MW2 linked to Russian airport bombing

Modern Warfare 2's infamous No Russian stage could have influenced the terrorists behind this week's suicide bombing at a Moscow airport, Russian state media has claimed.

A report on a Russia Today news program picked up by the New York Times cited similarities between yesterday's suicide bombing of Moscow's Domdedovo International Airport and a level in Infinity Ward's 2009 shooter in which you play as an undercover operative asked to gun down civilians in an airport.

After studying a YouTube clip of the No Russian stage, the RT reporter asked, "With so many people seemingly downloading, playing or watching this game, you have to consider whether anyone ever thought this game could so closely mirror reality."

Walid Phares, a Fox News terrorism analyst, then went on to speculate that the perpetrators of the Domdedovo attack might have trained using the game, or others like it.

"The issue is we need to know if terrorists or extremists are using these videos or DVDs or games to basically apply the model," he pondered.

"I think those who have been radicalised already – that is supposed in this case jihadists, Al-Qaeda or other kind – they look at the games and say these games will serve them to train."

Militants from the North Caucasus region of Russia are expected of carrying out the suicide bombing, which killed 35 people and injured 110 more.

This isn't the first time Modern Warfare 2's No Russian segment has attracted controversy. Publisher Activision decided to cut the level from the Russian release of the game "after seeking the advice of local counsel."

The most recent entry in the Call of Duty franchise, Black Ops, caught plenty of flak too. Following its release in November last year, Cuban state media attacked the game for glorifying "the illegal assassination attempts the United States government planned against the Cuban leader," claiming the title "stimulates sociopathic attitudes in North American children and adolescents."