Remember how in Goldeneye you could play as the bad guys? Well EA tried to do something similar in Medal of Honor Warfighter in which you could play as the Taliban. Yes in 2010 EA decided you could have the option of playing as the Taliban in the online multiplayer mode. The developers stated that it was a necessary inclusion in the game to make it more realistic and that "if someone is the cop, someone's gotta be the robber". Needless to say controversy was abound. Liam Fox, the UK Defense Secretary, tried to get the game banned because he deemed it "un-British". Fox, having not played or seen the game, claimed that you killed British troops in it, when the British forces didn't even feature in the game. This seems a little extreme when you consider that in every FPS multiplayer mode, one team is the US or British or whoever and the opposing side will be Germany, Russia or Korea. So this was really nothing new. Fox wasn't the only outspoken politician, Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay also said he did not approve of the game and the idea of children playing as the Taliban (despite the game having an 18 or M rating). The game was also banned from being sold in many US Military bases, "out of respect for the men and women serving their families." said commander Bruce Casella. In this scenario the politicians marginally got their way, the name of the team in the multiplayer mode was changed from Taliban to opposing forces, thus hushing the outcry. This is yet another tale of politicians complaining about things they have limited to no knowledge of and slandering the image of a game that really didn't do anything wrong.
Journalism student from Ireland. Interested in video games, books, rock music, films, comics, TV and wrestling - the basics! Check out my Twitter for PS4 screenshots and random comments!
