Resized to 18% of original (view original)
big boss, naked snake, big daddy, larry foulke, little sister, and 7 more (original and 24 more) drawn by evaita

Artist's commentary

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    I'm 21 now, so I decided to draw something dedicated to my childhood. This is my happy-birthday picture for myself. Thanks to all the great games, great game developers, and my great father.

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    NWSiaCB
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    Putting Spec Ops: The Line in there really makes it hard to see what they're going for... I mean, Spec Ops was basically paint-by-numbers bog standard cover shooter so far as gameplay went, it was the narrative that made it unique, and its narrative was basically about how Call of Duty was blindly jingoistic nonsense that cheered for maximalist hawkish intervention everywhere. Just looking at the flag-draped character in the pic, it doesn't even seem like the artist really got that...

    -5 Reply
    JsTuCkEy
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    NWSiaCB said:

    Putting Spec Ops: The Line in there really makes it hard to see what they're going for... I mean, Spec Ops was basically paint-by-numbers bog standard cover shooter so far as gameplay went, it was the narrative that made it unique, and its narrative was basically about how Call of Duty was blindly jingoistic nonsense that cheered for maximalist hawkish intervention everywhere. Just looking at the flag-draped character in the pic, it doesn't even seem like the artist really got that...

    TVTropes said:
    The Modern Warfare trilogy, despite what the Hatedom and Misaimed Fandom will tell you, is a deconstruction of jingoistic military shooters:

    The first game juxtaposes typical US government posturing about freedom/democracy/"restoring stability to the region" with unsettling hints the Middle Eastern country was an oil-rich US puppet state, and contrasts the macho, cowboy attitude of the American grunts with a US Army tank named after a famous anti-war song, "War Pig", and levels named after anti-war movies like Apocalypse Now and Dr. Strangelove (which, like the American campaign, ends with massive nuclear devastation). While you're playing, the United States seems like a good guy championing peace and stability (obviously due to your player character being on their side), but the implication that to the other side it's an imperialist bully who can only be defeated by nuclear weapons remains. By the end, any player not under the sway of Confirmation Bias is left feeling like the game world is just a bunch of political structures throwing propaganda at each other to cover up the void where the truth should be. Sort of like real life.
    The sequel goes even farther. It starts with a US task force performing three separate acts of unilateral action, but things sour when the Russian army invades the United States over a botched CIA operation that resulted in Russian civilians dead and an American soldier's finger on the trigger. But to the American grunts fending off the invasion, it's obvious they're the victims. The two sides, inflamed by nationalism, fight to avenge their countries with Patriotic Fervor unaware that that's exactly why a ranking American general purposefully botched the CIA op. In the game, the war is treated as a power fantasy between nationalists wearing the mask of righteousness. The human beings on the front lines, actually fighting for their country, are treated as disposable pawns by their leader.
    The third and final game in the trilogy was made after Infinity Ward's founders were fired, taking on a more generic America Saves the Day tone, but doesn't betray the anti-nationalist attitude. The United States never actually wins the war, nor is Russia treated as an irredeemable enemy. Moderates on both sides just get tired of conflict, and the end comes when American special forces rescue the Russian president from Russian extremist nationalists so he can order the military to stand down.

    -2 Reply

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