Having now finished Modern Warfare 2 and experienced the controversial level that’s causing a bit of furore, I thought I’d reflect on the encounter and try and put that into words.

I’ve been playing video games for many, many years. I started out on the Apple II, ZX-81 and Spectrum, pixelated goodness with very little in the way of realistic visual representations. Over the last decade or so, that’s changed quite considerably. The digital images have become far more visceral, and although we’ve not yet reached photo-realism in mainstream gaming, it’s a massive leap as to my first real violent video game experience I remember: Death Wish 3 on the humble Speccy.

At the time it courted its own controversy. The game allowed the destruction of digital people with a variety of weapons, including a rocket launcher that would blow the backs off anyone it hit, leaving them there twitching away. There was no blood just a mess of black pixels. It didn’t turn me into a terrorist or vigilante, but could that have been the start of some kind of desensitisation?

If you’ve not played Modern Warfare 2 and are planning to, you might want to stop reading now as spoilers are ahead, because now I’m turning attention to the level that’s had Keith Vaz and various other public figures in such a tizzy.

When you start MW2 the game explains one of the levels may upset you and that it can be skipped if you might take offence to it. The level name is “No Russian” and entails you as an undercover CIA agent in a terrorist cell, walking through a crowded airport mowing down civilians and police officers with automatic fire.

I didn’t skip it, I did kill civilians and it turns out your cover was compromised and you get shot in the head at the end of the scene. I wasn’t particularly offended. The biggest issue I had with the level is by being able to skip it, the reason for war, and the story arc of the game, doesn't make that much sense.

I got to thinking, why is this causing such a fuss – what’s the difference between shooting a digital representation of a person in civilian clothing or shooting a person in a uniform? It’s not real, no-one actually died and you’re not going to go to hell (or whatever place of eternal damnation your religious preference places you). Is it because it was the player that was controlling the action? If it was a cut scene, after which the brave allied soldier rolls in and kills the bad guys, would it be more acceptable in some quarters?

I can separate what is real from what is fantasy – but that then presents a problem. Where do we draw the line with what is represented in videogames? Would it be acceptable to portray rape for example (such a game exists from Japan called Rapelay) or sodomy, and if not, then why not? What makes violence more acceptable than sexual assault? It’s still fantasy, it’s still not real.

I don’t have the answers, but it makes me wonder why I felt no emotional revulsion to the images presented to my eyes when trudging through that level. I can’t say that I enjoyed it in a "great I get to shoot civvies now" way, and I wasn’t sitting there with wild eyes and a manic grin as I put a third round in to a cowering young woman. Yet in some ways it didn’t go far enough; you don’t actually have to shoot anyone, but there are no consequences from your fellow cell “comrades” for this. Infinity Ward didn’t make it a light-hearted fun affair with a civilian kill count ticking up in the corner, like some poor TV game show, and were trying to put across the fact that terrorism is bad, m’kay?

Ultimately it’s down to our own moral compass as to what we find suitable for our delectation, but it means that publishers and developers tread a fine line between controversy and acceptability – a difficult prospect when there are so many different points-of-view out there.

Last couple of days have been manic and Ubisoft have been keeping me busy by parading me around Montreal before we flew back to the UK. I didn't have time to do a day 3 blog while I was there and I thought while I am slowly transcribing Q&A's I would get one out!

We left the hotel around 8:30 in the morning and arrived at Ubisoft's beautiful and absolutely massive Montreal studio! We got a small tour of the studio, saw places where they record audio, created the game and ate food. We couldn't take many pictures due to several secret unannounced projects going on and the company was very secretive and secure about everything. A security guard patrolled during the day as well as certain employees only having key cards that accessed certain rooms.

After the small tour we were lead to one of the lower floors into a room full of Assassin's Creed 2 posters and debug units. Here we got a Q&A session with Sebastian Puel, producer for AC2, and got some proper hands on time with the game. A good 4 hours I managed and I also got a nice look at the PSP and DS versions that are being worked on, the DS version looked the most promising.

I am still waiting on a few photos but will pop them up as soon as they become available, the day was amazing and the game is well... you'll have to wait for my preview but to cut the story short: amazing! Keep an eye on Consolemonster.com for the preview as well as more blogs in this ubi portal.

October was probably the busiest month of the year so far, in gaming terms at least. However we have just entered November which promises to be even busier, and that could be because of just one game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

I personally cannot wait for this game to be released, and starting from tonight, I’ll be trying to complete the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare campaign to get back in the right frame of mind.

Wow, October came and went and it was probably one of my busiest months of gaming in a long while.

It all began with Need for Speed Shift, which I reviewed for this very website. I was quite impressed by the change in the series and the graphics were certainly a step up from previous NFS games. The interior view for me is one of the best out of any videogame and the sense of speed you get when using it is fantastic.

Even with Forza 3 (which I'll come onto in a moment), being out, it has made me realise that even Forza has failed to re-create the driver viewpoint as staggeringly done by Shift. That said some iffy handling let the game down, but surely things can only get better!

Up next I downloaded a classic XBLA title which I had wanted since the launch of the console. Quite why it took me 4 years to download Smash TV, I'm not quite sure, but I was enticed to some co-op with a friend and at 400 MS Points, it wasn't much to give me a bit of retro goodness. Sadly the co-op is plauged now by drop-outs which is a shame, but a very addictive title.

On the XBLA front again, I have been playing Watchmen Part 2, again reviewed for the website. Although this appeared at the end of September, I failed to give it a brief mention last month. As you can see from the score, I thought the game was pretty dire and very expensive for what it is. Strangely enough though I found myself returning to it to complete it as the second character and still hated it the second time through.

Then came a much bigger leap in the gaming calander, in the form of Halo 3: ODST. I didn't get this straight from launch and even at the end of last month, it was still sitting sealed whilst I completed some other games. I've enjoyed the campaign and managed to wrap that up on Heroic, but I can't do Legendary on my own. I've enjoyed it with 2 other players, but solo it can be nigh on impossible. Not only that but the campaign is very broken in terms of when you begin a game and who with which meant having to re-play through the game to gain access to the next levels. A frustrating element of ODST, but a cracking game nontheless especially the epic Firefight battles I have endured.

Next up was Stoked, where you can read my review. This is quite a nice looking snowboarding title but I found it very hard to get to grips with, especially as the control system is taken from Skate which I'm useless at. If you are into the extreme sport and want beautiful looking mountains, then I suggest you take a look, especially as it can be picked up relatively cheap.

I managed to trade in Dirt 2 which I had near on completed from September and get £30 off Guitar Hero 5. With my staff discount at work, it meant I gained 1p, which meant I had two games for the price of one, considering I only paid £26 for Dirt 2 from an online retailer.

I've enjoyed what Guitar Hero 5 had to offer, it seem more polished and the soundtrack is far better than in World Tour. It took me back to the glory days of Guitar Hero III which was a postive element for me. The new improvements, whilst generally subtle, give it the edge. Sadly though the game is let down by poor DLC and connectivity with the old games.

With Halo 3: ODST as mentioned earlier, I decided to return to the multiplayer of Halo 3. It had been a long time since I played online particulary with the new maps which came on the second disc. I quite enjoyed my return to the game, a game which I've spent many fond hours playing online and it was nice to get back into the fray. Sadly with so many releases, online is something I don't bother with these days, but I should really settle down to some games more often.

The end of October heralded a packed month, I finally opened FIFA 10, after my girlfriends mate came round and wanted to play it. I guessed that it was time to take the shrink-wrap off and give it a blast. I've spent very little time with it, but it is an improvement on last year.

Around the time I opened FIFA, Forza Motorsport 3 arrived. I hadn't initally planned to buy the game and luckily I didn't have to. I won the staff of the month award for September at work and got a free copy which was nice. I didn't enjoy Forza 2, but this is a step up with some lovely menus and tracks alongside the vast variety of cars. Really enjoying the racing and handling as well and I can see me returning every now and again to complete events.

Up next was NBA Live 10, and a review will be up shortly for this. I've had a soft-spot for basket ball games down the years and NBA Live 10 is quite impressive. It is a very flexiable game in terms of rules and settings and the gameplay is great.

Finally (phew!), just making it into October is DJ Hero. I will write more about this next month and possibly put a review on the site. It is a cracking music game albiet over-priced but the mixes on it are superb and the instrument is well built.

And that is not all for October (I did say it was packed!), I was given entry into the Beta for the next Xbox update which is shaping up to be quite nice with Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm leading the way. I particulary like Last.fm, but it is ashame it can't be used in games (yet!). Sky Player also launched a week later which looks quite good but was plagued by problems. I will hopefully be getting access to the full service later in the month.

My target of achieving 30,000 gamerscore was smashed in October, and I'm now sitting on 32K, having beat two of my friends for the first time in three years past there scores. My next target is 50K, but that is a long way off.

October was certainly the busiest month possibly ever for gaming and November will be quieter but with a return to some classics and a few new guys, including possibly MW2, if I decide to splash out.

This month was Console Monster’s first GamerScore competition which I felt went really well. I managed to obtain 5,000 GamerScore throughout the entirety of the competition, though I’ll still be racking up the points in order to catch up with fellow Console Monster staff member and GamerScore competition partner: Reece.

"Excuse me, I'm lost." - Lost: Via Domus

The GamerScore competition meant I played an array of new titles throughout the month. Madden NFL 06, Fight Night Round 3, Eat Lead, Lost Via Domus and Open Season all helped me immensely, providing me with huge GamerScore increases despite not being the most enjoyable of titles.

My highlight of the month has to be the incredible Brutal Legend, a title that I didn’t initially have high hopes for. From the review: “The combination of a humorous action-adventure story with music and gameplay to match makes the game one of the most unique titles on the market at the moment and one I thoroughly recommend any gamer to purchase.”

Rock on! - Brutal Legend

This month also saw me reviewing two movie-to-game conversions coming in the form of Disney Pixar’s Up and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, both of which have provided me with sufficient entertainment despite not being AAA titles. NHL 2k10 was another title I’ve reviewed throughout the month, a game I enjoyed despite not being a huge ice hockey fanatic.

Both FIFA 10 and Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony look set to take me nicely into November having obtained both titles towards the end of October. Nevertheless, November is shaping up to be an impressive month for new releases with Ghostbusters, Assassin’s Creed 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and LEGO Indiana Jones 2 all on my radar.