BBFC gives unedited Modern Warfare 3 the nod, defends London level

The British Board of Film Classification has awarded Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 an 18 certificate and given it the green light without censoring its content.

The certificate was granted for strong bloody battle violence”.

WARNING: Potential very minor plot spoilers ahead

Design features unearthed by the report include the fact that bullet impacts or explosions cannot cause dismemberment however, and there is no opportunity for the player to inflict further damage on enemies that have been killed”.

One scene it singles out involves the witnessing of an interrogation victim being set alight. This in itself does not warrant an 18 certificate, but that there is some dwelling on the infliction of injury in a real world setting” bumped up the rating.

There were also details of the game’s London Underground level, including the observation that while players are able to shoot passengers waiting on the Tube platform, doing so results in a restart.

Some comparison has been drawn between the action in the game and terrorist attacks on the London Underground in July 2005,” the BBFC adds. However, a full examination of the game makes clear that the storyline is far removed from these real events, neither drawing upon nor resembling real terrorist attacks on the Underground.

Nevertheless the location of the action in familiar London settings, both above and below ground, establishes a context within which the tone and impact of the work may, for some, be more unsettling, and upsetting, than in previous games in the series.”