The NowGamer forum has been rife with Modern Warfare 2 debate. Here are the highlights...

Asking our rather outspoken forum to tell us what they’re most looking forward to about Infinity Ward’s upcoming blockbuster is like throwing meat into the tiger cage. Laced with crack. So please join us, sit back, relax and prepare yourself for some unadulterated gamer opinion. Let’s kick things off with a pair of polar arguments on the so called ‘controversial’ airport level in which the player is able to gun down innocent civilians. Lovely.

Spanky against the controversial level
Many arguments. This one being that this is exactly the kind of shallow American crap that winds up people throughout the world. “Terrorists are bad because they shoot people in airports, and now we’ve got that established, let’s go get the bad guys” – that’s the depth of understanding here. No attempt has been made to try to deal with the reasons behind such evermore frequent occurrences.

Some think America & Europe’s ‘War On Terror’ in the name of democracy is the real terrorism at play in the world, and this will most likely be the biggest selling game to date. It’ll be noticed by people other than you and I; we’ll be having a bit of fun and excitement because it doesn't really impact upon us. It is short-sighted to not see that this will make some already angry people angrier still. It’s entertainment, but I personally think it could potentially fan the flames of the very thing it is trying to evoke. That’s just one argument for it not being the best idea ever.

But for every argument there’s a counterargument. It’s what makes forums interesting. That, and the constant chatter about boobs. Here’s our counterpointer, which, interestingly enough, isn’t even a real word.

CPC6128 for the controversial level
It will make you feel bad. Sure, there will be the redneck types who may revel in the massacre, but the average gamer is not going to feel comfortable playing this level. I'm all for games that take the player out of their comfort zone and challenge their emotions in some way. As for kids being allowed to play Modern Warfare 2 - well, parents need to know what's in these games. If this game gets splashed across the tabloids and the 9 o'clock news then at least parents are going to sit up and take notice... some games are just not for kids!

Whatever the context, rumours are generally a bad thing. Unless you’re Bezmerelda. Yes, she’s the only lady gamer we know that’s hooked on Modern Warfare. And disturbingly, she appears to know more than we do.

Bezmerelda on rumour
I'm looking forward to some new scenery! IW should've released more map packs for CoD4 and I'm hoping that this time around they offer us lots and lots of DLC. I'm also looking forward to kill streak rewards, new and different game types but most of all I'm looking forward to the host not being able to end the game any longer.

… continued