Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Has A Playable Child Soldier Scene

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was revealed today, and a lot of the messaging around the game is that it holds back no punches. War is dark. War isn't black or white. And the game will explore this and try and represent this. According to Variety, at some point in the game there's a scene where you play as a child soldier. Child soldiers are a tragic and unfortunate part of modern warfare, but it's something that's really been explored in video games. It's a touchy subject.

There's one part of the game were players control a young girl who stabs and shoots a bunch of Russian soldiers who are gassing unarmed civilians. It sounds like you only play as the young girl for one scene, but even if it's just one scene that's much darker than most Call of Duty games get. But according to Infinity Ward, these type of situations are the realities of modern warfare, and they just couldn't ignore that.

"When we set out to make this project, we made it very simple for ourselves, what do the words modern warfare represent," said narrative director Taylor Kurosaki while speaking to Variety. "What defines modern warfare for us, or what do we believe defines it in the world we live in in 2019?

Kurosaki continued:

"You are inherently taking on these sensitive topics today more than any other time. The battle lines are not really clearly defined. The warzone is not over there, somewhere in some remote corner of the world, it's all around us. A busy city center can become a combat zone in a blink of an eye. For a Tier one operator, navigating that world is part and parcel with what we believe modern warfare to be.

"If we only talked about western soldiers fighting in far-flung lands or on domestic counter-terrorism in their homes that would also only tell you half the story. There is a whole group of people where the battle zones are their home and their cities."

According to Kurosaki, the aim isn't to be provocative. The aim is simply to show the realities of what warfare in 2019 looks like it, which is a "serious business and it can be kind of messy."

That said, Kurosaki does note it won't all be gloomy and heavy, there are moment of triumph and comradely, but for the reveal it wanted to focus on what makes this game different than previous ones, and that's it won't refrain from painting the entire picture of war.

There will be some restraints put on players though. They can't just kill children and innocent civilians whenever they please. If they do, there will be an in-game way of curtailing it, and if the player persists, they will be booted from the game. And this is a reflection of what happens in real life when a soldier steps out of line and beyond their duty.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is poised to release on October 25 via the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. For more coverage on the shooter, click here. And, as always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think or hit me up on Twitter @Tyler_Fischer_ and let me know over there.