Alright, it's been a while but we're back again to cover the PC Gaming Show, the Xbox Showcase and the Ubisoft Forward. After this, that's it, that's all, we're done here. PC Gaming Show The Most Questionable Stuff 3. Road to Vostok (???) Choosing to look down on a game for overt familiarity from the word ‘go’, even if all it has done at this point is have its existence announced to the world, is not inherently an act to be proud of. Much of gaming iterates and builds upon what came before, much of the medium as it stands (for good or ill) exists because someone looked at a past work and were inspired to develop their own take on the material. How many excellent games would cease to be if people decided that “it’s just a clone of X” was a valid argument in itself? I establish this now to make it clear that I do not roll my eyes at Road to Vostok for taking the form of a sparsely-populated shooter set in a post-apocalyptic wilderness area… but rather because it loo
Hello again.
So, as teased last time, we’re glancing behind the curtain at one of Call of Duty’s most front-and-center characters who - despite that publicity - hasn’t quite received the critical analysis I feel he deserves. For today we’re talking about Captain John Price, of the British Special Air Service. Let’s move out.
Price has been this kind of quietly looming presence in the series since its inception. He doesn’t always have the spotlight, but when he does show up it’s usually memorable and definitely liable to include gunfire and/or explosions.
Though he did originally show up in the first Call of Duty game - set in World War II, in case you missed it - Captain Price was somewhat of a bit player, an extra NPC who provided covering fire during a handful of missions, chatted with you a bit and ultimately sacrificed himself during one of the later missions. His role was beefed up a bit for the partially-set-in-Africa sequel, but it would only be in the Modern Warfare games where we’d see what kind of a man Price really is.
(And yes, I’m aware the WWII Price and the Modern Warfare Price are not the same characters - at most, it’s a case of Price being a legacy character with the possibility that the two are relatives.)
We’re not given a lot to go on at the start of Call of Duty 4, but from what is shown to us, Price is a very by-the-book officer of the SAS, with little tolerance for on-the-job goofiness and a dedication to completing his given mission (keep that last part in mind). He knows when to play nice with foreign allies - see his interactions with Kamarov early on - but he also has a limit to what he’ll tolerate when in the middle of a mission. AND he’s definitely loyal to his friends and allies, no question - consider his words just prior to the SAS going to rescue their Ultranationalist informant Nikolai ("We take care of our friends").
By all accounts that should be the end of it: Price is your archetypal “tough but fair commanding officer” character, the man who gives orders and the one who’s got your back. Open and shut… except remember this part?
Yeah, Price going ballistic on Al-Asad, that’s our turning point from “Price seems like a decently cool character” to “Oh, there’s actually more layers to this man than meets the eye…”
That sets the stage for a truly remarkable pair of missions set in Price’s past which I feel could be interpreted a number of ways - is the task of assassinating Imran Zakhaev just another day’s work for Price, or was this mission to Pripyat actually a defining moment? No matter how you look at it, the whole thing gives off one singular implication - Price’s past is catching up to him.
Subtext though it may be, it does help to inform why Price is so dead-set on treating Zakhaev as a legitimate threat, and why - when the initial plan to take Zakhaev’s son into custody goes horribly awry - he’s onboard for a risky final assault to prevent nuclear armageddon. Think about it: if you’d been in Price’s shoes back in the 90s and you’d been so sure that this seemingly minor arms dealer was dead by your hands, only to have him come roaring back as a full-fledged international threat, wouldn’t you feel a responsibility to finish what you started?
So it goes, Price gets his wish of ending Zakhaev but at the cost of his freedom, spending five years in Ultranationalist custody until one fateful day, in a gulug far from home…
It all feels like getting the gang back together in Modern Warfare 2, right? Soap and Price reuniting, the returning of Price’s M1911 to its proper owner, some light banter in the succeeding missions that probably makes fanfic writers the world over squee in excitement at the possibilities.
BUT, and this is a big “BUT” (don’t get any funny ideas), something’s off from the get go. Price seems worn down, a little less restrained, and a little more… grim. Which makes it all the less surprising to the audience, yet all the more troubling to his allies, when he decides in the middle of a mission, “You know what might be a good idea? Launching a nuke.”
At this point I’m not going to even try and guess at the logic of how it is that, despite being in a goddamn Russian gulag for years, Price has the know-how and current world information to precisely fire a nuclear warhead at just the right position to detonate over Washington DC, thereby enabling the Army Rangers stationed there to fight off invading Russians (to those who’ve never played Modern Warfare 2, it’s a looooooong story…). However, from a character perspective, it makes a shocking amount of sense - yes, really.
Despite how he may have initially come across in Call of Duty 4, Captain Price is NOT simply a one-dimensional action hero nor a classical hero (read: character who’s at peak physical ability and emotionally secure in his good nature). No, Price of the Modern Warfare series is closer to a Pragmatic Hero - a man with good intentions, but who is chained to his own personal code such that the question of whether or not his methods are too extreme doesn’t occur to him until either he succeeds or it’s too late to change course. Said pragmatism and single-mindedness is implied in Call of Duty 4, but really comes to the surface in Modern Warfare 2 and shows its uglier side (the tendency to rebel with violent force, consequences be damned) in the finale.
Hmm… a man with personal convictions, driven to criminal extremes, rooted in motives that are understandable but not worth acting upon in such a manner. Where have I seen that before?
Yeah - not as different as Price would wish.
Anyway, come Modern Warfare 3, Price’s questionable methods - coupled with the implosion of Task Force 141 and the machinations of the now-deceased General Shepherd - leave himself, Soap and any other survivors as marked international fugitives. And it’s here that Price’s journey from semi-restrained career soldier to borderline sociopathic mercenary reaches a crescendo; years of wanting to put the Four Horsemen, Zakhaev’s little posse, to rest is finally within reach as Price and company head across the world to try and take down one Vladimir Makarov - the First, and final, Horseman.
And then this happens.
In each of these games, Price suffers some kind of personal blow - learning of Zakhaev’s survival after all these years, losing his allies in Task Force 141, and now Soap MacTavish’s death. This is a double-whammy, though: not only because of Soap and Price’s understated friendship, but also because of the cause of death (Soap fell from an exploding building, reopening the wounds accrued from the end of MW2) - a link back to an event which Price and Soap had set in motion, the sheer devastating consequences of which Price is partially responsible for (and that’s without factoring in Price mercilessly continuing to hunt down Makarov and relying on Soap for assistance mere months after the man was only barely saved from death). To cut straight to the point: from a certain point of view, Soap’s death was Price’s fault. And I’d wager that on some level, Price believes that.
This is why, in the final missions of Modern Warfare 3, Price’s demeanor has hit an all-new level of seemingly not giving a shit anymore - he’s likely despondent because of his difficulty grappling with the sheer multitude of friends he’s lost, to say nothing of the larger costs to the world he’s contributed to intentionally or not. AND it makes the absolute final mission kind of a cathartic moment in and out of story.
Consider this: what possible good reason does Price have to take the fight even after all the carnage? It’s not to clear his name or that of TF141 - they’re vindicated by the end. And it’s also not for personal gain, or in the name of national pride, or anything like that. The memory of Soap, and his other lost comrades, haunts Price. Despite having ensured Makarov’s plan for dominance can’t succeed, Price is still left wanting for peace of mind - hence the all-out assault. It’s not purely revenge-driven - it’s CLOSURE for Price, a way to honour his friends and allies’ sacrifices while also breaking free from the cycle of violence that has consumed so much of his life. This, for Price, is an escape from self-destruction. And if that allows for some brutal vigilante justice to be doled out against Makarov in the process, so be it.
Modern Warfare is, in a lot ways, Price’s story and it’s a doozy. It’s the tale of a military man committed to his beliefs and his craft, whose very nature is tested and pushed to the limit by powers he cannot control, and whose response is to engage in bloodletting that arguably makes the whole situation worse before it starts helping matters. It’s about the inability or unwillingness to give up being as much a curse as it is a blessing. It’s about the lengths to which a person will go to avenge those they’ve lost and punish those who’ve done them wrong. And it’s about how those lengths may begin to wear away at your humanity until there’s nothing left… or until you take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
Price, I admire and fear you in equal measure. Be at peace, Captain, and may the next life be a happier one.
So, as teased last time, we’re glancing behind the curtain at one of Call of Duty’s most front-and-center characters who - despite that publicity - hasn’t quite received the critical analysis I feel he deserves. For today we’re talking about Captain John Price, of the British Special Air Service. Let’s move out.
Price has been this kind of quietly looming presence in the series since its inception. He doesn’t always have the spotlight, but when he does show up it’s usually memorable and definitely liable to include gunfire and/or explosions.
Though he did originally show up in the first Call of Duty game - set in World War II, in case you missed it - Captain Price was somewhat of a bit player, an extra NPC who provided covering fire during a handful of missions, chatted with you a bit and ultimately sacrificed himself during one of the later missions. His role was beefed up a bit for the partially-set-in-Africa sequel, but it would only be in the Modern Warfare games where we’d see what kind of a man Price really is.
(And yes, I’m aware the WWII Price and the Modern Warfare Price are not the same characters - at most, it’s a case of Price being a legacy character with the possibility that the two are relatives.)
We’re not given a lot to go on at the start of Call of Duty 4, but from what is shown to us, Price is a very by-the-book officer of the SAS, with little tolerance for on-the-job goofiness and a dedication to completing his given mission (keep that last part in mind). He knows when to play nice with foreign allies - see his interactions with Kamarov early on - but he also has a limit to what he’ll tolerate when in the middle of a mission. AND he’s definitely loyal to his friends and allies, no question - consider his words just prior to the SAS going to rescue their Ultranationalist informant Nikolai ("We take care of our friends").
By all accounts that should be the end of it: Price is your archetypal “tough but fair commanding officer” character, the man who gives orders and the one who’s got your back. Open and shut… except remember this part?
Yeah, Price going ballistic on Al-Asad, that’s our turning point from “Price seems like a decently cool character” to “Oh, there’s actually more layers to this man than meets the eye…”
That sets the stage for a truly remarkable pair of missions set in Price’s past which I feel could be interpreted a number of ways - is the task of assassinating Imran Zakhaev just another day’s work for Price, or was this mission to Pripyat actually a defining moment? No matter how you look at it, the whole thing gives off one singular implication - Price’s past is catching up to him.
Subtext though it may be, it does help to inform why Price is so dead-set on treating Zakhaev as a legitimate threat, and why - when the initial plan to take Zakhaev’s son into custody goes horribly awry - he’s onboard for a risky final assault to prevent nuclear armageddon. Think about it: if you’d been in Price’s shoes back in the 90s and you’d been so sure that this seemingly minor arms dealer was dead by your hands, only to have him come roaring back as a full-fledged international threat, wouldn’t you feel a responsibility to finish what you started?
So it goes, Price gets his wish of ending Zakhaev but at the cost of his freedom, spending five years in Ultranationalist custody until one fateful day, in a gulug far from home…
It all feels like getting the gang back together in Modern Warfare 2, right? Soap and Price reuniting, the returning of Price’s M1911 to its proper owner, some light banter in the succeeding missions that probably makes fanfic writers the world over squee in excitement at the possibilities.
BUT, and this is a big “BUT” (don’t get any funny ideas), something’s off from the get go. Price seems worn down, a little less restrained, and a little more… grim. Which makes it all the less surprising to the audience, yet all the more troubling to his allies, when he decides in the middle of a mission, “You know what might be a good idea? Launching a nuke.”
At this point I’m not going to even try and guess at the logic of how it is that, despite being in a goddamn Russian gulag for years, Price has the know-how and current world information to precisely fire a nuclear warhead at just the right position to detonate over Washington DC, thereby enabling the Army Rangers stationed there to fight off invading Russians (to those who’ve never played Modern Warfare 2, it’s a looooooong story…). However, from a character perspective, it makes a shocking amount of sense - yes, really.
Despite how he may have initially come across in Call of Duty 4, Captain Price is NOT simply a one-dimensional action hero nor a classical hero (read: character who’s at peak physical ability and emotionally secure in his good nature). No, Price of the Modern Warfare series is closer to a Pragmatic Hero - a man with good intentions, but who is chained to his own personal code such that the question of whether or not his methods are too extreme doesn’t occur to him until either he succeeds or it’s too late to change course. Said pragmatism and single-mindedness is implied in Call of Duty 4, but really comes to the surface in Modern Warfare 2 and shows its uglier side (the tendency to rebel with violent force, consequences be damned) in the finale.
Hmm… a man with personal convictions, driven to criminal extremes, rooted in motives that are understandable but not worth acting upon in such a manner. Where have I seen that before?
Yeah - not as different as Price would wish.
Anyway, come Modern Warfare 3, Price’s questionable methods - coupled with the implosion of Task Force 141 and the machinations of the now-deceased General Shepherd - leave himself, Soap and any other survivors as marked international fugitives. And it’s here that Price’s journey from semi-restrained career soldier to borderline sociopathic mercenary reaches a crescendo; years of wanting to put the Four Horsemen, Zakhaev’s little posse, to rest is finally within reach as Price and company head across the world to try and take down one Vladimir Makarov - the First, and final, Horseman.
And then this happens.
In each of these games, Price suffers some kind of personal blow - learning of Zakhaev’s survival after all these years, losing his allies in Task Force 141, and now Soap MacTavish’s death. This is a double-whammy, though: not only because of Soap and Price’s understated friendship, but also because of the cause of death (Soap fell from an exploding building, reopening the wounds accrued from the end of MW2) - a link back to an event which Price and Soap had set in motion, the sheer devastating consequences of which Price is partially responsible for (and that’s without factoring in Price mercilessly continuing to hunt down Makarov and relying on Soap for assistance mere months after the man was only barely saved from death). To cut straight to the point: from a certain point of view, Soap’s death was Price’s fault. And I’d wager that on some level, Price believes that.
This is why, in the final missions of Modern Warfare 3, Price’s demeanor has hit an all-new level of seemingly not giving a shit anymore - he’s likely despondent because of his difficulty grappling with the sheer multitude of friends he’s lost, to say nothing of the larger costs to the world he’s contributed to intentionally or not. AND it makes the absolute final mission kind of a cathartic moment in and out of story.
Consider this: what possible good reason does Price have to take the fight even after all the carnage? It’s not to clear his name or that of TF141 - they’re vindicated by the end. And it’s also not for personal gain, or in the name of national pride, or anything like that. The memory of Soap, and his other lost comrades, haunts Price. Despite having ensured Makarov’s plan for dominance can’t succeed, Price is still left wanting for peace of mind - hence the all-out assault. It’s not purely revenge-driven - it’s CLOSURE for Price, a way to honour his friends and allies’ sacrifices while also breaking free from the cycle of violence that has consumed so much of his life. This, for Price, is an escape from self-destruction. And if that allows for some brutal vigilante justice to be doled out against Makarov in the process, so be it.
Modern Warfare is, in a lot ways, Price’s story and it’s a doozy. It’s the tale of a military man committed to his beliefs and his craft, whose very nature is tested and pushed to the limit by powers he cannot control, and whose response is to engage in bloodletting that arguably makes the whole situation worse before it starts helping matters. It’s about the inability or unwillingness to give up being as much a curse as it is a blessing. It’s about the lengths to which a person will go to avenge those they’ve lost and punish those who’ve done them wrong. And it’s about how those lengths may begin to wear away at your humanity until there’s nothing left… or until you take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
Price, I admire and fear you in equal measure. Be at peace, Captain, and may the next life be a happier one.
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