Review :: Modern Warfare 2

Apparently this is the most anticipated game of the decade. A game that’s going to win all the awards. Really, I didn’t think it was all that special…

…Kidding!

The sequel to, arguably, the biggest console FPS of all time (yeah, take that Halo!) has arrived. Modern Warfare 2, the direct sequel to Call Of Duty 4, is finally here. With a new game mode, a story that promises so much and a multiplayer suite that’s bound to make fans drool. Can it live up to expectations. I think so.

Let’s start with the campaign. War shooters aren’t exactly known for their great stories. Usually, it’s a case of moving through various killboxes shooting anything that moves. Whilst shooting everything that moves is still a requirement here, I found the story quite engaging. As per usual, you flip back and forth between two sides watching the war unfold from two differing perspectives (sort of). In Modern Warfare 2 you play as the British and the Americans in their fight against the Russians, As you progress though the story, the plot thickens and your characters are embroiled in, basically, World War III. This isn’t a straight forward tale of heroism though (did you really think it would be?), there’s a bunch of twists and turns that’ll keep you on your toes and, hopefully, shock you as much as they did me. Please bear in mind, it’s best to have a good knowledge of the story from COD4. Some of the plot points might be lost on you if not (won’t they Ad).

However, the campaign is really short. Playing it on the regular difficulty, you could get through it in four to five hours. Veteran will extend your playtime, but not by much. If you were buying this for single player only, you might want to reconsider.

I think one of the things that makes the story as engaging as it is is the voice acting. Once again breaking an FPS convention, the writing is great and the voice acting top notch. Of course, you do get your stereotypical “yeeha lets kick some ass” soldiers, but for the most part all the characters seem pretty genuine. My hat goes off to Craig Fairbrass who has returned to Call Of Duty, this time playing the role of ‘Ghost’ (Fairbrass played Gaz in the original Modern Warfare).

The gameplay in single player is great, but that’s to be expected with Infinity Ward at the helm. The guns seem pretty true to life and well balanced, there doesn’t seem to be one gun to rule them all which is good. This leaves it up to you and, regardless of what you choose, you’re going to have a good time playing.

The AI of, both, your allies and the enemy have been improved since COD4 and will seem even better if you played Treyarch’s World At War last year. Your squad mates will endeavor to help you out in sticky situations and their assistance is vital when playing on Veteran. When you’re away from your squad, believe me, you’ll find things harder.

If you thought COD4 looked good, you’re going to love this. This is one of the most graphically impressive games of the year. Each of the mass of environments look fantastic and when you consider how much they differ throughout the game, that’s a great achievement. For me, the most impressive visual ‘effects’ (for want of a better word) were the wind effects. The blizzards and sandstorms in this game look great and are a good combat aid too. You’ve got to love getting a headshot on an unsuspecting solider in conditions like that. That said there’s one particular bit that looks out of this world. No spoilers, but you’ll know what I mean when you see it.

So, once you’ve experienced the campaign mode, you’ll want to delve into multiplayer (or maybe it’s the other way around for you). Once again, the multiplayer suite is fantastic. There’s a game mode for everyone here. All your favourite modes return from past games and there’s a bunch of new things to try out too. The most interesting of which is the third person mode. This mode allows you to play certain playlists in the third person. This seemed like an odd direction for Infinity Ward and the Call Of Duty franchise and it doesn’t really appeal. It works well enough, but isn’t something I could play all the time.

The ranking system is, without doubt, the best in any online game and this time around it’s had a few tweaks. Players can now earn ‘Deathstreaks’ as well as ‘Killstreaks’. As you would expect these streaks work in the opposite way to a killstreak. So, when you die three times, you earn one. These differ from being able to steal your killers class from the killcam screen, to the dreaded Martyrdom. A nice new additon if you ask me. Speaking of killstreaks, you can now customise what you get for a number of kills. There’s loads of options to unlock including a nuke. After killing twenty-five people in a row, a player can activate the nuke. This wipes out everyone on the map and looks really cool.

The one gripe I have with multiplayer is the maps. Whilst some of them are really balanced for any style of play, it seems the majority work against camping snipers. Whilst many will see this as a big help, I do not. Each map (excluding ‘Shipment’) in COD4 had somewhere a sniper could feel protected. MW2 doesn’t have that, most ‘good’ sniping spots are really open and it’s stopping people like myself from playing how I would prefer to.

Finally, a new mode added in this iteration is Spec Ops. Spec Ops is a mode that can be played by one or two people (online or locally), where you fight waves of enemies to earn stars. Each of these missions are really well constructed and offer up a nice slice of cooperative gameplay, but I think adding this sacrificed the length of the campaign. It’s a great mode and a ton of fun, but offering it up as free DLC and having a longer campaign would’ve been ideal in my opinion.

Modern Warfare 2 is a great package and a sure nominee for Game Of The Year. It’s undoubtedly the best shooter on consoles, but it isn’t perfect. The campaign, whilst good, was really short and would be sure to disappoint anyone not planning on playing the game online. Spec Ops is fun, but I think the campaign may have been sacrificed to include it. Finally, multiplayer is fantastic, but snipers beware.

9.6/10

Popularity: 1% [?]

News

Images