The Call of Duty franchise has grown over time to become one of the most coveted first-person shooter IPs ever made. Over its long tenure, the titles have explored many different conflicts, both factual and fictitious.
In the name of maintaining buzz and excitement, the Call of Duty games have historically been no stranger to controversy, with Modern Warfare 2's "No Russian" mission serving as the most stark example. While "No Russian" will likely be the first thing to come to the minds of long-term fans when talking about controversial missions, there are several over missions that have featured over the years that come close to being as controversial, if not more.
Modern Warfare 2: No Russian
Considering that "No Russian" is a commonly held benchmark for controversy within Call of Duty, it would be remiss to not first outline the core details of the mission, especially when comparing it to other controversial levels. As previously mentioned, "No Russian" featured during the original Modern Warfare 2 campaign, and has dominated the discourse surrounding the game's story for some time, for many reasons.
The mission sees players take control of Joseph Allen, a member of the CIA and Task Force 141 who is working deep undercover amongst a cell of Russian ultra-nationalist terrorists under the false name Alexei Borodin. The cell is headed by a major antagonist of the original Modern Warfare trilogy, Vladimir Makarov.
As part of his cover, Allen actively takes part in a terrorist attack led by the cell at the fictional Zakhaev International Airport in Russia. The player controls Allen as the group sweeps through the airport, indiscriminately slaughtering civilians and the resulting responding forces. With Makarov being fully aware of Allen's true identity the entire time, he shoots Allen and leaves him for dead prior to the group's escape, leading Russian authorities to find the American's body and thus causing World War Three.
While some argue that such a disturbing event was necessary to justify such a large-scale conflict within the story, many believe that actively taking control of such an attack is much too graphic. This discourse has been ongoing since the game's release in 2009, leading No Russian to be considered the most controversial level in CoD history.
Modern Warfare 3: Davis Family Vacation
Another mission that almost rivals "No Russian" in terms of controversy also comes within the original Modern Warfare trilogy, namely in MW3's "Davis Family Vacation" mission. The eighth mission of the Modern Warfare 3 campaign, "Davis Family Vacation" is a short but largely cinematic mission depicting camera footage of a family's London vacation.
The mission quickly takes a dark turn as a van screeches to a halt behind the family, with Russian forces fleeing the van shortly before the van detonates and kills the family, also releasing deadly chemical gas. In the story, this marks the beginning of a series of chemical attacks perpetrated across Europe as a part of the ongoing Third World War. Like No Russian, this Call of Duty mission can be optionally skipped by players, giving credence to the extent of its controversial nature.
Modern Warfare (2019): Highway of Death
Controversy is additionally present within the first title of the recent Modern Warfare series reboot, in the campaign of 2019's Modern Warfare. The eighth mission of this campaign is called "Highway of Death," which takes place in the fictional Middle-Eastern country of Urzikstan.
In the game, the "Highway of Death" in question is a large stretch of decimated road that is littered with the charred wreckages of hundred of vehicles. It is explained during the level that the bombings were perpetrated by Russian forces in a bid to eliminate large swathes of escaping people. The controversy surrounding this mission primarily stems from the fact that the Highway of Death is the real-world name for a very similar event that occurred during the Persian Gulf War.
The real-world Highway of Death came in 1991, when Coalition forces bombed thousands of Iraqi vehicles fleeing from Kuwait towards Iraq. With the highway in the game clearly taking massive inspiration from this real-life conflict, even down to its name, many found it to be controversial that blame for the incident was placed on Russia within the title, despite Russia not being directly involved in the real-world inspiration for the in-game mission.
Black Ops: U.S.D.D
Moving away from the Modern Warfare portion of Call of Duty, there are comparable amounts of controversy to be found within the Black Ops series of games. The most controversy can arguably be found during the first Black Ops title, which released in 2010.
Set amidst the Cold War era, a primary element of Black Ops' mind-bending story concerns the brainwashing of protagonist Alex Mason, effectively turning him into a sleeper agent programmed to kill certain high-value targets. During the level "U.S.D.D," Mason visits the U.S Pentagon for a top-secret meeting with President John F. Kennedy.
During the mission, Mason begins hallucinating as a part of his prior brainwashing, part of which shows him pointing a pistol at Kennedy's head. Throughout the game it is strongly hinted that Mason has been programmed to assassinate the President, with the final cutscene of the game showing a video of Mason superimposed upon real-life footage of the crowd during JFK's assassination, implying that Mason did in fact murder the President.
Given that this concerns an assassination that genuinely happened in the real world, many have raised concerns over how this element of Black Ops' storyline is problematic and in poor taste. While many Call of Duty missions survive without lingering controversy, it must be said that there have been many instances over the years that have landed the franchise in hot water.