Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows)

Call of Duty. My son's favorite game and on of my favorites to. Most parents today take one look at a rating and then make there choice. They do not take the time to read reviews by other parents who have allowed their kids to play the games or watch the movies. This is a problem. COD MOD2 as my son calls it it a war game and it is violent. what you need to remember is that you are taking the part of the GOOD GUYS (The US Army) and fight to protect freedom in other places. The only reason for such a high rating is because of some mild language (One count of the F word) and because of the realistic violence. I like to use games, movies etc. as learning experiences for my kids, With this game I talked to my son (14 years old) about how true to life this game actually is. The gameplay reminds me of the war stories my father told me when I was younger. I think that one could call this game educational because it is so lifelike in the scenarios and in the the tactics used to take dow the opposing forces. The game has good role models in the sense that you are playing the part of the good guys and that you are fighting to make the world safe for all. I tell my kids that fighting is never the answer but sometimes when you cant use your words to change bad people or people who are hurting others,you need to resort to force to keep people safe. I have two kids, one age 12 and the other age 14. I think that this game is to intense for my 12 year old to play. I hope this review helps you with your choices. Dr. J. Parker

If your not an aggressive parent like the ones who won't even let there kids watch Bambi, then this game is ok for your kids. There may be one level that promotes terrorism, but it gives you the option to skip it and move on. Its not that bad of a game language is about the only issue, just mute the TV. Don't worry about blood in in anything, blood is a natural part of life so parents who think that blood is something bad;WRONG; its natural so get used to it. Its rated M for blood and the terrorist mission but like i said (or typed) those are issues that can easily be taken care of. Enjoy your soon to be favorite game.

Alot of pointless killing, blood and gore. No Russian is a mission where you enter an airport and take out hundreds (maybe thousands) of innocent people. Blood is sprayed every where an is extremely gruesome and disdurping. The game is definitely not for kids 15 and under. 16 at the very least if they can handle alot of violence and blood. Another level allows you to drive a truck as you run over people, if you hit someone there brains and skull crack open and splatter all over your windshield. No kids, unless there daring and can take alot of intense content

Amazing military shooter, ok for kids 12+. This game is spectacular. It's fine for kids 12 and older because kids aren't stupid, they understand what's ok in real life versus what's ok in a video game. The game is realistic, and as a father of a Private 1st Class in the US Army, I think that it's important for everyone to know what the soldiers go through to protect us. It's not significantly more violent than Call of Duty 3 (which is rated T.) As pretty much the whole world has heard about, there's an OPTIONAL mission called "No Russian", where you go undercover as a terrorist and work with a Russian terrorist group to kill civilians in a Russian airport. I let my 12 year old son play the game, but I made him skip the "No Russian" level. The blood in the game isn't really that bad. Just a puff of blood when enemies are shot. When you are shot, the edges of your screen becomes bloody, but it doesn't even look like real blood, it's clear and watery. As long as your child is mature and at least 12 years old, this game should be fine for them. If you buy the game used at Gamestop, you can return the game in under a week if you think it's not appropriate for them.

This Game is great! but its got it faults. i marked Ease to play because the controls are perfect on any system (Not counting PC & MAC) I marked Ba roll models because on the 3rd mission there is a Controversial !TERRORIST! mission and you have the ease of shooting countless Inoccent Bystanders. but also in the terrorist mission You are not a terrorist. your trying to fool the 2cnd antagonist "Vladimir Makarov" but the stupid thing is i was really looking forward to killing him at the end of that mission. But he knew that u werent a terrorist all along. so ge kills u with a gun to the head. Anyway the multiplayer is rewarding and phenominal. It never gets old because there is something called prestige mode and you can start over with all your emblems and callsigns but not ur guns. This game is great. I give it 5 stars and for 11+

First of all, most parents think that you have to follow the ESRB. If your child is begging you for this, you just have to explain that killing is not right, and you shouldn't go and do this stuff. Another concern is that it desensitizes kids to violence. My child, after playing the airport scene, came up to me and said that people in the army must hate killing people because it causes so much pain. So basically, you just have to explain to your child that killing is really bad.

I have played through it myself...and it almost made me cry...this is coming from a 17 year old who's played violent, gory games since I was 5 years old, but the game was amazing nonetheless. However, here's the lowdown on the particular scene, if you choose to participate in the "Disturbing Content" mission. It is a shooting taking place in a Russian airport, where you take part as a CIA agent disguised as a terrorist and see the horror through his eyes. What I think the mission is trying to show the players is the horrors and reality of terrorism...seriously...it IS disturbing, but it really wakes you up to just what people had to live through in terrorist attacks and shootings, it puts you right there in the scene....its almost unbelievable to realize just what it would be like to there...its just horrendous, but a true turning point for amazing story-telling through games. If you are disturbed by shootings, or maybe had a loved one who died in a shooting, I would recommend skipping the mission, it really will make an impact on you (but in a positive way, it opens you to the fact that war IS hell, and not as fun as the video games make it out to be). Really, I actually think its an important scene to wake those up who mindlessly play these games and see just what can happen in a situation like this. It really made me think about those who were victims of attacks like this...and it still makes me feel sad just to think something like that happens almost every few days. Unfortunately, ignorant and one-sided parents and adults are just going to claim it's a mindless "murder simulation" on places like the Fox "News" channel (probably one of the worst news channels in history). Sigh...if parents could only see that these games are more than just games now...they have turned into stories, epic tales of drama that you might find in a book...now on the screen. Otherwise, the story and gameplay is completely amazing, and although the multiplayer isn't very balanced, it it still very fun. If you skip the mission (and the game ALWAYS gives you the option to skip it) I would recommend the game for anyone +13 and older, and +15 for the addition of the Airport shooting scene.

As with all call of duty games, this in a first person shooter and is very violent. The game is very realistic but you are in the boots of a soldier, not a gangster in like GTA. It shows good role models and the lives of the men protecting our country. Also, it is not even close to as gorey or bloody as call of duty 5, and if the violence still bothers you there is a filter that shuts off blood, gore, and profanity. Online play is great, not too bloody, and has no profanity. The new spec ops game mode is my favorite, but has some profanity scattered throughout the missions, but theres no f words. The campaign is really intense and it tells a great story. While it does teach good antiwar lessons, it is bloody, some missions are violent and chaotic and has some profanity. In the campaign the only f word is said in russian there is not much other bad content. Now for the mission "NO RUSSIAN". This is an OPTIONAL campaign mission that sets the scene of the war for the rest of the game. You do not have to play this mission and if you do, you are not required to shoot civilians. This mission seems bad, especially when you help russian terrorists kill innocent people, but it is in an attempt to infiltrate the terrorist cell and save many more lives than were lost.

If you've read my earlier COD reviews, you'd notice I'm a big fan of the series, especially when the game features the word "Modern" in it. Things haven't changed here. After being excited for a sequel for 2 years and REALLY wanting one for 9 months prior to release, November 10 was exciting to say the least. I was afraid the game was going to fail to live up the the high expectations I set up for it, but it passed in every way. Multiplayer hasn't been greatly changed, but its been fine tuned with many great, new editions. As before, you start out with only a couple of guns and perks (which are bonuses like reloading faster or doing slightly greater bullet damage), but as you earn kills and complete challenges (fall 15 feet and survive or kill an enemy, take his gun, and kill him again with his own gun), you earn EXP and level up. Leveling up gives you new perks and guns and game types to choose from. The create a class feature from the first game carriers over, allowing you to craft your perfect warrior using what you have unlocked. If you like sniping, you can choose your favorite rifle of the bunch and then perks that would compliment it. However, there have been some additions. Before, you got 3, 5, and 7 kill streaks for getting said number of kills in a row. Now you get to choose between 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,15, and 25 killstreaks (most of which also need to be unlocked by leveling up, this time in the order of your choosing). This opens up a nice risk/reward system, since earlier kill streaks tend to not be as good as the higher ones (a 25 kill streak calls in a nuke that ends the game and gives your team an automatic win). It may take more work to get an 11 kill streak, but calling in an AC-130 gunship to rain down fire from the sky is much more entertaining, thrilling, an enjoyable than calling in a UAV radar with 3 kills. There are also new attachments to put on guns, such as heartbeat sensors and holographic scopes (which again, are unlocked through getting kills with a specific gun, thus unlocking attachments for only that weapon). Another new feature is upgrading perks. Extra bullet damage against humans is nice, but you can now upgrade the perk that enables that to get extra bullet damage against aircraft and other killstreaks. There are other changes as well, but I think I've said enough. The multiplayer itself can't be beat by any game on the market. It has dozens upon dozens of hours of entertainment packed away and could be sold as a full game all by itself. Most maps are very well constructed. For every sniping spot, there is another place where you can counter the sniper. There are plenty of maps to play on and at least 80% of them are great, probably more. The multiplayer could be sold as a full game all by itself, yet it is only one of three modes you have to play. Spec-Ops is the new mode. It allows you and a friend to play through one of 23 challenges cooperatively. Missions could involve races on snowmobiles, to sniping stealth missions, to areas with a finite number of enemies that you can take down as you see fit. 21 of these challenges can be played solo, but things get fun when a friend hops in. There is no matchmaking for spec-ops, but it allows you to play with people on your friends list or split-screen. It would have been nice to have matchmaking, but odds are, you are going to have friends with the game, so there will be many opportunities to play with others. Overall, I found myself playing it the least and I think it is the worst of the three modes, yet it is still highly fun and some games would be lucky to have that mode as their best mode. Now for the story. As has been highly advertised, there is a skipable mission where you play an undercover CIA agent posing as a terrorist. I don't know how it got so controversial, as there are many films with much more gruesome takes on terrorism than this. I thought the scene didn't take it far enough to show off the true horrors of terrorism, but took it plenty far enough to be found as disturbing. I wasn't offended by it, but others may be. The single player mode is expertly paced, extremely intense, and most importantly, extremely fun. Unfortunately, it is a bit on the short side and ends in a HIGHLY uneventful cliffhanger, making the game feel shorter still, but the six to eight hours it'll take to finish are still highly memorable. Nothing comes off quite as big as a COD4 nuke, but many things come very close. Along with the short length, the story has one more problem: it is nigh impossible to piece together what the heck is going on. After analyzing it for awhile after beating it, you figure out that some corrupt American soldier decides he really wants to be a war hero, so he finds a crazy terrorist and secretly teams up with the terrorist while said terrorist (Makarov) blows the crap out of the American east coast. He destroys much of DC, along with many other locations. There are plenty of holes along the way, but to reveal them is to spoil a lot of the (nonsensical) story, so I'll leave them alone. If you want to find most of them, Gamesradar* had a Modern Warfare 2 article that did an amazing job at revealing some of the lapses of logic that go on during the story. MW2 is lucky that story doesn't mean a whole lot when it comes to shooting terrorists and it is also very fortunate that you never pick up on most of the holes when playing the game. You move from one set piece moment to another so fast, that you never have time to think about what's going on in the story and you never have time to consider what amazing piece of action the developers are going to throw at you next. It acts a bit like a Michael Bay movie, plenty of explosions and shooting, but not a lot of plot. Considering how amazing everything else is, though, you may find it hard to care a whole lot about the story's shortcomings. If I have to choose between insane fun or an amazing story (especially for a first person shooter), I'll take the fun 10 times out of 10 and that is exactly what MW2 gives you.