![]() Being an overthrown, Middle-Eastern president is not. Playing soldier is a typical videogame experience. ![]() This particular first-person perspective is not to be taken for granted: by carrying us from a dispassionate, out-of-context satellite image into the very eyes of Al-Fulani, Modern Warfare impresses that we are being given a privileged view. To be literally steered into his body-for the camera to force its way into his head, rather than simply cut to a first-person perspective-alerts us to the fact that we are about to be shown is noteworthy. However, when “The Coup” finishes loading, we follow-with the camera-down from the satellite view and into a building, staying on the loading screen until it physically enters the head of Yasir Al-Fulani, the deposed president of Modern Warfare ‘s nameless, pseudo Middle-Eastern country. When we are first introduced to each of these characters, the loading screen simply cuts straight to their first-person perspective: straight away, when the action starts, we are inhabiting their bodies and looking through their eyes. Throughout Modern Warfare we change perspectives, playing either as SAS trooper John “Soap” MacTavish, US Marine Paul Jackson or, in a series of flashback missions, Soap’s commanding officer Captain Price. This loading screen is not like what has come before. It’s subtle, but it perfectly sets the level’s tone. Stephen Barton’s foreboding score, the conversation between two analysts, and the satellite image of a Middle-Eastern city are enough to tell us something is going on-but until the camera flickers and blacks out, and then spirals down to ground level, we don’t know precisely what. Compared to the levels before it, which were explained to the player directly, “The Coup” begins with an ambiguity. “Car inbound,” says one anonymous observer, as the camera follows a moving white dot. On the contrary, Modern Warfare ‘s third level, “The Coup,” opens on an eerily quiet God’s-eye view. Not that the game’s loading screens are always filled with dialogue. If you can use them for exposition, why leave your loading screens empty? Like a soldier, on standby for mission go, while the player waits for action, she sits through an intelligence briefing. ![]() “We’ve got a civil war in Russia … 15,000 nukes at stake.” It’s graceful. “Good news first,” explains SAS operative Gaz, before the opening level. Each loading screen provides a satellite image of the upcoming mission, accompanied by a terse overview. On the Level is a series that closely analyzes individual videogame sections, examining how small moments in games can resonate throughout - and beyond - t he games themselves.Ĭall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ‘s (2007) writers understand brevity. ![]()
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