Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone are gritty, realistic shooters, right?

It adds new weapon skins such as the Commodore assault rifle and the Genesis submachine gun (I see what they did there), as well as a new 16-bit death effect.

And it's this death effect that's refuelled a debate that's been bubbling for a while now about Modern Warfare and Warzone's tone.

This death effect sees enemies killed with one of the weapon skins included in the DLC pack explode in a shower of 16-bit pixels.

There's even an accompanying "deres" audio effect.

This death effect has got Modern Warfare fans talking, I think it's fair to say.

And there seem to be two differing opinions: one, this kind of wacky in-game effect is fair game, after all, Call of Duty has never been realistic - despite what the marketers say about it.

Let's back up: when Infinity Ward pitched Modern Warfare, it described the game as gritty and realistic, and this certainly could be felt in the developer's attention to detail and philosophy when it came to map design.

At least, that's what Modern Warfare is shooting for.

But Modern Warfare has in the months since it came out added DLC weapon and character skins, as well as tracer effects and takedowns that are entirely unrealistic.

And now this 16-bit death effect.

In the run up to Modern Warfare's release, Infinity Ward came under fire for its White Phosphorous killstreak.

It's inclusion in Modern Warfare was questioned online due to its controversial reputation in real-life warfare.

At the time, Infinity Ward multiplayer director Geoff Smith said the multiplayer portion of Call of Duty was detached from campaign, and had "a different vibe".

Competitive games of Call of Duty double as shop windows for this stuff.

Whatever your feeling on this realism debate, Modern Warfare and Warzone looks like it's doubling down on the silly skins.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019).

Call of Duty: Warzone.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War console players are turning off crossplay to escape PC cheaters - in the beta.

Infinity Ward stealth-added a new shotgun in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone

I got Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on PC down from 231GB to 168GB

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone will share battle pass progression

Infinity Ward pledges to crackdown on racism in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare