Call of Duty: Modern Warfare narrative director Taylor Kurosaki has defended Infinity Ward’s position in the controversy surrounding the game’s portrayal of the Highway of Death.
The Highway of Death is the name given to a real-life tragedy that occurred when U.S. led forces ended up killing scores of innocent civilians on a highway between Kuwait and Iraq during the first Gulf War. In Modern Warfare, the incident is portrayed as a Russian atrocity, leading many to question Infinity Ward.
Speaking to GameSpot, Kurosaki suggested that players misunderstood the mission and that Infinity Ward wasn’t blaming the Russians for it. He said:
When you mentioned the Highway of Death, if you, if you go back, I encourage you to go back and play start from the beginning of that mission, where you get the mission briefing. Farah talks about this location as the Highway of Death before the mission takes place. So the Highway of Death is not what came out of that mission. It was already that. And then if you look at the environmental storytelling, there’s already bombed out vehicles and all kinds of, you know, things that are relating to previous episodes and it’s even mentioned in there.
When GameSpot reiterated that Modern Warfare specifically mentions a Russian terrorist attack during the mission briefing, Kurosaki said that players can “probably find many instances of the words ‘Highway of Death’ being used in a lot of cases” but did not expand further. However, he added that Modern Warfare features Russian antagonists as well as Russian heroes.
What do our readers think of Kurosaki’s explanation?
[Source: GameSpot]
