What is without a doubt the most anticipated game of 2009, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had some big shoes to fill at launch.  The media bombardment  that has taken place over the last few months has been relentless.  Developers canceling releases in fear of competing with the title, the controversial (and skippable) game play sequences, the leaks, it’s all been dizzying almost to the point of over saturation.  But, when you come down to it, and you pop the game in your Xbox 360 for the first time, you will realize that it was all warranted.

Single Player:

The Call of Duty Franchise single player campaign modes have always done a great job of capturing the pure madness of war, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is no exception.  The second in the franchise, COD:MW2  continues a loosely told story from the perspective of multinational military squad: Task Force 141.

It’s not Shakespeare:

I want to get this out of the way right now.  If you are looking for a deep and involving story line, COD MW2 is not going to deliver it.  In fact the story if not known from the previous game, may be a little confusing for some players.  There really isn’t a whole lot of character development, backstory, or anything else that would give the player a clue as to what is going other than stuff blowing up around them.   A great deal of story is told through the environment, and your commands given through radio channels while playing.  The game makes you infer alot and its not real hard to put together the pieces, when you see the action unfolding onscreen.  Call of Duty Modern Warfare really pushes the envelope in some ways. Yet even without an engrossing story Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 still plucks at your emotions.  The game is ambitious in the sense that while they are not delivering a novel, they are delivering an experience. Obviously the terrorist scene has made a big splash for better or for worse.  I am a grown man, and was disturbed by the sequence but also loved it.  It was necessary.  The way that IW decided to tell its story was through action and not cutscenes.  It wouldn’t have had as great an effect if you were just watching it.  The same goes for fighting through an American suburb, watching some fake news report in a cutscene just wouldn’t have had the same emotional and engrossing effect.   Its not for everyone this method of story telling, but being that it is a video game, I would much rather play than watch so I was all for it.

In the end though, Call of Duty Modern Warfare’s story came secondary to the over the top action.  Comparable to a summer blockbuster action movies, the story is an after thought.

Story :3/5

You know what they say if it aint broke.. make it better?:

The Call of Duty Franchise has always had pretty good gameplay.  Modern Warfare 1 took this to the next level, blending amazing scripted action sequences, beautiful responsive gun play, vehicle sequences, and some story telling elements that really throw the player into the shoes of the character they are controlling.  The game is single player campaign is broken down into many different and unique experiences over a wide array of locales.  Taking a page from the other Call of Duty games Modern Warfare will have you fighting the war on a few different fronts. Whether in the trenches or in the Special Operations unit,  you will encounter a variety of experiences.  The pacing of the game itself is quite good, and you rarely have a moment to take it all in.  The Game is action packed.  While the gun play is an excellent return to the standard,  the scripted sequences from Modern Warfare are back as well.  And while in a lot of games they feel like exactly that, scripted.  Infinity Ward does an excellent job of keeping you involved in them by keeping it interactive.  I’m not exactly sure why they come as better in COD:MW2 I just know that they do.  Alot of the frustration of the old COD games came from wave after wave of enemy respawning and basically sitting in a shooting gallery behind a wall or some form of shield.  This one feels much different as enemies seem a bit smarter and less repetitive.  With many of the levels being much less linear than in previous games, you will find yourself flanked at times.  True to the roots though, slow and accurate progress through a level is still your best chance for survival.  While the single player can definitely still be classified as an FPS undoubtedly, there is a nice mixture of activities to keep every level fresh right down to the end.

An improvement from the first Modern Warfare, COD MW2 controls come of as buttery smooth, yet surprisingly accurate.  Smooth transitions between changing weapons, picking up weapons, and overall movement give the game an excellent feel.  Some of the vehicle controls still are a little bit wobbly but this is expected giving the nature of there inclusion in the game.  They dont play a huge part in the experience, but it can be a little frustrating especially on the harder difficulties.

All in all the single player experience in Modern Warfare is exceptionally handled with a high level of attention payed to even the smallest details.

Gameplay/Controls: 5/5

It Sounds like it Looks Like..

Modern Warfare was a huge jump in terms of visuals a few years back.  This time around you may not be overwhelmed by the graphical improvements but they are there nonetheless.  The most noticeable thing to me besides the fresh coat of paint and new accents, was the way which the game handled the improved graphics and added details. With many of the levels having obscene amounts of activity going on, I caught myself a couple of times just staring in amazement at what was unfolding in front of my eyes.  Then, after I hit my last checkpoint I’d go back and do it again.  The thing about Modern Warfare is that it doesn’t just happen once or twice.  It keeps happening over and over and over until the game ends…and you want more. It quite obvious that no detail was overlooked when putting the finishing touches on the game.  From the opening cinematics to the end credits your eyes wont be able to get enough of it.  Utilizing the IW 4.0 game engine which proclaims accommodate larger worlds, enhance graphical details, and render more efficiently, and it shows.  For complete immersion in the world, crank up the surround sound, and just listen to the sounds of firearms crackling and echoing as you pop round after round.  Bullets whizzing by your head, explosions, even when you are injured the sound effects in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 are top notch.  A handful of voice actors return for the sequel, and with the musical score provided by Hanz Zimmer (Gladiator, The Dark Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean) Every bit of this games presentation comes through as excellent as a summer blockbuster.

Graphics & Sound : 5/5

But the campaign… it’s so short.

It’s true the campaign is almost brutally short.  Clocking at just under 5hrs on regular, seems to be about standard for myself, and others.  But, beating Call of Duty games has never been about going through it on Regular difficulty.  You can add another hour or so if you go at it on Hardened.  Add 2-3 if you’re going on Veteran.  For review purposes I played a few levels of Veteran, and it was no cake walk.  But, I decided to judge the game from regular, because I didn’t want to have to add into my review the numerous controllers that mysteriously end up broken when attempting a Veteran Run through in any COD campaign.  So, even if you don’t take another crack at the campaign.  You have special ops mode.  Which are basically mini missions which are mostly taken from section in the campaign.  I would  say about 80% are from the campaign and there are a few originals which you can try your hand at with a local CO-OP friend or Xbox Live amigo.  Special Ops, was a nice touch considering there was no CO-OP in the campaign.  And some of the original Special Ops, missions are just quick and dirty fun as you work as a team to complete objectives.  There are 23 special ops missions in all, and attempting them on anything but regular was brutal.  I came to this conclusion on my 25th playthrough of Breach & Clear.

But the real trump card that gives the Call of Duty Modern Warfare series the clout that keeps you playing for years ultimately is the Multiplayer.  IW  Took all of the good stuff that was added into the game graphically and beefed up the multiplayer making it more dynamic and more fun.  As if TDM wasn’t fun enough on COD: MW, they took it to the next level adding quite a few things.  If you like the class based, perk system in the first game you will love the additions they made.  The same rules still apply to COD.  Get kills earn points to unlock new weapons.  As you gain kills with specific weapons you will be earning attachments for said weapon, including  scopes, sights, Grenade Launchers, etc.  As you progress you will also earn perks which can be attributed to three slots on your character these can have dramatic impact on how you chose to play with you character.  Without going into too much more detail Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 takes the fun level up a notch in the new game making the gameplay a tad bit more layered with new features such as customizable kill streaks and some new killstreak items.  No game is ever the same whatever mode is your poison.

Multiplayer/Co-Op : 5/5

Overall,

Call of Duty Modern Warfare series comes back to Xbox 360 in a big way.  Fans of the series will not be disappointed in one bit.  Well maybe a little considering you have to listen to the folks in the lobbies these days as IW took away private chat features in game.  But, other than that I can’t think of one thing that people might be disappointed in this game.  The time that was taken to make the game the right way is appreciated.  For the money, I don’t see another game out there that delivers game per dollar like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 does.  The hours you will put into the multiplayer alone bring this game down to fractions of penny on each play.  But, well considering that they already sold 50 Bajillion copies of the game you should run not walk to your local store if you don’t have it yet but I doubt that’s the case.

Modern Warfare 2 Achievements List via Xbox360Achievments.org