9 Times Video Game Violence Went Too Far

5. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Chemical Attack

After Modern Warfare 2 caused massive controversy with its No Russian level that had the player gunning down an entire airport full of civilians, it was pretty much expected that the next game in the series would try to recapture that same feverish publicity with another, equally controversial moment. And of course, Modern Warfare 3's controversial scene more than lived up to expectations.

During a cutscene, we watch as a child and her mother walk down the streets of London, recording a family day out in the English capital. However, the moment comes just after one of the game's big villains is able to get away with a huge amount of biological weapons. Suddenly one of the trucks fitted with the explosives inside parks up at the end of the street. None the wiser, the child runs to play with the birds next to it, before the truck explodes, taking out everyone in the vicinity. Unfortunately, the new game didn't quite understand what made the original No Russian moment so memorable in the first place.

Shooting up that airport actually had significance to the game's campaign, setting up the title's villain while showing the horrific extent that your undercover character was willing to go to. Modern Warfare 3's scene had none of that context to prop it up, and overall comes across as an emotionally manipulative moment that was only included for pure shock value - being all the worse for it.