:02:08.300 --> 00:02:10.020 are you playing as and what are you actually 00:02:10.020 --> 00:02:13.259 trying to achieve? So you step into the shoes 00:02:13.259 --> 00:02:16.479 of a character named Joseph Allen. He's an undercover 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:19.479 CIA operative using the alias Alexei Borodin. 00:02:19.539 --> 00:02:22.580 Okay. Your overarching objective is to infiltrate 00:02:22.580 --> 00:02:25.699 a Russian ultra -nationalist terror group led 00:02:25.699 --> 00:02:28.479 by a man named Vladimir Makarov and basically 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:30.939 gain his trust. Which is key to the whole thing. 00:02:31.099 --> 00:02:33.379 Right. That setup is crucial for the psychological 00:02:33.379 --> 00:02:36.229 trap the game sets for you. You aren't playing 00:02:36.229 --> 00:02:38.729 as a true believer in this terror cell. You're 00:02:38.729 --> 00:02:41.169 playing as a covert American agent pretending 00:02:41.169 --> 00:02:43.990 to be one, supposedly for the greater good. The 00:02:43.990 --> 00:02:46.729 level begins in these incredibly tense, cramped 00:02:46.729 --> 00:02:49.069 quarters. You're just standing in an elevator 00:02:49.069 --> 00:02:52.349 with Makarov and three other heavily armed gunmen. 00:02:52.509 --> 00:02:54.650 Yeah, the tension is palpable. And just before 00:02:54.650 --> 00:02:57.210 the elevator doors open, Makarov issues this 00:02:57.210 --> 00:02:59.169 chilling instruction to the group. He simply 00:02:59.169 --> 00:03:03.229 says, remember, no Russian. And what Makarov 00:03:03.229 --> 00:03:06.849 means by... no Russian, is an order to the group 00:03:06.849 --> 00:03:09.610 to strictly only speak English. They're also 00:03:09.610 --> 00:03:12.870 exclusively using American weaponry. The entire 00:03:12.870 --> 00:03:15.930 goal of this horrific act is a false flag operation. 00:03:16.349 --> 00:03:18.629 They're attacking Zakhaev International Airport 00:03:18.629 --> 00:03:21.849 in Moscow, and Makarov wants to perfectly frame 00:03:21.849 --> 00:03:24.689 the United States for the mass shooting to ignite 00:03:24.689 --> 00:03:27.289 a global conflict. Then the elevator doors open, 00:03:27.389 --> 00:03:30.330 and the source material describes this as noticeably 00:03:30.330 --> 00:03:32.770 more graphic than any other level in the game. 00:03:32.930 --> 00:03:35.330 It really is. It's a graphic reality. You walk 00:03:35.330 --> 00:03:37.550 slowly through an airport security checkpoint 00:03:37.550 --> 00:03:40.729 as Makarov's men open fire on a massive crowd 00:03:40.729 --> 00:03:43.610 of civilians. The sound design is just intense. 00:03:44.009 --> 00:03:46.110 Screams echoing everywhere. Screams echo through 00:03:46.110 --> 00:03:47.990 the terminal and as you walk forward, you see 00:03:47.990 --> 00:03:50.330 injured people crawling away, leaving blood trails 00:03:50.330 --> 00:03:52.469 on the floor. And what's fascinating here is 00:03:52.469 --> 00:03:54.849 the interactive paradox built into the level's 00:03:54.849 --> 00:03:58.229 design. The game never actually forces you, the 00:03:58.229 --> 00:04:00.710 player, to shoot a single civilian. Which a lot 00:04:00.710 --> 00:04:03.509 of people forget. Exactly. You can simply walk 00:04:03.509 --> 00:04:05.569 through the carnage without pulling the trigger 00:04:05.569 --> 00:04:09.789 once. And the non -player characters, Makarov's 00:04:09.789 --> 00:04:12.229 gunmen, they don't even react if you hold your 00:04:12.229 --> 00:04:14.830 fire. They don't question your loyalty if your 00:04:14.830 --> 00:04:17.269 gun stays silent. But if you try to be the hero, 00:04:17.310 --> 00:04:19.189 like if you turn your weapon on the terrorists 00:04:19.189 --> 00:04:21.689 to try and stop the massacre, they immediately 00:04:21.689 --> 00:04:24.350 retaliate, kill you, and you fail the mission. 00:04:24.509 --> 00:04:26.519 Yeah, you get a game over. You're trapped in 00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:29.319 this horrifying scenario where your only options 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:32.660 are to participate or to passively watch it happen 00:04:32.660 --> 00:04:35.519 while walking alongside the perpetrators. It 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:38.399 is an incredibly dark trap to put a player in. 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:40.420 The illusion of choice is powerful. You hold 00:04:40.420 --> 00:04:42.620 a controller, you have a weapon on screen, but 00:04:42.620 --> 00:04:45.279 you are completely powerless to stop the atrocity 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:47.990 if you want to progress the story. It completely 00:04:47.990 --> 00:04:50.050 strips away the traditional power fantasy that 00:04:50.050 --> 00:04:52.310 shooters usually rely on. And the story has this 00:04:52.310 --> 00:04:54.170 massive twist at the end of the level that makes 00:04:54.170 --> 00:04:56.329 the entire experience feel even more violating. 00:04:56.490 --> 00:04:58.529 Right. After the airport. Yeah. After you walk 00:04:58.529 --> 00:04:59.910 through the airport, you end up in a firefight 00:04:59.910 --> 00:05:02.889 with Russian FSB agents, basically their equivalent 00:05:02.889 --> 00:05:05.509 of the FBI or CIA. You actually have to fight 00:05:05.509 --> 00:05:08.769 these authorities to survive and reach your getaway 00:05:08.769 --> 00:05:11.410 vehicle. Tell us what happens when you finally 00:05:11.410 --> 00:05:14.910 reach that van. So you get to the van. And Makarov 00:05:14.910 --> 00:05:17.230 suddenly turns and shoots your character at point 00:05:17.230 --> 00:05:20.829 blank range. He knew. He knew. Makarov knew you 00:05:20.829 --> 00:05:23.629 were an American spy the entire time. That was 00:05:23.629 --> 00:05:26.290 the final piece of his puzzle. He deliberately 00:05:26.290 --> 00:05:29.029 leaves your American body at the scene of the 00:05:29.029 --> 00:05:31.649 massacre to ensure that Russian officials find 00:05:31.649 --> 00:05:34.610 it. Wow. It's the ultimate catalyst to force 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:37.509 Russia to declare war on the United States. You 00:05:37.509 --> 00:05:39.449 went through all of that trauma, compromised 00:05:39.449 --> 00:05:41.670 your morals, and it was all manipulated from 00:05:41.670 --> 00:05:43.740 the start. I mean, put yourself in the shoes 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:46.240 of someone who bought this game in 2009. You're 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:48.879 expecting a fun, heroic military adventure, and 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:50.819 suddenly you are dropped into this moral trap. 00:05:51.259 --> 00:05:53.339 What do you do with your hands when the screen 00:05:53.339 --> 00:05:56.050 is showing you something so abhorrent? It forces 00:05:56.050 --> 00:05:59.649 a visceral physical reaction. Yeah. And knowing 00:05:59.649 --> 00:06:02.230 how intensely it hits the player, the story of 00:06:02.230 --> 00:06:04.449 how this level was actually built becomes incredibly 00:06:04.449 --> 00:06:06.930 compelling. It wasn't just a simple design choice. 00:06:07.029 --> 00:06:09.250 No, it really wasn't. It was a full on battle 00:06:09.250 --> 00:06:12.170 of artistic philosophies inside the studio. Here's 00:06:12.170 --> 00:06:15.060 where it gets really interesting. You might assume 00:06:15.060 --> 00:06:18.160 a level this dark and serious was the plan from 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:21.160 day one, meant to be this grand artistic statement 00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:23.920 about the horrors of terrorism. But according 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:26.019 to the sources, members of the development studio, 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:28.980 Infinity Ward, originally just wanted a level 00:06:28.980 --> 00:06:31.420 where the player piloted an aircraft and shot 00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:34.680 zombies in Moscow. It is quite the pivot from 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:37.800 shooting fantasy zombies from the sky to participating 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:40.779 in a grounded, hyper -realistic terrorist attack. 00:06:40.939 --> 00:06:43.220 I'll say. When they scrapped the fantasy elements, 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:46.120 the team was heavily influenced by real -world 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:48.720 air travel safety concerns following the September 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:51.620 11 attacks. But within the studio, there were 00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:54.279 dueling visions for what no Russian should actually 00:06:54.279 --> 00:06:56.879 be. We have to look at the two main architects 00:06:56.879 --> 00:06:59.459 of this level. Which were lead writer Jesse Stern 00:06:59.459 --> 00:07:02.550 and game designer Mohamed Elavi. Let's start 00:07:02.550 --> 00:07:05.649 with Jesse Stern. Okay. His perspective was incredibly 00:07:05.649 --> 00:07:08.490 psychological and deeply rooted in recent history. 00:07:08.670 --> 00:07:11.410 He was looking at real life tragedies, specifically 00:07:11.410 --> 00:07:14.529 the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the Columbine High 00:07:14.529 --> 00:07:17.110 School massacre. Heavy inspirations. Very heavy. 00:07:17.370 --> 00:07:20.170 Stern believed that people have an innate, morbid 00:07:20.170 --> 00:07:23.189 desire to understand atrocities firsthand. He 00:07:23.189 --> 00:07:25.089 argued that we don't really want to turn a blind 00:07:25.089 --> 00:07:27.810 eye. We want to take these acts apart and figure 00:07:27.810 --> 00:07:30.649 out how they happen. His explicit intention was 00:07:30.649 --> 00:07:33.430 to put the player as close as possible to atrocity. 00:07:33.389 --> 00:07:36.370 That assumes that a mainstream blockbuster video 00:07:36.370 --> 00:07:39.290 game is the appropriate venue for that kind of 00:07:39.290 --> 00:07:41.850 profound psychological exploration, which is 00:07:41.850 --> 00:07:44.449 a massive risk. Muhammad Alavi, on the other 00:07:44.449 --> 00:07:46.730 hand, had entirely different goals. He didn't 00:07:46.730 --> 00:07:49.089 interview victims of real attacks. He drew his 00:07:49.089 --> 00:07:51.449 inspiration from news articles and films. His 00:07:51.449 --> 00:07:53.750 objective was purely narrative and mechanical. 00:07:53.930 --> 00:07:57.110 He wanted to sell the reason why Russia would 00:07:57.110 --> 00:07:59.509 attack the U .S. And he wanted to make the player 00:07:59.509 --> 00:08:02.430 feel a strong emotional connection to the villain. 00:08:02.810 --> 00:08:06.329 He just wanted a memorable catalyst for the plot. 00:08:06.509 --> 00:08:09.170 It is wild to think those two completely different 00:08:09.170 --> 00:08:11.990 philosophies somehow merged into this one sequence. 00:08:13.050 --> 00:08:15.490 Alavi ended up meticulously crafting the trauma 00:08:15.490 --> 00:08:17.850 of the scene. He really did. The original version 00:08:17.850 --> 00:08:19.910 of the massacre actually ended right after that 00:08:19.910 --> 00:08:22.029 first group of civilians outside the elevator. 00:08:22.350 --> 00:08:24.689 It quickly transitioned into a standard video 00:08:24.689 --> 00:08:27.790 game firefight with armed guards. But Alavi felt 00:08:27.790 --> 00:08:30.009 that abrupt shift felt like a cheap gimmick, 00:08:30.029 --> 00:08:32.610 so he intentionally prolonged the massacre sequence. 00:08:32.950 --> 00:08:35.549 But at the same time, he also made careful adjustments 00:08:35.549 --> 00:08:38.149 to manage the psychological toll on the player. 00:08:38.490 --> 00:08:40.470 Like what? Well, he deliberately went in and 00:08:40.470 --> 00:08:42.929 removed scenes featuring children or families 00:08:42.929 --> 00:08:45.330 hugging each other in fear, specifically to reduce 00:08:45.330 --> 00:08:48.009 player trauma. He was walking this incredibly 00:08:48.009 --> 00:08:51.330 fine line between creating a memorable narrative 00:08:51.330 --> 00:08:54.629 impact and just being purely sadistic. And that 00:08:54.629 --> 00:08:57.490 fine line completely polarized Infinity Ward. 00:08:58.090 --> 00:09:00.269 This wasn't just a controversial level outside 00:09:00.269 --> 00:09:03.470 the studio. There was massive internal pushback. 00:09:03.649 --> 00:09:05.690 People were really uncomfortable. Yeah, some 00:09:05.690 --> 00:09:08.509 developers strongly opposed the content and pushed 00:09:08.509 --> 00:09:10.929 for a compromise, suggesting the player should 00:09:10.929 --> 00:09:13.350 control an airport security guard trying to stop 00:09:13.350 --> 00:09:15.669 the attack instead of an undercover terrorist. 00:09:15.990 --> 00:09:18.529 The emotional weight was real even for the people 00:09:18.529 --> 00:09:21.769 making it. The source mentions that some of the 00:09:21.769 --> 00:09:24.610 voice actors actually became tearful while recording 00:09:24.610 --> 00:09:27.779 their lines in the booth. Wow. Yeah, they were 00:09:27.779 --> 00:09:30.200 reading the desperation and terror of these digital 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:32.879 civilians, and it took a real toll. Even the 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:35.740 visual design caused internal friction. Initially, 00:09:35.779 --> 00:09:38.399 the level had very limited gore, but the lead 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:40.960 artist, Joel Emsley, changed that after his wife 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:42.960 questioned the authenticity of a level trying 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:45.580 to depict a massacre without any blood, so they 00:09:45.580 --> 00:09:47.659 added it in, making it even more confronting. 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:50.000 The most telling behind -the -scenes detail is 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:52.809 the birth of the skip button. Oh, this is fascinating. 00:09:53.230 --> 00:09:55.730 Alavi noted that game testers had a wide variety 00:09:55.730 --> 00:09:58.809 of reactions. Many were angry and confused at 00:09:58.809 --> 00:10:00.710 first before eventually just playing the level. 00:10:01.370 --> 00:10:04.669 But one tester hit a psychological breaking point. 00:10:04.889 --> 00:10:07.590 What did they do? They flat out refused to play 00:10:07.590 --> 00:10:10.149 the level at all. They were perfectly willing 00:10:10.149 --> 00:10:12.830 to play the rest of the game, but they wouldn't 00:10:12.830 --> 00:10:15.720 touch no Russian. I mean, put yourself in that 00:10:15.720 --> 00:10:18.779 tester's shoes. You go to work expecting to debug 00:10:18.779 --> 00:10:21.220 a standard action game, and suddenly you're facing 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:23.940 a profound moral crisis. It's no wonder they 00:10:23.940 --> 00:10:26.759 had to invent a workaround. Exactly. That single 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:30.000 reaction changed the game's design. It prompted 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.139 Olivi to add a feature right at the start of 00:10:32.139 --> 00:10:35.570 the campaign. A warning message pops up, notifying 00:10:35.570 --> 00:10:37.970 the player of the disturbing content and offering 00:10:37.970 --> 00:10:40.149 the option to skip the level entirely. And if 00:10:40.149 --> 00:10:41.809 you skip it, you don't lose any achievements 00:10:41.809 --> 00:10:43.870 and your progress isn't penalized whatsoever. 00:10:44.429 --> 00:10:47.110 Right. Alevi realized he didn't want to punish 00:10:47.110 --> 00:10:49.690 players for their real -world morals. It's a 00:10:49.690 --> 00:10:52.789 fascinating compromise. The developer wants you 00:10:52.789 --> 00:10:55.809 to experience this narrative beat, but acknowledges 00:10:55.809 --> 00:10:58.590 that the interactive nature of the medium might 00:10:58.590 --> 00:11:01.029 make the emotional burden too heavy for some 00:11:01.029 --> 00:11:04.960 to bear. It essentially asks the player to consent 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:08.299 to their own trauma. But the general public didn't 00:11:08.299 --> 00:11:11.259 know about that nuanced internal debate. No, 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:14.000 they didn't. Because before the game even launched, 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:17.600 video footage of the no Russian mission was illegally 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:20.100 leaked onto the Internet. It was a mess. The 00:11:20.100 --> 00:11:22.259 publisher scrambled to manage the PR disaster, 00:11:22.620 --> 00:11:24.919 stating the footage wasn't representative of 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:27.700 the overall gameplay experience. But the toothpaste 00:11:27.700 --> 00:11:30.539 was out of the tube. It became front page news 00:11:30.539 --> 00:11:33.149 globally. And when the game finally came out, 00:11:33.269 --> 00:11:35.669 the reactions from gaming journalists highlighted 00:11:35.669 --> 00:11:38.029 a massive critical divide. They couldn't agree 00:11:38.029 --> 00:11:40.070 on what the level actually achieved. Break that 00:11:40.070 --> 00:11:41.990 down for us. What were the critics saying? You 00:11:41.990 --> 00:11:44.370 had fierce critics like Tom Hoggins at the Daily 00:11:44.370 --> 00:11:47.230 Telegraph who questioned the design. He argued 00:11:47.230 --> 00:11:49.669 that letting players use grenades treated the 00:11:49.669 --> 00:11:53.210 civilians as human bowling pins. Yeah. And Kieran 00:11:53.210 --> 00:11:56.950 Gillen at Rock Paper Shotgun was even harsher. 00:11:57.190 --> 00:12:00.570 He called it dumb shock. with an illogical plot. 00:12:00.809 --> 00:12:03.129 He specifically targeted that skip feature we 00:12:03.129 --> 00:12:05.450 just talked about, calling it a lappably pathetic 00:12:05.450 --> 00:12:08.769 artistic cop out. So his argument was essentially 00:12:08.769 --> 00:12:11.090 that if you are going to make a bold artistic 00:12:11.090 --> 00:12:13.990 statement about the horrors of terrorism, you 00:12:13.990 --> 00:12:16.009 cannot give the audience a button to just turn 00:12:16.009 --> 00:12:18.309 it off when it gets uncomfortable. Exactly. It's 00:12:18.309 --> 00:12:20.570 a strong counter argument. If a piece of art 00:12:20.570 --> 00:12:23.029 is meant to challenge you, allowing you to bypass 00:12:23.029 --> 00:12:25.389 the challenge undermines the entire purpose. 00:12:25.549 --> 00:12:28.360 Right. On the flip side. You had defenders like 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:30.759 James Stephanie Sterling at Destructoid. They 00:12:30.759 --> 00:12:33.299 took a much broader view, arguing that the industry 00:12:33.299 --> 00:12:35.899 often shies away from difficult subjects. They 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:38.080 felt that if no Russian could successfully make 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:40.159 players pause and question whether the deaths 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:42.500 of innocent civilians were justifiable, then 00:12:42.500 --> 00:12:44.620 it was proof that video games had matured into 00:12:44.620 --> 00:12:46.940 an art form capable of tackling truly controversial 00:12:46.940 --> 00:12:50.139 topics. But outside of gaming journalism, the 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:53.259 outrage was palpable and widespread. Looking 00:12:53.259 --> 00:12:55.740 impartially at how religious and political figures 00:12:55.740 --> 00:12:58.419 reacted at the time, it is clear the game touched 00:12:58.419 --> 00:13:01.480 a very raw nerve. Prominent British religious 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:04.299 leaders heavily condemned it. Alexander Goldberg 00:13:04.299 --> 00:13:07.120 of the London Jewish Forum expressed worry about 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:10.120 children playing it, while Fazan Mohamed of the 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:13.080 British Muslim Forum called it an intimate experience 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:15.899 of enacting terrorism. And Stephen Lowe, the 00:13:15.899 --> 00:13:18.500 retired bishop of Holm, simply described the 00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:21.340 level as sickening. The political realm was equally 00:13:21.340 --> 00:13:24.639 activated. In the UK, politician Keith Voss debated 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:27.279 halting the sales of the game entirely in the 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:29.820 House of Commons. And down in Australia, officials 00:13:29.820 --> 00:13:32.440 and groups like the Australian Council on Children 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:35.120 and the media lobbied hard against its release. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.919 Some politicians argued the game allowed players 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:40.720 to be virtual terrorists. The fear was that the 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:43.649 simulation was simply too close to reality. And 00:13:43.649 --> 00:13:46.409 that pressure was so intense that it led to very 00:13:46.409 --> 00:13:48.590 real international censorship. And different 00:13:48.590 --> 00:13:50.649 countries handled it in dramatically different 00:13:50.649 --> 00:13:53.730 ways. Right. In Russia, the publisher completely 00:13:53.730 --> 00:13:56.389 removed the level from the game on the advice 00:13:56.389 --> 00:13:59.149 of a local council. Russia didn't actually have 00:13:59.149 --> 00:14:01.269 a formal rating board at the time to classify 00:14:01.269 --> 00:14:03.350 the content, so they just excised it entirely. 00:14:03.750 --> 00:14:05.929 But Germany and Japan took a more mechanical 00:14:05.929 --> 00:14:09.379 approach to censorship. In those versions, the 00:14:09.379 --> 00:14:11.440 level was edited so that if the player shot a 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:13.659 civilian, it triggered an immediate game over 00:14:13.659 --> 00:14:16.120 screen. You were strictly forced into the role 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:18.480 of an observer, completely removing that illusion 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:20.799 of choice we discussed earlier. That Japanese 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:23.600 version also included a massive, almost unbelievable 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:26.779 localization error. Makarov's famous opening 00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:29.519 line, the entire namesake of the mission, remember 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:32.779 no Russian, was completely mistranslated. Oh, 00:14:32.820 --> 00:14:35.320 this part is wild. The Japanese audio track had 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:37.700 him say, kill them, they are Russians. Which 00:14:37.700 --> 00:14:40.019 completely ruins the entire narrative logic of 00:14:40.019 --> 00:14:42.299 the level. Complete. The whole point is to frame 00:14:42.299 --> 00:14:45.299 the Americans by not speaking Russian and using 00:14:45.299 --> 00:14:48.419 American weapons. If the leader tells his crew 00:14:48.419 --> 00:14:50.399 to kill the civilians because they are Russian, 00:14:50.580 --> 00:14:53.860 the false flag plot falls apart. It fundamentally 00:14:53.860 --> 00:14:56.200 breaks the reason the mission even exists in 00:14:56.200 --> 00:14:58.919 the story. Looking at the broader impact, this 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:01.360 outcry had tangible effects on the industry's 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:04.960 standing. Call of Duty. Modern Warfare 2 was 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:07.379 the very first game in the series to receive 00:15:07.379 --> 00:15:09.840 an 18 certificate from the UK's media rating 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:13.500 board, the BBFC. That was a milestone. They specifically 00:15:13.500 --> 00:15:16.600 cited no Russian for that adult rating, noting 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:19.039 its focus on the infliction of pain and injury. 00:15:19.259 --> 00:15:21.940 The medium had decisively crossed a threshold 00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:24.679 into adult only, highly scrutinized territory. 00:15:24.980 --> 00:15:27.779 It forced the mainstream to reckon with what 00:15:27.779 --> 00:15:30.519 video games were becoming. It was no longer just 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:33.159 about high scores or pixelated heroes. It was 00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:35.919 about simulating reality, however dark and morally 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:38.360 complex that reality might be. So what does this 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:40.179 all mean? When we look back from where we are 00:15:40.179 --> 00:15:42.659 now, no Russian clearly stands as a watershed 00:15:42.659 --> 00:15:45.659 moment. It left a profound legacy on both the 00:15:45.659 --> 00:15:48.460 gaming industry and, terrifyingly, the real world. 00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:51.320 Let's look at the industry first. How did other 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:53.799 developers react to this newly established benchmark 00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:56.799 for controversy? Well, in terms of industry influence, 00:15:57.120 --> 00:15:59.580 it set a benchmark for how not to handle heavy 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:01.620 moral choices, at least according to some developers. 00:16:01.779 --> 00:16:05.419 Like who? Look at the 2012 Game Spec Ops. The 00:16:05.419 --> 00:16:09.019 line. Its lead writer, Walt Williams, explicitly 00:16:09.019 --> 00:16:11.679 stated that his team tried to make their game's 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:15.580 violent choices feel organic. They actively wanted 00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:18.200 to avoid what they saw as the clumsiness of the 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:20.679 no -Russian mission. They wanted the players' 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:23.080 complicity to sneak up on them through gameplay 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:25.639 decisions, rather than dropping them in an elevator 00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:28.019 and saying, here is an atrocity, deal with it. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:31.960 But the real world echoes of No Russian are where 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:34.860 this story gets genuinely chilling. The sources 00:16:34.860 --> 00:16:37.799 point out incredibly unsettling ways this specific 00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:41.200 video game level interacted with reality. In 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:43.340 2011, there was a tragic bombing at the Domo 00:16:43.340 --> 00:16:45.720 de Dovo International Airport in Russia. And 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:47.799 the Russian state -owned television network RT 00:16:47.799 --> 00:16:50.960 actually broadcast real security camera footage 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:53.879 of that bombing side by side with gameplay footage 00:16:53.879 --> 00:16:56.370 from No Russian. A Fox News analyst was even 00:16:56.370 --> 00:16:58.169 quoted in the report suggesting that terrorists 00:16:58.169 --> 00:17:00.350 might be using video games as training tools. 00:17:00.629 --> 00:17:03.190 And that wasn't an isolated comparison. In 2013, 00:17:03.490 --> 00:17:05.670 an Oregon student was detained by police for 00:17:05.670 --> 00:17:07.930 plotting an attack on his high school. When police 00:17:07.930 --> 00:17:10.529 found his notebooks, he had detailed plans to 00:17:10.529 --> 00:17:13.430 use explosives and firearms. And he specifically 00:17:13.430 --> 00:17:15.650 wrote that he planned to play the theme song 00:17:15.650 --> 00:17:18.849 from the No Russian level in his car during the 00:17:18.849 --> 00:17:21.420 shooting. Even the perpetrator of the horrific 00:17:21.420 --> 00:17:24.319 2011 Norway attacks referred to Call of Duty, 00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:28.380 Modern Warfare 2 as a training simulation. When 00:17:28.380 --> 00:17:30.559 these events happen, the media almost immediately 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:33.259 points to the screen. This raises an important 00:17:33.259 --> 00:17:36.240 question about cause and effect and how society 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:38.759 assigns blame in the wake of unimaginable tragedy. 00:17:39.460 --> 00:17:42.140 Media scholar Gareth Schott argues that in the 00:17:42.140 --> 00:17:44.640 case of the Norway shooter, journalists actively 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:47.259 ignored the vast majority of the attacker's extensive 00:17:47.259 --> 00:17:49.200 manifesto. Right. They just focused on the game. 00:17:49.339 --> 00:17:51.779 Instead, they zeroed in on the video game as 00:17:51.779 --> 00:17:54.440 a convenient scapegoat. It is much easier for 00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:56.680 society to blame a piece of interactive software 00:17:56.680 --> 00:17:58.920 than to grapple with the deep -seated political 00:17:58.920 --> 00:18:01.660 or psychological radicalization that actually 00:18:01.660 --> 00:18:05.000 drives a person to commit mass murder. The game 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:06.960 becomes a lightning rod that distracts from the 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.720 harder conversations. Academic Matthew Payne 00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:12.500 offers another fascinating synthesis of the level's 00:18:12.500 --> 00:18:17.200 true impact. He analyzes no Russian, not as a 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:19.500 deep examination of modern warfare, but rather 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:23.440 as a militainment fantasy. Let's unpack that 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:25.460 term because it really reframes how we look at 00:18:25.460 --> 00:18:28.099 the game. What does militanement actually mean 00:18:28.099 --> 00:18:30.180 for the average player sitting on their couch? 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:32.880 Militanement is the blending of military and 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:35.420 entertainment where the realities of war are 00:18:35.420 --> 00:18:38.920 packaged as thrilling consumer products. Payne 00:18:38.920 --> 00:18:41.559 argues that the level and specifically the death 00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:45.140 of the undercover CIA agent, Joseph Allen, actually 00:18:45.140 --> 00:18:48.869 serves to justify morally suspect. covert operations. 00:18:49.150 --> 00:18:51.190 How does it justify them? The game tells the 00:18:51.190 --> 00:18:53.430 player that these horrific acts and the sacrifice 00:18:53.430 --> 00:18:55.849 of American lives are sometimes necessary, as 00:18:55.849 --> 00:18:57.509 long as they are done under the guise of national 00:18:57.509 --> 00:18:59.670 security. It's a game that claims to show you 00:18:59.670 --> 00:19:01.990 the horrors of war, but only within a context 00:19:01.990 --> 00:19:03.930 that prevents you from actually questioning the 00:19:03.930 --> 00:19:06.210 broader military apparatus. You feel the shock, 00:19:06.210 --> 00:19:08.109 but you still believe in the mission. So the 00:19:08.109 --> 00:19:10.690 level is shocking, yes, but does it actually 00:19:10.690 --> 00:19:13.460 challenge the player's worldview? Or does it 00:19:13.460 --> 00:19:15.700 just provide a really dark thrill ride before 00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:17.500 putting you back in the shoes of the good guys 00:19:17.500 --> 00:19:19.660 to go hunt down the villain? Exactly. It's a 00:19:19.660 --> 00:19:22.220 brilliant critique because it suggests the game 00:19:22.220 --> 00:19:25.039 wants to have it both ways. It wants the artistic 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:28.440 credibility of showing real horror, but it doesn't 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:32.619 want to lose the blockbuster appeal of a righteous 00:19:32.619 --> 00:19:34.960 revenge story. If we connect this to the bigger 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:38.799 picture, that is the ultimate tension of No Russian. 00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:43.029 It started as this. ambitious, perhaps misguided 00:19:43.029 --> 00:19:45.930 attempt by Jesse Stern to explore human atrocity. 00:19:46.009 --> 00:19:48.410 Right. It ended up polarizing its own creators. 00:19:48.589 --> 00:19:51.150 It triggered international censorship and it 00:19:51.150 --> 00:19:53.509 forced an entire industry to reckon with the 00:19:53.509 --> 00:19:56.109 raw power of interactivity. The essential takeaway 00:19:56.109 --> 00:19:58.250 for you listening right now is the fundamental 00:19:58.250 --> 00:20:00.769 difference between video games and movies. Right. 00:20:00.829 --> 00:20:02.869 When you watch a horrific scene in a film, you 00:20:02.869 --> 00:20:05.430 are a witness. The director is completely in 00:20:05.430 --> 00:20:07.450 control of where you look and how fast the scene 00:20:07.450 --> 00:20:10.079 moves. But when you hold a controller. Even if 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:12.119 you never press the button to fire your weapon, 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.680 the game makes you complicit. Your physical presence, 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:18.200 your movement through the digital space makes 00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:21.140 you a participant in the narrative in a way that 00:20:21.140 --> 00:20:23.819 passive media simply cannot achieve. The illusion 00:20:23.819 --> 00:20:26.539 of choice is still a choice. You chose to walk 00:20:26.539 --> 00:20:29.319 forward. You chose to participate in the simulation. 00:20:29.539 --> 00:20:32.259 And that is a uniquely heavy burden for a piece 00:20:32.259 --> 00:20:34.099 of entertainment to place on its audience. It 00:20:34.099 --> 00:20:36.700 really is. Which leaves us with a final lingering 00:20:36.700 --> 00:20:40.480 thought. We've seen how a game from 2009 with 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:43.400 2009 graphics caused global outrage and prompted 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:46.380 deep psychological debate. But as gaming technology 00:20:46.380 --> 00:20:49.579 moves rapidly toward near -perfect photorealism, 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:52.140 and as virtual reality becomes more and more 00:20:52.140 --> 00:20:54.980 immersive, how will our psychological threshold 00:20:54.980 --> 00:20:58.180 for simulating atrocity evolve? That's the real 00:20:58.180 --> 00:21:00.680 question. If developers continue to follow that 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:03.740 impulse to push us as close as possible to atrocity, 00:21:03.859 --> 00:21:06.299 will a simple warning screen and a skip button 00:21:06.299 --> 00:21:08.599 ever really be enough to protect us from the 00:21:08.599 --> 00:21:10.940 ghosts we engineer in the machine? Something 00:21:10.940 --> 00:21:12.920 to think about the next time you pick up a controller.