Activision Responds to Modern Warfare 2 Leaked Footage

A leaked video, showing off a French version of Modern Warfare 2 being played, popped up yesterday displaying a level of the single player campaign, apparently the fourth, which assaults them with some pretty disturbing images.

The spoiler heavy gameplay (those who wish to go into the experience untainted need not read beyond this point) showed the player actually joining members of a terrorist group as they assaulted a rather busy airport, taking out innocent civilians with machine gun fire and grenades before fighting off counter terrorism forces dispatched to the site of the gun battle.

An Activison spokesperson told GameSpot that “The leaked footage was taken from a copy of game that was obtained illegally and is not representative of the overall gameplay experience in Modern Warfare 2,” adding that “Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 features a deep and gripping storyline in which players face off against a terrorist threat dedicated to bringing the world to the brink of collapse. The game includes a plot involving a mission carried out by a Russian villain who wants to trigger a global war. In order to defeat him, the player infiltrates his inner circle. The scene is designed to evoke the atrocities of terrorism.”

According to the publisher, players will be warned that the particular segment contains some potentially disturbing images and they will even be given the option of actually skipping that without any negative effect on their campaign. Activision adds that the M rating Modern Warfare 2 received warns gamers about violent content.

The leaked footage has been widely circulated, despite Activision's effort to take it down from major video sites and is clear evidence that Infinity Ward is set to continue pushing the envelope of content in videogames in Modern Warfare 2, after subjecting players to the effects of a nuclear explosion in a controversial segment of its previous title.