Call of Duty Modern Warfare Attributes Highway of Death Incident to Russia Instead of US

Update: In an interview with Gamespot, Narrative Director Taylor Kurosaki addressed the Highway of Death situation by saying the following: “&#91…&#93 I think could find many instances of the words “highway of death” being used in a lot of cases. The reason why Urzikstan is a fictional country is because we are taking themes that we see played over and over and over again over the last fifty years in countries all over the world, in locations all over the world, and we’re not making a simulation of one particular country or one particular conflict.”

“These are themes that play out over and over again and with a lot of the same players involved &#91…&#93 we don’t portray one side as good or bad in our game. There are, uh, American characters who, um, who sort of betray the trust of other characters in the story; there are Middle Easterners who, uh, kind of resort to, um, tactics that, you know, you wouldn’t are sort of above board. &#91…&#93 same thing for Russian characters, we have Russian antagonists and Russian heroes in this game and, again, that was our goal. We’re not, uh, this is not some kind of, you know, propaganda, or anything like that. This is reporting on what is happening in these conflict zones.”, he continued. The topic is addressed at around the 12 minute mark in the video.

Kurosaki’s answer echoes what a portion of the community was saying about the Highway of Death situation when pointing out how Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is set in a fictional country and has events inspired by multiple real-life conflicts.

Original story: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s handling of the Highway of Death incident that took place during the Gulf War has attracted attention and criticism from the game’s community.

Taking inspiration for its campaign from the real-life conflict, although placing its action in a fictional country bordering Russia, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare attributes the attack to Russian rather than US forces.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Highway of Death

“Tariq Almawt’ the highway of death. The Russians bombed it during the invasion, killing the people trying to escape.”, a character in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare says.

The real-life event took place on Highway 80, where the American led coalition opened fire on more than 350 retreating Iraqi soldiers that had, reportedly, surrendered. According to some reports, civilians were also among those killed.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare aims for a grittier, more realistic take on war, as far as its campaign goes. That being said, while there are similarities between the two takes on the Highway of Death incident, it’s worth keeping in mind that, as user Shock4ndAwe points out on Reddit, aside from its fictional setting, the title also features events similar to those in other conflicts.