“they thought they would put in a scene that would different and cool and with style”

What? How is anything about “No Russian” cool or stylish? It's about going “undercover” and proving your worth to Makarov by needlessly massacring civilians. Even by the low standards of a show like 24, that's a weak thread to go on. Given that the mission greatly reduces the capabilities of the player (very slow walk speed, no jumping, etc), we have to assume that, again, Infinity-Ward didn't want this mission to be “fun” so much as “powerful.” And maybe that's not a bad impetus, but the specific design and execution of this mission was so absurd, so over-the-top, and in such a place (an airport) as to blatantly work off of post-9/11 fears that I fail to see how anything makes for a “cool” or “stylish” thing to put into the game. And, yes, when you put the player in a role to kill civilians in an airport, taking the position that “No Russian” isn't intended to shock people is an almost non-defensible one to take.

And how does “No Russian” in any way compare to anything from The Matrix, again?

So since it is basically impossible to please people like you (once you realize that such a scene is never justified by plot vis-a-vis using a less-violent mission), people go and assume that the only reason they put it in there was for shock value. BS! What probably happened is that someone did the EXACT same thing as Kurt Vonnegut in SlaughterHouse-Five or Oliver Stone in Natural Born Killers–they thought they would put in a scene that would different and cool and with style. Makarov's simple phrase, “Remember, no Russian”, his whole demeanor, the Matrix-style abundance of hardware and outmatched victims: they are all there to put the player in awe, not necessarily shock. Now because this medium is a video game, which includes particular biased views, many assume that the developers must have put it in there just to shock people. This assumption is COMPLETELY unfounded. I mean, once you think about it, you have no evidence for it whatsoever. It may have shocked you, but it is completely consistent to assume that the developers wanted to put something cool in the game. Maybe they even wanted to put a thought-provoking scene in the game. But the distance third is that some of the developers were twisting their mustaches and saying, “I know, let's put something in there that's really F-ed up–let's just shock the hell out of people!”

If it came off as shocking to you, just realize how difficult it would be to make a scene like this even if the developers had no intention to shock people. Then, upon reflection, your impression should seem completely unfounded.

Except it didn't get real, at all. I think it would be great to have an interactive experience of the compromise and hard choices entailed by the “war on terror”. This game is so far from being that. So far, the only goal of Modern Warfare 2 seems to be the glorification of a vicious cynicism- “whatever works”. Why am I supposed to find that a fun gameplay experience?

Thanks for writing this- it's what I've been trying to explain coherently to everyone I've talked to since I played that mission.

On the Russian penetration of the coasts, you're right. That is a pretty huge plot-hole. Even if our satellites were disabled, we still have ships off the coasts with their own detection systems.

It seems like the entire Russian offensive was a giant “fuck you” to America. They insert millions of soldiers, bulldoze suburbia and everyone in it, and take our capital away from us.

First off, just because you were shot and left behind this starts off WWIII? I know the Ultranationalists are in charge, but Makarov says Russia will rally for a full scale assault on the US. Um, what? Because one American, who was obviously betrayed by his team with the point blank shot in the head, was found on the scene? Was there not a single witness, not a single bit of security camera footage showing Makarov and the other three obviously non-Americans killing civilians? And how about the American obviously not shooting any Civilians (should you choose not to)? And why does the FSB swat-like team allow an ambulance to just waltz on out of the massacre as they approach your dying body at the end of the mission? Lunacy.

Then there's the actual attack. So we're mean to believe that an ACS Unit (whatever that is) on a single downed satellite will allow the Russians to completely subvert America's ENTIRE defense system? Even if you buy into that completely implausible situation, it's obvious the Russians have no intent on sparing civlians in this attack, what with that armored vehicle firing like crazy on homes trekkiing down the street. Why wouldn't the Russians just nuke DC and get it over with? And what is with this cat and mouse mission you go on? What is so strategic about a gas station and a couple chain restaurants in suburban DC?