Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Getting nuked
So why did Shepard get all political and turn against his commanders and orchestrate a massive war? Well, it was because he lost 30,000 men in a nuclear attack, something we first see in Call of Duty 4.
In that game, after a grueling mission to save a downed pilot during a large-scale attack, a nuclear bomb is detonated and kills thousands of people. We get to experience that from the perspective of a soldier caught in the blast. In a franchise famous for letting players live out the power fantasy of being an indestructible badass, this is a moment where you can’t do anything but slowly explore the aftermath of a devastating nuclear blast and then die.
It’s a bit hamfisted, sure, but it stands out in a series that more often than not paints soldiers as superheroes unable to fail or die.
