Gamescom: Shoot Racist Tea Partiers in ‘Battlefield Hardline’
In the upcoming first-person shooter Battlefield Hardline, players will shoot and kill racist anti-government Tea Party types, Gadsden flag and all. Gamers got their first look at Battlefield Hardline’s singleplayer campaign, from developer Visceral Games and publisher Electronic Arts, at the Gamescom gaming convention in Cologne, Germany, on Wednesday, but the reveal included an unexpected partisan shot across the bow of conservative gamers. The Battlefield series, created by Swedish development studio DICE, has been largely apolitical since its first installment was released in 2002, but that appears to have changed with Visceral Games taking the lead on the latest release.
The Hardline demonstration opens with the player character, Nick Mendoza, and his partner Marcus Boone meeting with a criminal contact, Tony Alpert. The situation soon turns sour as it’s revealed the meeting is a setup to capture Mendoza and deliver him to a crime boss. Imprisoned in a decommissioned missile silo, Mendoza must escape his captors and sneak through the underground bunker to gain his freedom.
Along the way, Alpert can be heard ranting over the complex’s PA system, proclaiming himself a “one man island of armed sovereignty” and complaining about how “bilge… is pumped into young minds” by educators across “these once-united states” that has led to the “denigration, the humbling, the tearing down of everything that made this country great.”
Guards can also be heard complaining about how the gang used to associate with “scumbags” like Marcus, who is black, as well as “Mexicans” and “hippies.” While discussing the bounty placed on Mendoza’s head that led to the double-cross, one enemy remarks, “A quarter-million bucks for a Mexican? Shit, man, I didn’t know they got so expensive.”
All of this could be interpreted as simply painting the enemies as a white-power criminal gang, the kind of hard-right boogeymen that progressives like to use as analogues for all conservatives, but a sequence later in the demonstration makes it clear the developer has a much more specific group in mind.
When finding evidence in a trailer that your captors are connected to the construction or sale of a missile, the player character remarks, “Looks like your old friends have gone way past bank robbery.” Marcus replies, “One black president and Tony completely lost his shit,” as a Gadsden flag, a symbol of the Tea Party movement, is displayed prominently on the wall.
"The Battlefield series, created by Swedish development studio DICE, has been largely apolitical since its first installment was released in 2002, but that appears to have changed with Visceral Games taking the lead on the latest release."
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember the Dixie Chicks?
The Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind. They can say what they want to say ... they shouldn't have their feelings hurt just because some people don't want to buy their records when they speak out ... Freedom is a two-way street ... I don't really care what the Dixie Chicks said. I want to do what I think is right for the American people, and if some singers or Hollywood stars feel like speaking out, that's fine. That's the great thing about America. It stands in stark contrast to Iraq ... George Bush
DeleteThe Chicks had their say. They won awards from their leftist entertainment buddies. I really liked them when they shut up and sang. Once they went to London in the middle of a war where our people were at risk and spewed their garbage that was it. I hope they all ended up having nice families and are enjoying the freedom that so many service people have given their lives for.
DeleteAs for these Swedish dicks who gives two shits about what they think.
"Did she make you cry, make you break down, and shatter your illusions of love. Now tell me is over now, do you know how, to pick up the pieces and go home"
DeleteThose mean Dixie's. Why didn't they just do what is expected of all women, namely keep their opinions to themselves and stick to making other people happy.
Oh, you don't know my wife.
DeleteBTW, that was Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac, "Gold Dust Woman."
DeleteI know it was Stevie, its just that this song seemed to fit your mood.
DeleteIs there any reason we should have forgotten them? I'd say history has proven them right that Iraq was going to be a disaster, but their fall occurred in our near Nazi like run up to the Iraq wherein anyone who dared question the wisdom of the invasion was deemed un-American.
ReplyDeleteNot sure on your angle here William, but I'm guessing that perhaps you believe there will be some major outrage and public burning of this game because they dare suggest that some in this country who claim to be about freedom and no oppression are really just white racists who are angry they are being outbred.
Seems that many in this country support free speech until it is used to demean them.
Rob Reiner Compares Tea Party To Terrorists
ReplyDeleteActor and director Rob Reiner drew criticism recently for his suggestion that Tea Party activists in the United States bore a strong resemblance to Hamas terrorists in Israel and Palestine. Reiner made these comments while appearing on the Larry King online talk show Politicking.
When asked about the crisis in Gaza, Reiner suggested that the key impediment to peace in Israel was the terrorist group Hamas, which has become radicalized with the idea that Israel must be destroyed. This fanaticism, Reiner said, makes negotiation between Israel and Palestine impossible, and thus a two state solution unworkable for the time being. Reiner then began speaking on problems in the United States Congress, suggesting that the Tea Party had gridlocked both houses, and had a stranglehold on House Speaker John Boehner. Reiner’s solution to the problem he sees with both Hamas and the Tea Party is to “eliminate them.”
Rob Reiner is arguably best known for his role on the sitcom All in the Family, where Carroll O’Connor’s Archie Bunker humorously referred to him as “Meat Head.” Reiner’s criticism of the Tea Party as an extremist group is not the first of its kind. In a 2010 issue of the popular comic book series Captain America, Marvel Comics also drew criticism for its portrayal of Tea Party protestors as domestic terrorists.
Fundamentally, I don't see much wrong with what Reiner is saying. The Tea party, IMO, does have a near fanatical view of the constitution that Islamist terrorists have for the Koran. What the Teas and groups like Hamas seem to want is a 100% return to a time and state of affairs that has long since passed. In other words, a return to a world that contrasts the world today. More than that, they seemingly want it over night and believe we can just undo everything that has occurred and that all will be well. This is fantasy. Regardless, they will seek to block and any all attempts to make progress.
DeleteYou are deranged. While Hamas advocates the destruction of Isreal and fires off missiles into residential areas the Tea Party cleans their protest sites and has yet to fire off so much as a bottle rocket.
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