20 Mind-Blowing Gaming Facts You Probably Never Knew

9. Modern Warfare 2's "No Russian" Mission Is Excluded in Russia, Heavily Modified in Japan & Germany

NorussianInfinity WardOne of the most controversial sections of any video game in recent history is the "No Russian" mission from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which sees the player taking part in a massacre of Zakhaev International Airport as an undercover member of Vladimir Makarov's terrorist outfit. The sequence sees Makarov's men mow down scores of civilians as they stalk through the airport, though the game does offer the player two outs: a) they can choose to skip the mission, and b) they don't have to fire a single round themselves, and can simply watch the carnage rather than participate in it. The harrowing level is completely excised from the Russian version of the game for obvious sensitivity reasons, while it has been heavily modified in the Japanese and German versions of the game, whereby killing even a single civilian will result in a fail, along with a "You killed a civilian!" prompt. Though the mission is extremely provocative, doesn't neutering it so badly make it pretty pointless? It removes the player's choice, and as such they should've probably just cut it entirely from the Japanese and German versions if that was their attitude.
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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.