Editor's note: As video games like Modern Warfare 2 start to explore morally ambiguous themes, how culpable is the player? Cody thinks this is just one of the difficult questions gamers will soon need to answer. Minor spoilers abound, but don't let that dissuade you from reading this article. -Brett

Recently, a fairly disturbing Modern Warfare 2 video was leaked. I don't advise watching it if you don't want the opening of the game spoiled for you, but if you're curious and want to understand what the point of this blog is, clicky clicky. I'm going to get into different aspects of the trailer here anyway, so spoilers ahoy regardless.

There's a lot of outrage surrounding the trailer right now, and plenty of people think Infinity Ward shouldn't have included the level seen in the video at all. You can just imagine the headlines in the mainstream press vilifying the game, letting us know that it will harm our children, that it's a "terrorist simulator," and so on.

Of course, this will only generate more buzz for the game and, in the end, push an extra million or so copies into households across the country.

However, should the anger at the events in the video be aimed at the developers? Or should it be aimed at the person who was playing the game? Infinity Ward didn't make him pull the trigger on all of those innocent civilians, after all. They also didn't force the guy to shoot wounded people who are crying in pain and desperately trying to crawl away from him. The player is the one walking around that airport and slaughtering people, not Infinity Ward. It was his choice.

Putting aside the obvious questions about how violent games should be and how far they should take their content, the real argument this brings up -- for me at least -- is how players should act and react when they enter into a role. Personally, I'll probably play through that entire level by watching the chaos around me, not ever firing a single bullet.

However, is that really something the character I'm controlling would do? He is a "bad guy," after all -- maybe by killing the innocents around me I'm just acting in the way he would.

Or maybe not. Perhaps this terrorist doesn't want to be there. Maybe he stepped out of that elevator, saw his comrades mow down a wall of fellow human beings, and could no longer bring himself to pull the trigger. If so, is the person controlling the character in the video just doing a terrible job at acting out the role he's been placed in?

Not having anything to go by but what we're seeing in the poor quality footage, it's hard to say. But it still brings up an important question: Should we do what we want in a video game, or should we try to play along with the character whose shoes we're filling? Are we directors in the world of video games, or are we simply actors who sometimes flub a line or two?

I try to get as much into the characters as possible when I play games, even if it makes me uncomfortable. If I'm playing a sadistic serial killer, hey, I'm going to do my best to pull off a Hannibal Lecter.

On the other hand, if I'm playing someone with a conscience, I can't bring myself to do deeds that they themselves wouldn't do.

If I create my own character, I put together a set of guidelines and character traits and do my best to follow them. Regardless of what the characters themselves are like, though, I do my best to... well, become them.

This sort of thing can lead to a lot of problems, because developers can contradict themselves. An obvious case would be Niko Bellic, a former soldier and immigrant in Grand Theft Auto 4 who's trying to put away his violent past. He's a very likable character and is easy to relate to. Who doesn't want to shed their past and make a better future for themselves?

Then he starts to betray his desire to move away from his old life without really batting an eye. Sure, a lot of the time he's forced to fight to protect his family or friends, but other times he picks up a gun for the simple reason of making a quick buck. This leads to an absolute contradiction in his character, and because of this I felt disconnected from him.

I didn't know how to act when playing the role of Niko because the script of his life felt more like a jumbled mess instead of what it was meant to be: the story of an terribly conflicted human being.

Leigh Alexander of Kotaku and Sexy Videogameland ran into similar problems while playing Shadow Complex, stemming from a confusion of gameplay and plot. "The cut scenes attempt to convey a sense of urgency -- take the most direct route to solve an immediate crisis -- and yet the gameplay requires precisely the opposite mindset," she said. "If the player chooses to engage with the plot, the gameplay feels weird, and if they go the other way 'round, as most will, the plot becomes even more goofy and cliche than it already is."

Searching for power-ups makes you powerful, but it also gives your enemies plenty of time to take over the world. Doesn't quite match up, does it? The only way out of the problem, story-wise, is to play the role that's meant to be played -- which means fighting against the game itself.

Besides contradictions, we also have moral questions. Is it "okay" to do what was done in the video? Is it "okay" to take it further than that? What happens when games start do discuss abuse, sex, drugs, or rape in a stronger way, like books and films do? And why do some people think all of this is okay as long as it's done within a cut scene?

These are some of questions that will be popping up over the next couple of months and in the next few years as games start to tackle things other mediums already have, but in a much more personal, visceral sort of way. I just hope people realize that it's all about choice, and the actions of the player in the video and players throughout the country when Modern Warfare 2 hits have less to do with developers trying to be edgy, and more to do with the demons that reside in all of us.

Video games are a virtual stage. We can be "bad" actors and do what we like, or we can be "good" actors and fill the roles we're given. When placed in another person's shoes, should you try and live their life, or simply act out your own in a new pair of kicks?