Modern Warfare 2 Recalled in Russia

From Russia with Love: Copies of Modern Warfare 2 have been recalled in Russia, taken off the shelf, censored, and called in for questioning. It seems there is this little scene at the beginning where certain people get massacred. You have to wonder what would have been the reaction in the US if the scene had been set at say, Chicago O’Hare airport and the dead civilians had been Americans. That probably would have been a little too much PR. No, better to stick with the tried and true stereotype Bad Guys.

In other good news for Infinity Ward, some Russian gamers are not all that thrilled with the game’s plotline portraying US/Russian conflict, guaranteeing even more press exposure for the game. Patched versions of Modern Warfare 2 are being readied which totally remove the offending massacre level, to be released to Russian retailers soon. In the meantime, players in the West can assuage their guilt while playing the level by refraining from shooting at innocent civilians and concentrating on the security forces.

As the game progresses, though, you might find that MW2’s view of US vs. Russia is not so black and white. You could even argue that the game’s plot is written in such a way as to make the player question the nature of conflict, moral relativism and who the bad guys and good guys really are. Or, you could just kill as many people as possible and have fun.

As a side note, UK gamers snapped up 1.78 million copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in it's first five days, making it the biggest game launch ever there, it was just announced. (via CVG)