10 Most Offensive Video Game Moments Of The Decade (So Far)
Gather round and see how desensitised you've become...
If 2016 could take form and draw breath, its mission statement would be "Taking offence to things". Because man, having been on this planet for almost three decades, I can't recall another point in time where literally everyone and everything appears to royally pee off some subset of people, every single day.
In video games it's no different either, as although we're currently basking in the glow of some of the finest titles to grace the generation overall, there are a number of games and developers that try to do all sorts of things in the pursuit of being memorable, standing out or tackling sensitive subject matter only to fall flat on their collective faces.
As a collective populace, we seem to be over the whole "Video games are destroying the youth of today!" mentality, but you don't need to look very far to find creators pushing the boundaries of the forever-fluctuating 'moral decency' line all the same.
What would it take for a video game to offend you? Let's find out...
10. Medal Of Honor Lets You Play As The Taliban
Developing a first-person shooter around the horrors of war during war time isn't always the best way to get a project off the ground. It was more acceptable for Medal of Honor's initial run to ape the D-Day landings and horrors of World War II, as plenty of time had passed (if such a thing ever truly makes it 'okay'), however for 2010's entry in the series, Danger Close wanted to include the Taliban as playable characters, simply because of how 'inspired by real events' the story was.
Turns out, when the Western hemisphere is at war with such a force that also happens to be slaughtering hundreds of their own soldiers, it's not the right time to make a 'fun' multiplayer shooter.
Naturally, there was a major outcry from everyone including politicians and military officials. Medal of Honor was labelled as unfit for sale across various countries, as British Secretary State of Defense, Liam Fox stated, "It is shocking that someone would think it acceptable to recreate the acts of the Taliban [...] At the hands of the Taliban, children have lost fathers and wives have lost husbands."
The developers responded by changing the Taliban faction's name to 'Opposing Force', acknowledging that Medal of Honor was always intended to pay tribute to the brave people who put their lives on the line, but you need only look to the lacklustre sales and cultural reception of the game overall, to see the damage was already done.