Sam Machkovech of The Atlantic doesn’t care for the TBWA\Chiat\Day-produced commercial above.
I couldn’t have asked for a more disappointing game-related ad. These aren’t the video games I play. Even at their highest levels of action and violence, video games play like sophisticated games of Cops & Robbers. They’re silly; they require colorful, funny-shaped controllers; they stay decidedly in the domain of detached fiction.
This ad equips people with real guns and simulates real-life, no-CGI combat. The thud of recoil, the screams of rockets, the dust of explosions… and the look of exasperation on that little, shotgun-wielding girl. The only things missing are the dead bodies on the receiving ends of each bullet and blast.
I’m not a gamer, so it’s all a blur to me. But I do like the multimillion dollar soundtrack.
[UPDATE] According to Variety, “Black Ops,” is the seventh installment in Activison Blizzard’s “Call of Duty” franchise, which has earned $4 billion to date. So that explains their rich taste in music.
