Modern Warfare 2 recalled in Russia?

By Oli Welsh Published 17 November, 2009

Update: It's not banned, says Activision.

Reports suggest the Russian government has recalled all Xbox 360 and PS3 copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 due to objections to the controversial airport terrorism scene.

According to Hellforge - citing Russian site GotPS3 - only the console versions have been recalled and the level, titled "No Russian", has simply been patched out of the PC version in the country.

A censored version of the console game, minus the "No Russian" mission, is expected to be released pending government approval, GotPS3 claims.

We contacted Activision for comment, and the company responded with this statement: "Reports that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been banned in Russia are erroneous. Activision only released a PC version of the game in Russia which went on sale on Tuesday, 10th November."

Although some reports do use the word "banned", it should be noted that the original claim is only that the game has been recalled pending a new censored version.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (44) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • aidey6 #1 2 years ago

    Not bloody surprised tbh, it was a crass idea putting this in a videogame even if it is cert 18. It doesn't add anything to the "story"....

  • Paperghost #2 2 years ago

    Maybe they're a bit annoyed that an American dev decided it was okay to gun down Russian civilians by the boatload, but when it came to a full on, no bullshit, twlight of the Gods invasion of America every single civilian had apparently been abducted by aliens leaving you to watch a series of ghost towns burn.

    Particularly liked the part where a mission ends with the squad leader telling you that if you have relatives in (town goes here) it's your lucky day because you're going to go rescue them - and then you get there, and they've all vanished!

  • Terribly_Mauled #3 2 years ago

    No reason for it to be in there other than a justification for Russia to launch a military invasion.... So now, the country looks EVEN worse in the context of the story as there is no reason for them to do it! :D
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/09 @ 09:15

  • 3ergling #4 2 years ago

    Could you give the official source of "government recalled blah-blah-blah"?
    This whole speculation is getting ridiculous.

  • jambo74 #5 2 years ago

    Bit late - it has been shipped.

  • skillian #6 2 years ago

    Hah, I played the first with two friends, a Russian and a Pakistani Muslim. Luckily I am a English white guy so the game didn't make us switch us to controlling the bad guys.

  • the_dudefather #7 2 years ago

    The copies of the game are Oscar mike then?

  • Skurmedel #8 2 years ago

    Well considering that they've been the villains in half the Bond movies, several Tom Clancy novels, two Rambo movies, etc. maybe they are getting a bit tired of it :)

    Still I think it's a bit rash censoring it, but I guess that is the current political climate.
    Edited by 2 at 17/11/09 @ 09:44

  • LHH #9 2 years ago

    Modern Warfare 2 has been even more controversial in the country than it has elsewhere, and has been accused of anti-Russian bias

    That's hardly a surprise

  • Nephirion #10 2 years ago

    The storyline for the single player was like out a rejected episode of 24, I doubt the removal of that scene will make the plot any harder to follow tbh

  • Sniper_007 #11 2 years ago

    How did they miss this before it was shipped?

  • hiddenranbir #12 2 years ago

    Bring on the Cold War!

  • el_pollo_diablo #13 2 years ago

    Why don't they just do what the Germans did with Die Hard - keep the scene in place but make all the terrorists something *other* than Russian. Chechen?

  • gjgjg #14 2 years ago

    anti Russian bias? never.
    America loves to demonise itself and let the foreigners save the day
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/09 @ 09:55

  • The_Inquisitor #15 2 years ago

    Don't they understand though. We can't excactly have the French or Germans as the villians anymore. They were 'it' last.

  • StrayBezza #16 2 years ago

    TBH - That scene/level was bollocks. NOT needed or necessary to the story or gaming experience and I GUARANTEE there are gamers (or worse still kids) that took delight in playing through that level. The only saving grace for the devs etc is that there appears to be no acheivement(s) available to unlock for it, unless I am mistaken (hopingingly not).

  • Darren #17 2 years ago

    I agree with people here that that airport scene where terrorists shoot down unarmed civilians was both unnecessary and tasteless. It added absolutely nothing to the game beyond controversy which is probably the only thing IW wanted anyway. Although it's only a game I refused to join in the "fun" so almost five minutes of the game was spent just walking along admiring the well-rendered scenery and ignoring the pointless carnage.

  • SleepyDeathFred #18 2 years ago

    I honestly hadn't realized the massacre was in Russia til later in the game (clearly not paying attention). Paperghost makes a good point though.

    Edit: gjgjg also makes a point - the Brits are the main heroes really.
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/09 @ 10:16

  • Mkwone #19 2 years ago

    Am i the only one who thought it did add to the game? This next bit will contain spoilers

    You play as an undercover agent who joins a russian group who walk into an airport who massacre hundreds of civilians. The russians know you're a yank so shoot you and leave you at the scene to make it look like an american attack thus inciting a war.

    The level works BECAUSE you have to stand by and watch, you're helpless, this wouldn't of worked in a cutscene. Yes people chose to shoot the civilians but it doesn't make them sicko's or twisted, it's the route they went down.

  • AhSoul #20 2 years ago

    The scene was unnecessary? It provides the reason for the Russian invasion of the US. Without it the invasion wouldn't make any sense.....

  • Mr_Bojangles #21 2 years ago

    How pathetic. Should every media in which a certain country is portrayed less than favourably have to be censored. It's fiction. If the next Treyarch CoD follows Russias actions during WW2 will that undergo censorship too? Even if the actions within the game are based upon real events?

  • Darren #22 2 years ago

    @Mkwone - What you mean MW2 has a story somewhere in the midst of that muddled narrative?!? :o

    Seriously though, the plot, what there is of it, is so far-fetched and unbelievable that I had to check the credits to see if Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich hadn't scripted it! The story sure ain't one of MW2's strength, that much I do know.

  • Brogan #23 2 years ago

    "Well considering that they've been the villains in half the Bond movies, several Tom Clancy novels, two Rambo movies, etc. maybe they are getting a bit tired of it :)"

    the British are still winning.

  • kangarootoo #24 2 years ago

    "several Tom Clancy novels"

    That was Georgia wasn't it?

    "two Rambo movies"

    One Rambo movie I think.

    :)

  • davisorle #25 2 years ago

    I read about this shit elsewhere yesterday. How freaking dumb can some be, really? I see a game as a movie. Its for the name of entertainment and ppl's amusement, correct? Do they ban movies? Do germans ban every WW2 game or complain for them slaughtering or being slaughtered and loosing each and every time? Im sorry but i'll ALWYAS find those kind of moves stupid. Those are personal opinioins on what you can have or not and since there is nothing illegal involved to just make sure they inform the public about the product better and keep underaged away and be more responsible. That shoudl do it instead of going through all this.

  • spekkeh #26 2 years ago

    The scene was unnecessary? It provides the reason for the Russian invasion of the US. Without it the invasion wouldn't make any sense.....

    Well, not that it made much sense now, but this much is true. However, they could have done it with half the amount of people shot, more suggestively with half of it happening off screen, via a terrorist strike on a highly placed russian official, etc. etc. This massacre was just way over the top, specially cause the terrorists were also apparently bullet dodging superheroes.

    I'm vehemently against any kind of art ban, but in this case I just can't really blame Russia. It's not like they don't have ample experience with terrorists shooting down tens or hundreds of innocents (Moscow 2x, Chechnya, Beslan).

  • Kapo! #27 2 years ago

    Apparently, it wasn't violent enough for the Russians.

  • Paperghost #28 2 years ago

    "The scene was unnecessary? It provides the reason for the Russian invasion of the US. Without it the invasion wouldn't make any sense..... "

    Unfortunately I don't think it makes much sense WITH the scene either. huge spoilers follow, but:

    1) If I have my understanding of "not very explanatory" cutscenes down, how on earth were the good guys able to tell where the bullet came from that they traced back to the guy in Brazil? Wouldn't the Russians have had them all?

    2) IW are seriously suggesting that in some warped version of reality finding *one* person of foreign nationality involved in a terror attack is going to result in that country launching an ALL OUT INVASION of another nation? Didn't they wonder about the two or three dead Russian terrorists killed by the police too?

    3) Using the "American at the airport" as the basis for your crazy invasion plot only makes sense if the reason given is somewhat plausible. As it turns out, the American general is behind it and the "reasoning" is that he saw "30,000 of my boys die in Genericastan - and nobody cared".

    That's right, he was so saddened that all those soldiers died in the nuke explosion that he decided to trigger a full scale invasion of America resulting in hundreds of thousands of dead civilians and soldiers so "next time" they'd be taken "seriously". (He also hilariously claims "We are not savages...we don't kill innocent civilians.." despite the fact that he sent you into a Russian airport to do just that).

    I find trying to regard the airport scene as being essential to make sense of the plot a bit pointless when the reason given for the attack (and betrayal of undercover agent guy) is so daft it blows the whole thing out of the water anyway.

    IW just wanted a "boys and their toys" cool collection of scenes in America being shot to pieces, minus those pesky civilians being dragged out of their homes and shot like they tend to include when the warfare is taking place in, well, anywhere outside of America (the farmer you could choose to save - or not - in MW1 springs to mind).
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/09 @ 11:14

  • Mkwone #29 2 years ago

    jstar i can't sit here and say that i enjoyed the scene, i can say that i didn't feel unfomfortable or that it didn't cross the line because it did. Im saying that in the context of a story (no matter how rubbish the story was) it made sense.

    You talk about in-game rape and you'll be damn right that would cause outrage, it should it's shocking but it doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. we've seen story lines in films and tv shows that go for taboo. we've seen abuse, rape, racisms etc etc.

    Just becuase something is wrong doesn't mean it shouldn't be portrayed.
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/09 @ 11:28

  • Razer #30 2 years ago

    I don't get the "1 dead USA agent at the airport means USA are obviously to blame for this attrocity" either.

    It's in an airport where there must be hundreds of CCTV cameras. Surely they might just have spotted the International terrorist Makarov and his cronies spraying bullets everywhere ? Stupid level.
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/09 @ 11:26

  • SAMagic #31 2 years ago

    The level is the equivalent of the president getting publicly executed in MW1. It's there to set up an atrocity committed by the bad guys and to show you directly what happens.

    Paperghost - I only played the level last night, but I believe in the mission briefing you can briefly see "CIA Deep Undercover Agent - Alexei (Surname)", which suggests they retrieved it through him (Presuming Alexei wasn't the Taskforce 141 private's alias). The whole thing feels both contrived and convuluted so far, I've heard the invasion gets even crazier by the end too, but the game is still damn fun.

  • kipper #32 2 years ago

    Judging by what people have written about the single player campaign plot, I think I will be giving this game a miss.
    Thank goodness for Treyarch doing a sterling job on COD:WAW.

  • Silvervein #33 2 years ago

    I'd like to join the folks saying that the airport scene was absolutely not necessary as a plot device.
    I think the only reason it was included was the publicity stunt.

    Young boys go for two things first and foremost. Boobs and blood.And so acti went out of their way to provide it. I guess they'd made the whole airport level full of topless playboy models for you to shoot if they thought they could get away with it.
    Sad thing is, this publicity stunt actually worked judging by the game sales on the consoles.
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/09 @ 12:35

  • AhSoul #34 2 years ago

    It was meant as a terrible atrocity to spark a war. Why is that so hard to deal with?

    I'm not saying it wasn't also for publicity, but given the overblown and over-the-top nature of the whole story I personally thought it fitted in. That makes me a moron jstar? I think you need to look closer to home :)

    I never said I enjoyed it. I'm an adult and found it slightly shocking. Did I kill the people? Yes, because that was my role in the story at that point.

    We 'murder' civilians in GTA games all the time so why is this more shocking? GTA lets you shag a hooker then beat her to death. Surely that's much worse, as that has nothing to do with any plot at all?
    Edited by 3 at 17/11/09 @ 13:04

  • Siberian_Khatru #35 2 years ago

    Yep, not in the stores. Got offered OFP instead. Personally, I'm happy that the right organizations have finally turned their eye on the industry. It's a bit too wild west over here.

    I wonder if they'll ban the new Top Gear ep, what with it making fun of the dam tragedy.

  • smithdown #36 2 years ago

    I found this scene very uncomfortable, but I still played it through and shot my fair share of civvies, because I thought it would add to the story. Which it did, sort of.

    I'm wondering though if Infinity Ward are making some point about America's invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, which I am sure that no one could say wasn't prompted by the terrorist attacks on the US in 2001. I'm no expert on those events and the CONFIRMED nationalities of the terrorists, but perhaps IW are suggesting that to invade a country and cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in reaction to one or two relatively isolated events isn't totally justified??

    Jstar says "a russian invasion of the USA because of a suspected american terroist is miles beyond the realm of possiblility" - but surely only because America is a huge military force? If it were somewhere with a much smaller military e.g. Iraq or Afghanistan, suddenly an invasion doesn't seem so far-fetched.

    Just some ideas to dwell on...
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/09 @ 13:09

  • makeamazing #37 2 years ago

    I thought the level and the story for the level was pretty lame. I'm sure they could have come up with something better, perhaps while on a plane they take it hostage etc etc... But I still think they should have gone further if they wanted to give a reason for an invasion force, for example a number of increasing incidents (plane being shot down, a nuclear powerstation being attacked) etc etc.. than one airport event.

    As someone else said there would have been cameras all over the place, they would have spotted the people involved straight off... 9/10 for lameness.

  • GrumpyLlama #38 2 years ago

    I got halfway through the airport level before I quit. It just seemed gratuitous, and didn’t have any artistic merit. The argument that games should be able to tackle difficult subjects is completely undermined when it is as badly handled as this. The plot makes Die Hard 4 look like Shakespeare. If you want you game to have a story, and that is a whole other debate, then at least get a decent writer, or at least someone who understands subtlety.

  • bratmandu #39 2 years ago

    In Russia, game plays you.

  • Skurmedel #40 2 years ago

    kangarotoo: Nope, actually two.

    Second movie: the Vietnam-guys "invite" the Russians to come and torture him. The Vietnamese do the foreplay and the Russians finish it off with some good old electrocution.

    Third movie: He fights alongside the muhajeddins against the Russians. Here they've snatched his friend Troutman and HE is tortured instead. Gets help from cute boy who is spookily good at blowing stuff up.

    They broke the tradition in the fourth though... now it's just Burmese army chopping childrens limbs off.

    The minus didn't come from me.

  • kangarootoo #41 2 years ago

    @Skurmedel

    I stand corrected. I'd forgotten the end of Rambo 2.

    Isn't it nice when all our enemies can get along in one neat and tidy bundle of evil :)

    I wonder if Rambo 2 was the inspiration for GW Bush's nonsense about Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden being the best of friends...

  • Skurmedel #42 2 years ago

    Yeah a literal axis of evil!

  • tokenwebster #43 2 years ago

    You see it in films, you hear it on the news, but as soon as it been put in a game, everyone goes ape! If the media hadn't have made this much fuss, there is no way other people would make such a fuss. If you don't like it, don't play, you get given the option to not play the level. I think the idea of the level was to show how much of a bellend Makarov was in the game. They must have know that there were gonna get stick, but dont a lot films and music artist think the same ??

  • Blunners #44 2 years ago

    If you don't like it dint play it