In some ways this does No Russian a disservice. Allowing players to opt out implies, after all, that the sequence isn’t necessary to the narrative, and thus reinforces the suggestion that it was included purely to scandalise. But in a certain light, No Russian is more powerful for being optional. It’s not just that the sequence prompts reflection on how willing players are to follow ethically dubious orders in videogames. Where All Ghillied Up is a camouflaged celebration of player choice that invites you to push against the confines of the scenario structure, No Russian feels like calculated, vicious mockery of the desire for agency. It waltzes you through depictions of carnage without even granting you the courtesy of a central role, requiring only that you are present throughout. Then, it puts a bullet in your head as you’re approaching the exit.
Makarov is a villain in a couple of senses. On the one hand, he’s a genocidal maniac. But in a more enduring sense, he’s a player-hater, a griefer who denies you the meaningful participation games are supposed to provide, even if only on paper. Where MacMillan is your mentor but not your boss, Makarov’s defining act is to punish you for the presumption of wanting any kind of control at all.