Infinity Ward Scribe Speaks Out About Airport Scene News

The scriptwriter for Modern Warfare 2, Jesse Stern has spoken candidly about Infinity Ward's decision to put the infamous airport scene in the game, stating that the developer "wanted to make it something that would be upsetting, disturbing, but also something people relate to."

"Ultimately, our intention was to put you as close as possible to atrocity," Stern told GamePro. "As for the effect it has on you, that's not for us to determine. Hopefully, it does have an emotional impact and it seems to have riled up a lot of people in interesting ways. Some of them good; some of them bad."

The 'No Russians' airport sequence [WARNING: SPOILERS!], which puts players in the position of an undercover CIA operative taking part in a terrorist attack on innocent civilians, has courted controversy ever since it was leaked onto the net last month.

"You can open fire on the other terrorists that are with you," Stern explained of a player's options in the level. "They'll turn around and kill you quickly, but that is an option. You can do nothing for the first half of that level too. You're not obligated to do anything other than walk and watch, which I think portrays another completely different feeling of helplessness. And the third option is [that] you can open fire."

"Every single person in testing opened fire on the crowd, which is human nature," Stern asserted. "It feels so real but at the same time it's a video game and the response to it has been fascinating. I never really knew you could elicit such a deep feeling from a video game, but it has."

We've had quite a bit of comment about this on the boards with some mixed opinions on the sequence, so feel free to express your thoughts on Jesse Stern's comments below...