Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Common Sense Media

[Kody Baril]

Partsof the game -- a terrorist attack in London, torture scenes, brutal attacks on civilians in a fictional Arab country -- feel plucked from the headlines and are meant to convey a sense of timeliness, authenticity, moral ambiguity. Players are constantly and strongly incentivized to avoid civilian casualties, but sometimes it's impossible. Overarching message, based on themes of loyalty, principles, and determination, is that war is awful and takes a deep emotional toll, but that combat can also be strangely exhilarating.

Playable characters -- male and female, who are of varying nationalities and ethnicities -- have moral compasses that can be influenced by the player, such as whether or not to take part in torture of brutal enemy by using his family as leverage to get him to talk. Heroes show revulsion for what they must do in battle, but also display a resolve to see it done for the greater good. They feel very much like real soldiers, for better and worse.

Multiple difficulty levels allow players to set a challenge that fits their skill and experience in the campaign mode. Success in multiplayer mode depends entirely on player's skill and that of his or her teammates and opponents. Controls are traditional for first-person shooters, but understanding broad array of multiplayer options and growth systems takes time, patience.

Viewed from first-person perspective, players kill human enemies -- and, if they're not careful, also civilians -- using variety of military weapons, including rifles, pistols, shotguns, machine guns, grenades, Molotov cocktails, rocket launchers, mounted guns, tanks, drones. Enemies cry out in pain, gush blood, contort and sprawl realistically when struck, their bodies coming to rest and remaining on the ground. Disturbing scenes show torture by waterboarding; execution by pistol and hanging; gas attacks that kill men, women, children, animals; suicide bombings; children being chased and potentially killed by a raging soldier. Some violence can be avoided by selecting to turn it off at the outset of the game and through decisions made during the story.

Parents need to know that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a graphic and gritty military first-person shooter for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PCs. Players take on the roles of several soldiers ranging in gender, nationality, and ethnicity who are fighting a global terrorist threat with events that seem plucked from current headlines, including a terrorist attack in London; men, women and children slaughtered in a fictional Arab nation; orphaned kids attempting to hide from a raging, murderous soldier; scenes of torture and execution; and the use of a highly controversial chemical agent called white phosphorous. Players are strongly incentivized to avoid civilian casualties and exercise "trigger discipline," but the deaths of some bystanders are impossible to avoid -- as in one case in which an innocent man is strapped into a suicide vest with a short-lived timer. Some scenes call on the player to make moral decisions, such as whether or not to participate in the torture of a brutal enemy by using his family as leverage. The heroes are loyal to each other and determined to succeed, repulsed by the evils of war, but sometimes also willing to step into morally gray areas in order to accomplish what they perceive as a greater good. Combat involves a broad range of realistic military guns and explosives that cause enemies to bleed, burn, cry out in pain, and flail and sprawl in authentic ways. The experience is designed to be harrowing and hair raising, but the game's developers have also glorified the violence, and want players to feel exhilarated by the rush of battle. Parents should note that very strong language is heard throughout the campaign, that several characters smoke and drink, and that images of cannabis leaves and deep cleavage can be seen in multiplayer modes.

CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE, a reboot of one of the most popular subseries in the Call of Duty franchise, puts players in the boots of several soldiers tackling a growing global threat. Players take on the roles of an American soldier, a UK operative, and a woman leading a militia in defense of her home, a fictional Arab country, which is under siege by both terrorists and a corrupt arm of the Russian military. Through their eyes, players experience an enormous range of atrocities that result in the near-genocide of an innocent civilian population, terrorist attacks on western targets, and scenes of torture and execution, all of which feel as though they are based on recent real-world events. Players are largely propelled through a predetermined story, though a few key scenes allow them to make important decisions as to what they will or will not abide. An important part of the game is "trigger discipline," which essentially means avoiding civilian casualties at all costs, including holding fire on men and women who may or may not be your enemy until they reach for a weapon and become an active combatant. The five-hour campaign serves as a means for players to grow accustomed to the game's mechanics, which are mostly traditional for a first-person shooter, though there are a few novel concepts -- such as being able to mount weapons on solid surfaces for steadier aim and improved cover, and using hyper-authentic night vision to gain an advantage in the dark. Players can put these tactics to use beyond the campaign in both a cooperative mode that continues the story and in the franchise's renowned competitive multiplayer.

Of course, any sense of authenticity is pretty much thrown out the window once you move into multiplayer, which is where the vast bulk of players will spend most of their time. The new four-player Special Ops cooperative game type, while story-based in theory, is essentially a run-and-gun mode that serves up fast-paced action with a focus on teamwork and little in the way of any serious moral quandaries. It's undeniably fun, but not nearly as emotional as the campaign. And competitive multiplayer, which is just as entertaining, essentially abandons any pretense of battlefield realism. From its wildly fast-paced combat to its chaotic and large scale new Ground War mode to its reliance on fun-first mechanics -- including kill streaks that unlock special abilities (including the controversial white phosphorous chemical attack) -- it's designed for competition and esports rather than simulating a war experience. It's as finely tuned as any competitive shooter and will be wildly popular among avid genre fans -- and probably furiously challenging for the rookies and casual players who go up against them. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare succeeds very well in being the game it wants to be. Now it's up to individual players to decide whether it's what they want.

Families can talk about violence in media. Is the impact of the violence in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare affected by the realism of the gameplay, which feels ripped from the headlines? What is to be learned from the gritty and authentic depiction of terrorism and modern military combat?

This is a tricky one. While you are a "good guy," out to protect the free world, the game is heavily rooted in violence. You will kill and watch hundreds of people die, and in that process see that war is horrifying. The game actively encourages you to not shoot civilians and often penalized (by a game over screen) if you do. However, the game contains an (optional) mission where you go undercover to infiltrate the enemy. While undercover, you participate in a terrorist attack of an airport and must decide whether to shoot injured civilians or walk on by as the other terrorists kill them.

The player is part of an elite military squad out to protect the world from a harmful (and heavily armed) organization. But the player fights fire with fire and must kill hundreds of people in this game. There is also an opportunity to make moral decisions when it comes to shooting civilians while undercover as a terrorist, so the player can guide this portion of the game.

The game is fairly easy to pick up, on both the console and PC versions, especially for fans of first-person shooters. The deveolopers have added special perks for non-expert players such as health bursts when they fail repeatedly and providing an (optional) easier way to target. There's also a good tutorial mode.

As with past Call of Duty games, Modern Warfare 2 depicts military violence in a realistic manner and is played from an immersive first-person perspective. Using machine guns and sniper rifles, gamers must shoot to kill, and blood can be seen on fallen enemies. There is also use of grenades and missiles. The game has scenes of civilian deaths, including a controversial (but optional) airport level in which the player goes undercover as an enemy terrorist. Cries of pain can be heard from victims in this game. Players are also rewarded for "killstreaks," where killing four enemies in a row, results in a bonus supply drop.

The game does contain some profanity, such as the word "s--t," "damn" and "hell." Some Russian words are worse, translating to "motherf--ker" and "f--k," though most American players won't know what this means.

The game makes some references to drugs, plus the multiplayer mode lets you unlock emblems tied to your gamertag, including one that resembles a rolled marijuana cigarette ("joint") and one that shows a cannabis leaf.

Parents need to know that, while not over-the-top in the gore department, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a modern-day military shooter that realistically and graphically shows violence and blood. Much of the game involves traveling to different areas of the world to take down baddies with an assortment of weapons, all played from a first-person perspective. One of the locations is Washington D.C., which is shown as being under attack by Russian troops. In a controversial optional mission, players go undercover to infiltrate a terrorist group and end up participating in a terrorist attack on an airport. As players witness the horrors of innocent civilians being shot, they must make the moral decision whether to join in by shooting bystanders or to walk on by and ignore their screams of pain (gamers are not rewarded or penalized for any action or inaction they take during this scene). The game does contain some profanity and references to drugs, but it's the realistic violence in disturbing settings that is of more concern.

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