Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for Parents

Parents 


Here's the ESRB:
ESRB rates this game M for Mature, ages +17 for the following:
Blood
Drug Reference
Intense Violence
Language

This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the roles of members of an elite squadron on the trail of a Russian ultranationalist. Players defend the U.S. from Russian armed forces, engage in skirmishes and combat missions, and track the ultranationalist in an attempt to discover his true motivations and co-conspirators. Players use machine guns, sniper rifles, grenades, and missiles to kill enemy soldiers throughout the battlefields. Realistic gunfire, explosions, and cries of pain are heard during the frequent and fast-paced combat. The most intense depiction of violence occurs during a "No Russian" mission where players take on the role of an undercover Ranger: Several civilians are gunned down at an airport as players are given a choice to participate in the killings (e.g., players can shoot a wounded civilian that is crawling on the ground), or walk by and observe without opening fire. In either case, civilians scream and emit pools of blood as they are shot to death. Within the multiplayer portion of the game, players can unlock "emblems" to be used on their player name cards. Some of these emblems contain images that reference drugs (e.g., a cannabis leaf; a name card with a depiction of a joint). Dialogue in the game contains profanity in both English (e.g., "sh*t") and Russian (e.g., "f**k" and "motherf**ker").

     Ok, let's talk about this No Russian business. The ESRB explained pretty well what happens during that mission. Allow me to go deeper into the background of it. I'll also put everything in simpler terms so that it's really easy to understand. First off, when you start the game, it tells you that there is offensive content within this game and that you may choose to opt out of playing the mission containing the offensive content. It goes on to mention that should you choose to opt out, it will not ruin the game for you story-wise or gameplay-wise. There is nothing forcing you to play this level.
     In the mission, you have the chance to settle in with a group of Russian terrorists if you carry out an operation with them while undercover. If you succeed, then you would have access to their plans to commit further terrorism. The terrorists make sure that while they perform their mission that they speak no Russian. This fact is important. Then they proceed to mow down a lot of russian civilians within an airport. As a player, you do not have to kill any innocent civilians. The game will let you kill if you want to but you're also free to just walk along and witness the event. In the end, they know that you were undercover the whole time and that you are an American. They shoot you and leave you behind, dead at the airport. The reason why they performed this mission and kept themselves from speaking Russian was so they could use the Americans as scapegoats and rally their country against America. Because no one heard them speak Russian and there was a dead American dressed as one of the terrorists left at the site, everyone was led to believe America had committed this terrorist act, thus evoking a war between Russia and America.
     The news will tell you that this game makes it ok to be a terrorist and that it forces you and teaches you to kill innocent civilians. They also say that the "no Russian" reference means to not leave any Russians alive. The thing is, this level is completely optional. You are never forced to play it. Even when you're in the airport, you aren't forced to kill any civilians if you don't want to. Let's also not forget, this game is intended for a mature audience; Adults like me and you.
     The news never played this game. They caught word of it, saw a minute of gameplay and decided that this game trained people to be terrorists and that there is no merit to this experience. I'm telling you that I played through this game twice, I played it for an entire week and I've been playing games for a LONG time. This is not a game that shows how to effectively become a terrorist. It is an optional mission that begins the conflict of the plot within this game. Undercover operations are real. People sometimes perform duties that go against their beliefs if it means the safety of the country, or in this case, the world. This mission is merely giving perspective from a person performing their duty. Here is a video of the mission from start to end. This is violent footage so please watch at your own discretion.