For as long as video games have existed, it seems that (some) parents have been at odds with the entire concept of them. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably heard your parents scold “Turn that Nintendo off and go outside for a change!” more than once in your life. If you’re like me, you probably ignored those demands and risked getting grounded.
While some parents definitely had a gross misunderstanding of video games in general, there were plenty of titles which caused legitimate concern. Back when games were marketed mostly to kids and teenagers (as opposed to many games being made for adult gamers these days), any games that included the likes of violence or sexual content were quite controversial.
Whether you started your gaming back in the 80s with an Atari or NES, or more recently as the Playstation and Xbox consoles became the two main consoles of choice, there have been a handful of games that your parents would never have allowed you to buy. Or even rent. So most of us were forced to play them at a friend’s house. A friend whose parents were much cooler than ours.
10. Call of Duty
It’s not that first-person-shooters didn’t exist before Call of Duty. Of course they did. Even WWI and WWII shooters existed long before this popular franchise rose to fame. However, it was 2007’s Modern Warfare that really upped the ante. For the first time, developers Infinity Ward made the game in a modern day setting, depicting very real battle scenes that look like something you might see on CNN. It was a jolting take on the ultra realistic kind of battles that were actually being fought in various parts of the world.
In addition, the game totally overhauled its multiplayer mode, awarding players with new weapons, attachments, and camo as they shot enemies and leveled up. Critics condemned this mode as a “murder simulator,” complete with flashy rewards for doing a good job. Of course, the game was rated M by the ESRB, which means that they generally deemed it unsuitable for anyone under 17-years-old. Clearly that didn’t work, though, because I remember getting pwned by tons of mouthy 12-year-olds when Modern Warfare first came out.
https://www.heypoorplayer.com/2016/11/11/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-remastered-review/ Via HeyPoorPlayer.com