No Russian

"No Russian" is a level featured in the 2009 first-person shooter video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. In the level, the player controls Joseph Allen, and undercover CIA agent who participates in an airport massacre to gain the trust of a Russian terrorist group. At the end of the level, Allen is killed by the group's leader Vladimir Makarov, who reveals that his goal was for Russian officials to find Allen's body, and think that the attack was instigated by the United States. The player is not required to kill any civilians, and is allowed to skip the level all together without any penalties.

Game designer Mohammad Alavi was heavily involved in level's development. When he was designing "No Russian", Alavi sought to explain why Russia would invade the United States, and have the player make an emotional connection to Makarov. Alavi did not base the level on a real life terrorist attack, and instead drew inspiration from news articles and movies. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's developer Infinity Ward and publisher Activision were both supportive of the level's inclusion, though several game testers expressed disapproval, with one game tester refusing to play the level at all.

Prior to the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, gameplay footage from the level was leaked on the Internet. Though some journalists were cautious towards the level's content, they decided to wait until they could actually play the level to judge its merits. After the game's release, "No Russian" was largely criticized for allowing players to partake in a terrorist attack. Other journalists described the plot as illogical, and derided the ability to skip the level. Due to the graphic content featured in "No Russian", Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was subject to censorship and rating changes in international versions of the game, including the entire removal of the level from the Russian version. Journalists have since discussed the importance of "No Russian" to the video game industry.

Gameplay and plot

In the level, the player can shoot at a group of civilians at an airport.

"No Russian" is the fourth level in the 2009 first-person shooter video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It begins with the player walking out of an elevator with four other gunmen, who proceed to open fire on a large group of civilians at a security checkpoint. The player then accompanies the gunmen as they walk through the airport killing any remaining civilians. The level is very graphic, as screams can be heard throughout, and the injured crawl away leaving blood trails. However, the player is never forced to partake in the massacre, and may instead let their comrades kill the civilians. Once the player exits the airport, they will then get into a firefight with armed soldiers, some of whom have riot shields. Once the player has dealt with the armed soldiers, they are able to complete the level. If the player does not feel comfortable during the level, they are allowed to skip to the next level with no penalties.

The plot of "No Russian" follows Joseph Allen, an undercover CIA agent who is tasked with infiltrating and gaining the trust of a Russian terrorist group; in order to do this, he must participate in a massacre at Zakhaev International Airport in Moscow. The group's leader, Vladimir Makarov, informs the gunmen not to speak Russian, to ensure that the United States is blamed for the attack. However, Makarov kills Allen at the end of the level, and reveals that he knew of Allen's true identity; his goal was for Russian officials to discover that one of the assailants was an American, and that Russia would declare war on the United States. The events of "No Russian" are also mentioned in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. In a flashback sequence, one of the game's characters, Yuri, attempted to stop the massacre, but was shot and almost killed by Makarov.

Development

"No Russian" was conceived by Steve Fukada, the lead game designer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2; however, Mohammad Alavi, another game designer, was much more involved in the level's development. In an interview with Magical Wasteland, Alavi stated that he never intended for "No Russian" to attract controversy or be seen as a political statement, but instead developed it as a way to progress the game's narrative. He wanted the level to fulfill three tasks: "Sell why Russia would attack the US, make the player have an emotional connection to the bad guy Makarov, and do that in a memorable and engaging way." Although Robert Rath of Zam.com asserts that "No Russian" was based off the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Alavi denied this claim, and instead drew inspiration from news articles and movies. The majority of level's development was spent designing the massacre. In the first iteration of "No Russian", the massacre ended once the player killed the group of civilians outside the elevator, which then transitioned into a firefight. Alavi felt that having an emotional scene abruptly shift into a firefight was "gimmicky", and thus altered the level to have the massacre continue much longer. He also did not want the massacre to be too traumatic, and edited out children or families hugging each other.

According to Alavi, Infinity Ward and Activision, the game's respective developer and publisher, were both supportive of the inclusion of "No Russian". In contrast, game testers elicited a number of reactions to the level. One game tester, who at the time was enlisted in the United States Armed Forces, refused to play the level at all, but was willing to play the rest of the game. This led to the implementation of the skip feature, as Alavi did not want the player to be punished for not doing what they felt was morally wrong.

Reception

Initial reception

See also: Controversies surrounding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Prior to the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, footage taken from the "No Russian" level was leaked on the Internet; Activision quickly clarified that the footage was real, and explained the level's context within the game. This early footage divided opinions among video game journalists. Tom Hoggins of The Daily Telegraph felt that he could not properly judge the level without having played it; however, he still questioned whether Infinity Ward had approached the level from the wrong direction by letting the player use grenades to "treat these civilians as human bowling pins". Keith Stuart of The Guardian criticized the option of letting players skip the level, describing it as a "cop-out" for a developer intended level. Jim Sterling of Destructoid however was fully supportive of the level, as he thought that it was a statement that video games could discuss controversial topics, which he felt that many developers would often shy away from. He concluded by saying that if "No Russian" was able to make players question if the payoff was worth human sacrifice, then video games could finally be considered an art form.

Upon its release, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 received critical acclaim. However, when journalists were able to play "No Russian", they heavily criticized its content. Marc Cieslak of BBC News was saddened by the level, as he felt it disproved his theory that the video game industry had "grown up". Kieron Gillen of Rock, Paper, Shotgun chastised the level for failing to live up to expectations. He found the plot to be illogical, criticized the skip feature for rendering an artistic statement as "laughably pathetic", and ultimately summarized the level as "dumb shock". Matt Peckham of PC World questioned why the gunmen would not care if the player did not shoot, and felt that not informing the player of what was about to happen until the last possible moment was "creating a kind of plausible emotional deniability by removing all the dramatic impetus that ought to surround it". Several prominent British religious leaders condemned "No Russian": Alexander Goldberg of the London Jewish Forum was worried that children would play the level; Fazan Mohammed of the British Muslim Forum described the level as an intimate experience of enacting terrorism; and Stephen Lowe, the retired Bishop of Hulme, felt that the level was "sickening".

Due to the graphic content of "No Russian", international versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 were subject to censorship and rating changes. The level was completely removed from Russian versions of the game, a decision that Activision made independently since Russia does not have a ratings system for games. In Japanese and German versions of the game, the level was edited so that the player would fail the mission if they killed any civilians. The Japanese version was criticized for changing Makarov's opening line, "Remember, no Russian", to "Kill them; they are Russians". In Australia, a country known for its stringent regulations of video games, rated the game MA15+, which was contested by politician Michael Atkinson who felt that "No Russian" allowed players to be "virtual terrorists". He championed for the Australian Classification Board to change their rating to R18+, which would make the game illegal to sell in the country; however, the board did not change the rating.

Retrospective commentary

In 2012, Laura Parker of GameSpot discussed how "No Russian" was a watershed moment for the video game industry. She saw the level as raising the question of whether or not it was acceptable to discuss human suffering in video games, and if their status as entertainment products prevented them from doing so. She also commented that if more developers were willing to take risks and include controversial material, then video game would finally receive cultural recognition. One game that attempted this was Spec Ops: The Line, a 2012 third-person shooter that featured civilian deaths following a sandstorm in Dubai. Walt Williams, the lead writer for Spec Ops: The Line, remarked that the development team sought to avoid the "clumsiness" of "No Russian", and instead make killing civilians an integral part to the story, and that the events leading to their deaths were organic.

In his book Playing War: Military Video Games After 9/11, Mathew Payne analyzed three controversial levels from the Call of Duty series, including "No Russian". He opined that Allen's death emphasized the militainment theme of the soldier who sacrifices themselves for the greater good. Payne also commented that while "No Russian" could be seen as a realistic depiction of war when compared to contemporary representations, it inevitably can only be viewed in the context of the story, and thus removes any potential of having the player reexamine the "precepts of post-modern war". Following the November 2015 Paris attacks, Robert Rath of Zam.com replayed "No Russian" and examined how the level mirrors that of real life terrorist attacks. Rath felt that while the plot of the level was absurd and illogical, the attack featured in the level was realistic, and it could teach players that modern terrorist attacks often occur at soft targets, which are buildings that are usually unprotected.

In the wake of the 2011 Domodedovo International Airport bombing, RT broadcast a report that juxtaposed security camera footage of the attack with gameplay footage of "No Russian". RT would go on to state that the level was reminiscent the bombing, and that terrorists could be using video games as training tools.