Call of Duty: Modern Warfarehas released to mostly positive reviews from critics, but the reaction from fans has been more mixed, for a variety of reasons. Russian fans in particular have taken issue withCall of Duty: Modern Warfare, and they (along with others) have startedreview bombing the game on MetaCritic, devastating its user scores in the process.
The main reason whyCall of Duty: Modern Warfareis getting review bombedis due to its depiction of Russians in the campaign. Generally speaking, theCall of Duty: Modern Warfarecampaign depicts Russians as the “bad guys,” whereas American forces are portrayed as the “good guys.” Taking this dynamic a step further, theCall of Duty: Modern Warfarecampaign depicts Russian soldiers committing war crimes. It even goes as far as to attribute the Iraq’s “Highway of Death” destruction to the Russians, even though in reality it was caused by primarily US forces.
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The fictional country Urzikstan in theCall of Duty: Modern Warfarecampaignis in many ways an amalgamation of various Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq and Syria. It has a near-identical Highway of Death as the one found in real-world Iraq, with the difference being that the Russians destroyed this fictional version. This seems to be the primary reason why people have been review bombingCall of Duty: Modern Warfare, with many comments accusing the game of being American propaganda.
At the time of this writing, theCall of Duty: Modern WarfarePS4 Metacritic score is a dismal 3.0 due to players' review bombing efforts. Comparatively, its critic score is an impressive 85. Almost all of the user reviews are focused on the game’s controversial portrayal of Russians as opposed to the gameplay quality, which explains why the big gap between theCall of Duty: Modern Warfarecritic scoresand the user scores.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s controversial portrayal of Russians could very well explain why the game isn’t being sold on the Russian PlayStation Store. Prior to launch, it was revealed thatCall of Duty: Modern Warfarewouldn’t be on the Russian PlayStation Store, pulled by Sony itself, though no reasons were given at the time. However, it seems likely that this move was done to appease the Russian government, which has been known to banCall of Dutygames in the past, likeModern Warfare 2, for instance.
Activision has yet to comment on the controversial portrayal of Russians inCall of Duty: Modern Warfareat the time of this writing.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfareis out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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