Review – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Publisher: Activision
Developer: Infinity Ward
Platform(s): Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Wireless
Genre: First-Person Shooter

ESRB Content Descriptors: Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Language

The Scoop: Infinity Ward brings gamers one of the most hyped up and highly anticipated games of 2009.  Building off of the foundation laid down by its predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 delivers breathtaking visuals and rock solid gameplay in a complete and extensive, FPS package.  This game is intense and you’ll love every minute of it.

The Setup: As soon as you fire up Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 you’ll notice that there are three gameplay options available to you right off the bat – Campaign, Spec Ops, and Multiplayer.  Each mode keeps track of your progress separately and each offers different degrees of difficulty.

The main campaign in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is single player only and picks up 5 years after the first game.  You’ll get a quick tutorial but after that you’re thrown right into the middle of the action.  The campaign lasts between 6-8 hours roughly and the whole plot was very tense, engaging, and contained a handful of twists and turns.  Just what you would expect from a Call of Duty game.

While Infinity Ward cut out co-op support in campaign mode, they did include a new Spec Ops mode that allows players to go solo or buddy up on-line or split screen to tackle 23 “mini-missions”.  And of course, we can’t forget about the main event – Multiplayer.  Continuing the addiction from the on-line competitive multiplayer in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward adds more maps, options, and a ton of customization.

What’s Hot: Everything? Seriously, from the realistic graphics, to the rocking sound track, to the tight controls and gameplay, this is a high production game.

• Spec Ops – The “mini-missions” in Spec Ops can be just as addicting as the main campaign and multiplayer modes.  Co-op modes are always welcome, and the fact that you can tackle these missions as a lone wolf makes them even sweeter.
• Campaign – Undeniably one of the best multiplayer games available today, the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 single-player campaign follows right along, showcasing Infinity Ward’s attention to detail, insane ability to shock even the most desensitized of gamers and its blockbuster-like game production. From the controversial “No Russian” level where players are playing along as a Russian and slaying innocent citizens to defending American homes from invading Russians, MW2 offers gamers something rare and pure… a reality check. It’s unexpected, but surprisingly refreshing as the game holds nothing back. Players first follow Task Force 141, an elite special forces group tasked with hunting down the man responsible for World War III, Makarov. Secondly and most interesting, players are thrusted into a group of soldiers defending American soil. In our nation’s capital no less. Trouncing through the suburbs with this squad is difficult. In fact, it took me several hours to complete the entire campaign, with most of my time spent taking out Russians within the two-story housing tracks.
• Multiplayer – For some gamers, this is what the game is all about.   The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer community is already huge, and it’s only going to get bigger and tougher.  There’s always going to be a game that’s close to starting so you’ll never have to wait too long to jump into a match.   Customization in multiplayer is flat out awesome and you’ll find yourself changing or creating a class quite often.  As you level up your rank you’ll unlock new weapons, attachments, perks, and death streaks. And to add to the depth of customization are unlockable callsigns, titles, and kill streak awards.  Rewarding all of these unlockables to players is just another reason why Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is so addicting, plus it keeps players motivated to try different strategies and equipment.

What’s Not:

• Although the campaign was packed with non-stop action till the very end, it’s still on the shorter side.   Increasing the difficulty will let you squeeze out another hour or two but you’re looking at around 10 hours at the most.

• There’s no doubt that the killstreaks in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 are awesome, but it can be annoying as anything when a gunner in a helicopter takes you down three or four times in a row.  It’s definitely an awesome killstreak award when you’re not on the receiving end of it.
• Having a huge multiplayer community is a great thing, but at the same time, it means the competition is going to be tough and fierce.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll get better.

Final Verdict: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 does so many things right and is a completely enjoyable FPS experience.  This game is packed with intense action that you’ll easily sink countless hours into.  And while the competitive multiplayer alone is enough reason to pick up this game, all three game modes help increase the longevity of the game as a whole and offers more than enough replay value. If there is any part of you that enjoys playing FPS games, then there is no doubt that you need to experience what Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has to offer.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is available GameStop for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

I’d also like to thank Greg Dawson for adding his impressions and opinions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to this review.