Memorial Day is a day reserved to honor soldiers who have battled and lost their life in the line of duty. The day is an annual event in the United States to show admiration to these men and women of the military who have lost their life fighting for their country. While most of the nation barbeques, goes to the beach and celebrates the unofficial arrival of summer time most forget the true meaning of Memorial Day. We would like to draw attention to the true meaning of Memorial Day and to what most consider just an extra day off of work. Instead of preaching to our viewers about how they should honor the fallen soldier we decided to put together a list that our views could relate to in order to turn a few heads to the true meaning of this special day. Here is a list composed of all the soldiers players have seen lose their lives in-game while in the line of duty that we composed in hopes of getting a large population respecting the true meaning of Memorial Day.
Medal of Honor- Rabbit
Medal of Honor was released in 2010 and it drew an extremely emotional turn to the average military first-person shooter. This was a game based on real events and it did so in an exceptionally dramatic way. The player follows the fight between a few different playable characters along with their squads. By the time the game is coming to an end everything seems to be in turmoil and the squad gets separated. The player takes control of Rabbit while accompanied by a man by the name of Mother. They are overrun and forced to jump off of a cliff where they are injured and captured by the enemy. Next the player fights their way to the captured duo and once they are ultimately found the two are hanging onto the last shred of life. As Rabbits friends gather around to help him, they are just too late and the man dies. The dramatics of Medal of Honor end with the horrific death of Rabbit. It is heart breaking and leaves many players wondering why such a tragedy had to happen.
Call of Duty 4-Paul Jackson
Call of Duty 4 started the lasting trend of military first-person shooters in the video game industry. Players were captivated by the outstanding new game play, new take on multiplayer and most of all the impressive story line. In this game, the player takes the role of two different playable characters, Soap McTravish and Paul Jackson. Paul Jackson was one of the first deaths in the Call of Duty franchise that made such an impact on the audience. As a friendly helicopter is shot down, Jackson and his team decide to go retrieve it despite the threat of a nuclear attack. They retrieve the pilot only to be brought down by the erupting bomb just moments later. If that wasn’t bad enough the player then takes control of the dying man as he crawls through the bodies of his dead squad mates. The screen goes white and Sgt. Jackson is never to be heard of again.
Battlefield 3- Miller
Battlefield 3 takes drama to a whole new level with the death of Miller. Miller is tied to a chair where he is taunted by the enemy with a toy dinosaur. This dinosaur was special to Miller because it was the toy of his child and the way he is being taunted with it just brings tears to the player’s eyes. He is killed in order to set an example for the Americans as to who is invading whose country. Miller’s throat is slit and it was all caught on camera. The death of Miller really hits home especially to those who have had or does have someone they know affiliated with the military. People like to hide that things like that do happen but Battlefield 3 took that taboo topic and laid it out on the table for all to witness. Even if it was just a character it does bring sadness to the player.
Gears of War 3- Dom
Adding Dom to this list is stepping slightly outside of the box. Dom is a Cog Soldier as the “co-Star” of the popular series Gears of War. He may not have been directly affiliated with the US military but his death says a lot for all militants. After playing through three entire games with Dom as a sidekick he commits suicide to save his friends. Of course he was a broken man after he lost his wife and family but his sacrifice speaks louder than words. Without Dom’s actions not only would it resulted in the death of those he was close to but it also would have turned the faith of the world. Dom risking his life like that was sad to put it simply but it was an act of heroism that can never be forgotten.
Call of Duty: Black Ops- Bowman
Set in the Cold War era, players followed the storyline made up of mostly Mason, Woods and Bowman. All three of these characters were interesting to say the least and they all had different things about them that were enjoyable. As players came toward the end of the campaign the three men were captured and taken into a tunnel controlled by the enemy. Bowman lost his will to live after being held in the tunnels and was beaten to death in front of Mason. The thing that really hits home about Bowman’s death is that the player can see the blow that caused the death. The player could see their friend’s body go limp and they can hear the agony and pain in Mason’s voice as Bowman is killed. Bowman’s humor was what made people fall in love with him as a character and yet he had to go. Bowman is greatly missed!
Good article, just pointing out that CoD4 didn’t start the military FPS, or even modern FPS, trend.
um….sergeant/lieutenant nathan hale? (resistance franchise)