Modern Warfare 2 set to break gaming records

One of the most eagerly anticipated computer games of recent years, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, went on sale at midnight today already enveloped in a storm of controversy. The first-person-shooter, which had a full movie-style premiere in Leicester Square last night, has been slammed by MPs concerned at the levels of the violence in the game.

Set five years in the future, Modern Warfare 2 lets the gamer take on the role of a soldier in various theatres of conflict. One of the missions in the game sees the player become an undercover CIA agent, accompanying a terrorist as they shoot up civilians at an airport. (The game's developers, Activision and Infinity Ward, have inserted a disclaimer before that scenario which asks if the gamer is easily offended - if they answer yes, the mission is skipped.)

The game, which has a recommended retail price of £55 but which some retailers are offering for as little as £26, took 750,000 pre-orders in the UK and more than 2.5m in America. Activision is hoping to shift more than three million copies in Britain during its first week of release, which would bring in a staggering £150m. Worldwide, it looks on course to beat Grand Theft Auto IV's opening week record of $500m.

But Keith Vaz, the Labour MP and chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, has called for the game to be banned. He told the House of Commons that "it contains such scenes of brutality that even the manufacturers have put in warnings within the game telling people how they can skip particular scenes". He claimed his position was "not about censorship, [but] about protecting our children."

Vaz was criticised by his Labour colleague Tom Watson, himself a former digital minister, who said: "Everything that comes out of parliament in relation to video games is relentlessly negative. There are thousands of people employed in this industry, there are 26m people playing games. We should have a much more balanced view."

Even though Watson conceded that the game was "deeply repulsive" he said that the games regulation system - under which Modern Warfare 2 got an 18 certificate - was strong enough to deal with concerns. Culture minister Sion Simon agreed that the certificate should keep the game out of children's hands, saying "the Government's job is to make sure that adults... can get what adults should be able to and children are not in danger of being subjected to adult content."

Reaction to MW2 has been fairly unanimous from the gaming press. Charlie Brooker wrote in the Guardian that it was "thrilling, immersive, sometimes scary, always exciting, and occasionally downright overwhelming", but appreciated that the airport scene was "a strange and misjudged lapse into tastelessness that would actually be less offensive if played for laughs – and an easy target for reactionary kneejerk critics of videogames. Called Keith Vaz MP."

In the Times, Tom Hutchinson writes "I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Modern Warfare 2 sets a standard that will have its competition gasping for air"; the game "looks gorgeous with rich colours and crisp graphics, with the single player game boasting near cinematic cut scenes."

The Daily Telegraph's Nick Cowen grudgingly admits that "however irksome the submit-or-die nature of the publicity swirling around its release may be, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 really is one of the best video games released all year." ·