Introduction
Medal of Honor is a first-person fighter video game franchise. DreamWorks Interactive created the first game, which was distributed by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation. The gameplay focuses on the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), an American surveillance organization during the Second World War.
The game is set to depict the Afghanistan invention in 2002 and the battle between the U.S. military and the Taliban. The Coalition and the Opposing Forces are the two conflicting forces in the game. The Coalition uses M16A4, M4A1, M21, AT4, and M9 pistols, whereas the Opposing Forces utilize AK-47, AKS-74U, SVD, RPG-7, and Tariq pistols, which are comparable to those used by the Taliban (Mirrlees, 2019). Due to the close resemblance of the game to the Afghanistan war, the game has sparked a controversy that depicts society as a critical element whose interest should be considered in the game settings and role play.
Identifying the Controversy
Video games, whether single or multi-player, are meant to educate, critic, and reinforce some values in society. When they fail to meet the socially accepted codes and expectations of a group of people, they can be described as controversial. The “Medal of Honor” game features the first-line combat operations in a manner that has sparked controversies among the U.S. population. According to Chapman and Linderoth (2015), the game sparked a major controversy among the American military and the families of men and women who played sacrificial roles in the Afghanistan war. This is attributed to the game’s feature that allows a player to take the role of the Taliban and fight with the American soldiers. Although the game ends in victory for the U.S. military, the fact that Americans can choose to play the roles of their enemy is controversial.
Lessons from the Controversies
Games reflect certain attributes in society and evoke different feelings and perspectives in society. In contrast to most other types of entertainment, video games may bring people together from diverse backgrounds and ideologies. When people participate in any type of gameplay, they are encouraged to adopt a point of view that they are not used to (Costa et al., 2018). Gaming has evolved to include authentic, collaborative play that brings people together from all classes. This fosters new relationships and promotes stronger communities. As video games have grown in complexity, richness, and depth, so too have the communities who enjoy them, and those communities are only growing in inclusiveness and accessibility (Burgess & Matamoros-Fernández, 2016). Through these new relationships, gamers are able to put themselves in the shoes of others, which promotes empathy and compassion among the player community. In “Medal of Honor,” society’s criticism of the characters, setting, and theme of the play reveal several attributes of its perception of video games.
Video Games as Value Moderators
Patriotism, honor, and respect are some of the values expected of every member of society. For the love of their nation and the commitment to global peace and harmony, the U.S. Military launched an attack in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and neutralize their influence over the country. They expected that every American would honor their sacrifices on the battlefield. The game “Medal of Honor” violates this requirement by having a game setting that allows users to decide whether to play as the Coalition or Taliban (Chapman & Linderoth, 2015). The Taliban aspect reminds the American heroes of the challenges they faced on the battlefield. The situation is worsened by having Americans stake the role of the enemy who killed the military, inflicting pain on the entire force and their loved ones. This controversy led to several complaints and criticism, which led to the name change from Taliban to opposing forces.
This instance proves that society views video games as critical elements that can reinforce or limit the expression of societal values. The values in question here are patriotism and honor, which should be directed to the war heroes. In line with social expectations, Electronic Arts, the video game’s producer, was asked to pull down the Taliban part, to which it complied (Mirrlees, 2019). In a statement delivered by Mr. Goodrich, the executive producer, the move was taken to honor the heroes who “paid the ultimate sacrifice” during the war (Mirrlees, 2019). This controversy further ascertains that video games are not mere sources of entertainment but have a significant role in shaping values and teaching them to all members of society. At no point should a society’s values be violated, even in a video game.
Influence of Games on Behavior and Personality Development
Society is comprised of individuals with different life perspectives, personalities, and behaviors. In many cases, a person is bound to pick up a trait from their surroundings: people, events, and games. According to Bean et al. (2017), video gamers have been a significant and increasing part of our society for a long time. As the population of video gamers increases, so does the prevalence of social evils. War is one of the social issues that has affected individual nations and global interactions. The game “Medal of Honor” reveals the complexity of war and the advancement in warfare techniques and machines. Ouellette and Thompson (2017) show that people’s behavior can be altered by their attitudes and participation in video games. Therefore, the controversy raised on the “Medal of Honor” demonstrates that society believes it has a role to protect its people against moral erosion that could result from the game.
The impact of video games on behavior change has been going on for decades, with society and video gamers taking opposite sides. According to critics, video games, contrary to popular belief, do not promote violence or bad conduct (Bean et al., 2017). There have been many prejudices and unfounded assertions made about this aspect for years now. One of the most destructive allegations made by the media is that video games are to blame for acts of violence and criminal activity. The claims raised against the “Medal of Honor” prove that society holds the position that advocating for Taliban roles would promote violence and irate behavior among gamers.
Games Compared to National Interests
Military combats are crucial operations whose details should be minimally revealed to the public. In the “Medal of Honor,” the characters chosen, locations displayed, and weapons used are characteristic of the real world (Chapman & Linderoth, 2015). They represent the actual weaponry used in the war, hinting at the secrets of battle. Since the purpose of the game was to entertain the public and demonstrate the skill and prowess of the American military, fictional places would have been a better choice.
The game exemplifies the popular military shooter genre in interactive media, which continues to be criticized. High-definition graphics are becoming more realistic, and game developers are attempting to provide the most authentic experiences imaginable. These games are now attempting to portray contemporary events and write stories about them. There is a higher level of sensitivity when dealing with current themes (Ouellette & Thompson, 2017). When compared to earlier World War II or Vietnam War games, though, most people would say that there isn’t the same amount of sensitivity.
A source of this controversy surrounds the battlefield tactics revealed in the game. Since these strategies are specific to the Afghanistan war, they must have come from an insider within the forces. According to Mirrlees (2019), the American Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) ordered the game to be banned from sale on its military bases since it violated core principles. In defense, the producers argued that representing the war on a video game was not different from noting it down in books. The decision made by the AAFES concerning the controversy reveals that video games are viewed as insignificant elements that should not interfere with national security in their portrayal of key social concepts. Although the game attracted millions of gamers globally, it threatened to wrongly highlight American military operations and therefore had to be stopped.
The Effect of Video Games on People
Although the “Medal of Honor” was set as a harmless game to highlight the Afghanistan war and the U.S. military’s victory, its impact on soldiers and their families were ignored. According to research done by Chapman and Linderoth (2015), maladaptive behavior, poor social skills, and loneliness are some of the negative impacts of video games. It is reported that while some people may benefit from video games through enhanced critical thinking and problem-solving skills, others may lose friends and become violent through addictive gaming (Bean et al., 2017). These harmful effects are important factors that led to the controversy in the “Medal of Honor.”
From the U.S. military’s perspective, the game would traumatize the soldiers and their families. The events described in the game, the locations, and the weaponry are elements with which the soldiers were too familiar. Again, the roles played by characters in the game represent the actual roles played by the American heroes who risked their lives daily on the battlefield. If the soldiers were to watch someone being killed by the Taliban characters in eth game, assuming that they played the role of the murdered character, they would be traumatized. After the war, the soldiers needed a warm welcome and time to recover from the shock of the bloodshed they witnessed on the ground. It follows that exposing them to a game showing some of the failures would harm their psychological well-being. Essentially, this controversy reveals that games are viewed as elements that could negatively affect people’s psychological, emotional, and mental well-being.
The youth represent a large proportion of society, and their ability to take different characters is undoubtedly high. In society, criminals and terrorist organizations are led by individuals, sometimes the youth, who have learned some war tactics from video games. According to Costa et al. (2018), the media and gaming fields are two significant forces that have continued to shape characters in society. Since the Taliban were a group of terrorists, well-trained and fighting against a powerful American military, some youths may learn that they, too, could play a similar role in real life. Aggression and violence begin in the mind, which could be triggered by video games, and grow in a person until they materialize through active participation. In this case, society holds the view that young people would be psychologically affected by video games to the point that they could turn to terrorism to fulfill their roles. Video games are not viewed as mere entertainers but as tools with the potential to solve society’s challenges or inflict it a myriad of political, social, and economic problems.
Conclusion
In conclusion, video games have significantly impacted society’s values and motivated individuals to develop new perspectives on life. The game “Medal of Honor” was set to honor the men and women who took part in the Afghanistan war against the Taliban. Although the American military emerged victoriously, many soldiers died on the battlefield. The game was set to include the coalition fighting against an opposition force originally named the Taliban. These roles created a controversy among the American population, especially soldiers and their families. The controversy shows that society believes that video games significantly affect social values, impede psychological well-being, and should be insignificant compared to national interests. It is society’s role to protect its people and ensure that its core values are preserved. The pressure placed on the video game producers to change the Taliban name signifies that society was keen on correcting the apparent destruction caused by the video game. Although the game was developed to honor American war heroes, it created a controversy that limited its impact and exposed society’s different perspectives on video games.
References
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Burgess, J., & Matamoros-Fernández, A. (2016). Mapping sociocultural controversies across digital media platforms: one week of #gamergate on Twitter, YouTube, and Tumblr. Communication Research and Practice, 2(1), 79-96. Doi: 10.1080/22041451.2016.1155338
Chapman, A., & Linderoth, J. (2015). Exploring the Limits of Play: A Case Study of Representations of Nazism in Games. The Dark Side of Game Play, 137-153. Doi: 10.4324/9781315738680-9
Costa, C., Tyner, K., Henriques, S., & Sousa, C. (2018). Game Creation in Youth Media and Information Literacy Education. International Journal of Game-Based Learning, 8(2), 1-13. Doi: 10.4018/ijgbl.2018040101
Mirrlees, T. (2019). 29. Medal of Honor. In How to Play Video Games (pp. 242-249). New York University Press.
Ouellette, M. A., & Thompson, J. C. (2017). The Post-9/11 Video Game: A Critical Examination. McFarland.