When war becomes a game

Medal of Honor: Afghanistan lets video gamers fight as the Taliban, and it’s not sitting well with many Canadians

One of the most popular video games on the market today is the Medal of Honor franchise, which delivers gamers hyper-realistic first-person shooting action set in real conflicts. Until now, installments of the game have depicted World War II, but an upcoming, yet-to-be released edition recreates the Afghanistan war, and allows players to fight as either NATO troops or the Taliban. The game has drawn condemnation from all quarters, including Defence Minsiter Peter McKay.

There’s only one viewpoint that matters on this issue, according to the Calgary Sun’s Michael Platt, and that’s the one held by soldiers and their families. While “decorated veterans of computer conflict” may love playing Medal of Honor in the “hazy” reality of dark basements, there are may people “for whom Afghanistan is anything but a game.” Platt quotes Canadian Michael Hornburg, who lost his son in the war, as saying playing cyber dress-up as the Taliban is “an insult to soldiers and their families.”

While some might defend the game on the grounds that it’s a realistic representation of war, the National Post’s Adrian McNair doubts that argument stands up. After all, he says, the Taliban rarely ever engage troops in the kind of firefights that feature in video games. A realistic game would “feature an option for… burning down girls’ schools,” something that Medal of Honor, it would seem, does offer.

In Britain, where Defence Secretary Liam Fox has called for the game to be banned before its release, the Daily Telegraph’s Nick Cowen says that critics should actually play it before they pass judgment. Gamers aren’t likely to be convinced “by people who don’t even have the decency to pick up a controller and form their own opinions, ” he says, noting that when a movie or book is subject to controversy, “a critic who is an expert in that field is called in to provide context. If a video game makes headlines, it seems anyone … can pass judgment.”