Call of Duty: MW2 is arguably one of the most realistic combat simulators available. Former Army Ranger Eddie Torres agrees that MW2 is visually stunning and at times surprisingly real. He also said the game brings a rush that is similar to the one gotten in actual combat, but the representation of combat is fairly flawed. Many of the most important scenes fall short of reality

One of the problems Torres had with the game was the realism of events in the campaign. Although riding a helicopter through a hot combat zone might seem like a fun way to spend your Sunday afternoons, Torres has seen that situation go bad and it is not for the faint of heart, “I saw a helicopter crash and it was brutal. I want to say of 25 passengers… four might survive.” Even if you are one of the lucky survivors, permanent incapacitation and death are not far off after that. So it is safe to say that there is no way you could jump into a fire fight right after a helicopter crash.

Another interesting inaccuracy deals with night visions devices; in particular a device used by soldiers called Aviator mods. Torres said this about Infinity wards equipment choice: “rangers wouldn’t use aviator mods. We use PVS 14’s, night vision monocular. The reason is having one of your eyes adjusted to night vision gives you some kind of depth perception. [When using night vision] Things close to you look further away. Your night eye is adjusted to dept and your night vision eye lets you see what is around you. If it came to an emergency situation where you engaged in a [lit] room, you would still have your other eye.”

Although Torres took issue with the game scenarios and equipment choices he did not have much to say in terms of gameplay. However, one of the few gameplay gaff s that stuck out to Torres dealt with reloading. Spam reloading is rampant in MW2, and Torres would definitely agree that always having a ready weapon is a plus, but “in a real life scenario, you aren’t going to reload every three shots.” Soldiers are trained to be aware of how much ammo they have left and to conserve every round.

Many people will never know the feeling of being in a full-out war, and that is the reason MW2 has been so successful in bringing the desperation of real combat into the safety of our living rooms, but in reality death isn’t just a reason to use the restroom and crack another soda.