Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s “Press X To Pay Respects” is a infamous example of the series’ use of button prompts as a narrative device. Infinite Warfare has a couple as well, including this scene, in which a character’s life fades away as you hold the shoulder buttons.
Late in Infinite Warfare’s campaign mode, protagonist Captain Reyes crash-lands his fighter on Mars. As he stumbles about, disoriented, the battleship he and his crew have been using as a base also falls, leaving pain and destruction in its wake.
Reyes slowly makes his way towards the crash site, witnessing the horrors of space war as he approaches. A wounded soldier cries in pain. Another crawls towards a med kit, only to die with it just out of reach.
So close.
Then Reyes comes across a Marine Sergeant pinned beneath some rubble. Reyes helps lift the debris from the wounded man, only to discover that a jagged piece of metal has pierced his chest, and he’s in danger of bleeding out.
While another soldier runs off to look for a medical kit, Reyes must apply pressure to staunch the blood flow. As any medical professional will tell you, this is done by holding L2 and R2 on the PlayStation 4 controller.
Unfortunately the player’s efforts are all for naught. The controller vibration simulating the Sergeant’s heartbeat (really) slows and stops. He passes with your virtual hands still pressed hard against his chest.
It’s supposed to be a dramatic moment, but it’s borderline silly. If you choose not to hold down L2 and R2, the scene plays out exactly the same, only you don’t feel the heartbeat with your controller.
So what’s the point? I don’t know, man. I guess this character’s passing is supposed to carry some weight, and it probably would had the character this one replaced hadn’t himself died a few chapters back.
Whatever. Rest in peace, guy whose name I can’t remember. You didn’t die in vain, I guess.
Comments
7 responses to “Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s Dumbest ‘Press X To Feel’ Moment”
Maybe they know moments will get ridiculed in the gaming community and media, but put them in anyway to get people talking about the game?
Just makes me appreciate the BF1 stories even more. The Runner is still my favourite though. Not that I’m bias at all…
Johnny. Johnny! JOHHHNNYYY!!…
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/14/69/42/1469421b71142fad2528f0142635d039.jpg
Dude that replaces dead dude dies just afterwards? Seriously the writers of this crap need to look up the basics of any good plotline.
Definitely a meh moment.
But… it wasn’t Kashima (the dead guy) who replaces Omar. Then again im pretty sure most people don’t play it for the story line technicalities. But i generally took time to go through the computer dossiers between missions and stuff just to see if i can immerse myself in this world (hell paying $80 for it, im definitely going to find some way to justify the price) 😛 Did I care for Kashima? Nope. But i have to admit, there are other characters in that game that are pretty cool. Ethan being one example.
Woah are you telling me there is some form of story in a call of doodie game?
If there was actually a point, like doing CPR or something, it would be a lot better. Even if you just staunch the bleeding until a medic comes along.
I think people might be a little bit knee-jerk here. In terms of narrative and haptic linking, it’s a pretty cool premise, it’s just that there’s a huge disconnect between the mechanical and narrative premise in Call of Duty. This is MUCH better than “Press X to pay respects” as at least it’s trying to utilise a bit of agency for the players involvement.
I can understand that from a narrative discourse perspective it seems to come off a little force in a game where it doesn’t actually matter, but I guess the makers of CoD need to make the choice of crafting an emotionally impactful narrative and supporting that with solid, robust and reflexive mechanics (Spec Ops: The Line did this excellently) or honouring the wide and casual audience it builds it’s business on.
Hint: It’s going to choose the later each time. Their business model is multiplayer and I’m very surprised that they even bothered with single player this time around seeing the resonable success of BLOPS3 and the microtransactions (let’s ignore Advanced Warfare for the moment, since that was almost DOA)