Controversy and brutality fans rejoice! Treyarch have confirmed that Black Ops will be brutal but won't be gratuitous.

Many will agree that Treyarch's previous Call of Duty, World at War, was very brutal and gory. You witnessed the Imperial army stubbing a cigarette in someone's eye, having the option to kill or let live surrendered German soldiers and even crawling through a fountain of dead Russian soldiers.

Treyarch captured the gritty, dark and brutal feeling of World War II brilliantly. Their aim with World at War was to show how gruesome this war actually was, and they succeeded.

Therefore, it's welcoming to hear that Josh Olin has confirmed to GamerZines » that Black Ops will not have a lack of brutality of controversy.


Modern Warfare 2's "No Russian" level received a lot of criticism due to the nature and bloodiness of the mission. The level allows the player to walk through an airport and killing innocent individuals, but despite much criticism, it's very important to the overall storyline. Josh Olin commented on this and stated that Treyarch won't be "shying away from the brutality of war" for Black Ops. He then went on to say that anything they do "will be to propel the story or illicit an emotional response from the player".

He then made a pretty good point and talked about how "controversial is such a subjective term" when asked as to whether can expect anything similar to Modern Warfare 2's "No Russian". Regarding the use of controversy, he believes that "it is a mature themed game for mature audiences and we're not shying away from the brutality of grittiness of war". In order to immerse the players, it's important to capture "that level of authenticity and realism".

They will do what must be done to make the player "feel angry or righteous or sad" and that the above elements "help immerse the player that much more deeply into the world".

"Anything we do will be to propel the story or elicit an emotional response from the player, to make them feel angry or righteous or sad. Those are all elements that help immerse the player that much more deeply into the world". He then ended by saying "nothing that we'll do will be gratuitous". So there you have it, expect a wild emotional ride in November!