The upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is definitely set to carry on the CoD tradition of controversy, but it appears it will be the most contentious one yet.

The inbound title features a child soldier mission that understandably doesn't sit well with many people. And, as if that wasn't enough, the game's White Phosphorus killstreak has provided critics with another reason to hit out at the developers.

White Phosphorous is very real outside of the game and is responsible for serving up some real destruction where both military opponents and civilians are concerned. The chemical is used for creating smokescreens but also has very indiscriminate harmful effects that aren't kind to the skin. Modern Warfare's killstreak makes it so that White Phosphorous is put to use in the same way it would be in a real-life war, with both the artificial cover and incendiary effects included. So it's no surprise it's getting criticism too.

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Modern Warfare's multiplayer design director Geoff Smith recently defended the weapon being in the new game in an interview with VG247, explaining that it really just evolved from EMPs.

“For us it really kinda came out of the old EMP killstreak,” Smith said. “It’s really hard to convey this electromagnetic pulse that disrupts maybe your HUD. So it wasn’t like a set change or a mood change, the stakes had changed for us. When you’re in it you cough and you’re at half health, so it’s like a softener of things."

Smith added that no specific burning animations were put in there so, if someone gets caught in a White Phosphorous cloud, the results won't be as realistic.

via thenextweb.com

As observed by the designer, other CoD titles feature nukes as a killstreak yet they haven't attracted as much negative feedback despite the devastating effect they've had in real-life events. He reckons this could be because the graphics in past games haven't been quite as good as what's in the new Modern Warfare.

“Maybe people are reacting to the photogrammetry, the more realistic visuals," he remarked. "Maybe if it was more cartoony would that be more acceptable?”

Modern Warfare will drop for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on October 25. It will be interesting to see how the controversial title will be received and reviewed by the masses as we're almost sure that even more controversy will unfold when the full game is on show.

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