Review: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

When Infinity Ward rewrote the rules of the Call Of Duty franchise exactly 2 years ago, stripping out the WWII and adding in the modern era, it not only crafted one of the finest games of the year, but effectively upped the bar by which all first-person shooters are judged. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 builds on that premise without mixing up too much of the formula. It delivers visceral action, jaw-dropping visuals and an over-the-top story that twists and turns more than an afternoon soap opera.

The Story

Storywise, MW2 picks up 5 years after the events of the first game in the MW franchise (noticed how it’s not Call Of Duty 5?), but don’t worry if you’re one of the few people who didn’t play through the first one as the story doesn’t require a lot of backstory for you to get the most out of it. You will flip through different protagonists from an American ranger team and an elite British SAS squad, along with some other peripheral characters who don’t manage to quite make it out the situations that they’re placed in. You’ll recognize some familiar characters from the previous game, such as ‘Soap’ MacTavish during the British scenarios, and Infinity Ward does a great job of continuing the storyline from the previous installment and adding some continuity to the timeline.

Without giving too much away, Russia is political turmoil again and one of the previous game’s villain-protégés is threatening global security and it’s up to American and British forces to contain the threat. You’ll visit oil derricks in the Atlantic, airfield graveyards in Afghanistan and even your local burger joint in the fight to turn back terrorist activities that threaten to destroy world stability. Yep… just another day at the office.

Battle it out with local militia in South American shantytowns

Concerning the story, you can tell that the developer has placed a lot of emphasis on creating an epic, somewhat realistic and ultimately powerful storyline that sucks you into the events happening around you. Each level of the single-player campaign tends to change the parameters of the different conflicts raging around the globe, and while you can’t say that each of the situations you’ve been put in are completely believable in the real-world, I can definitely tell you that they’ll make you look across the coffee table at your buddy and say, “That was damn cool”.

In fact, it’s great to see a developer putting this time and effort into a storyline absolutely bulging with character dialogue and exposition. The voicework from the core characters is perfect and spot on, with voiceover veterans Keith David, Lance Henrickson and Barry Pepper contributing outstanding dialogue that definitely helps to immerse you in the experience. Kevin McKidd as ‘Soap’ MacTavish (recently from TV’s Grey’s Anatomy and Rome, but you’d probably recognize him more as Tommy from Trainspotting) is an easy standout with his thick Scottish accent.

One thing of note is a warning at the start of the game that you can opt out of certain levels due to some ‘disturbing’ content. Actually it’s only one level, and it’s not that disturbing. Well, not to anyone who grown up watching the Terminator, or Pulp Fiction or… well… anyone who’s grown up in Western civilization. But this is what the politicians will be hammering on for the next few months.

The Gameplay

Smooth and like butter is all I’ve got to say. I only got to experience the game on the Xbox 360, but I can tell you that there are no awkward button combos or anything out of place that could possibly hamper the experience of killing people. Grenades and flashbangs, rocket launchers of all kinds, and dozens of bullet-spreaders each feel like they have their own personalities and advantages. During my playthrough, I tended to gravitate toward one assault and one sniper rifle (only 2 weapons at a time), but there are so many weapons littering the battlefield you can pretty much pick up your favorites at almost any time.

Vehicles aren't used much in Modern Warfare 2, but when they are, it's a white-knuckle ride the whole way

There are certain times when you won’t be behind the butt of a rifle, either during a setpiece moment such as climbing up a vertical ice-cliff, rappelling face-first down a desert embankment or directing a speeding Zodiak motorboat down a rushing river. These times are examples of how the developer tries to immerse you in the feel of the situation. There aren’t any vehicles to drive outside of these levels so it feels like a privilege as you rocket down an almost-vertical snow slope on your Skidoo with the bad guys in hot pursuit. I could go on about the jaw-dropping set pieces but I’d be giving away the surprises that come from a well-scripted game.

Like I said previously, your boy handles almost perfectly (I wished that grenades could be thrown a bit farther) and there are no problems with the running, jumping, crouching or mantling (climbing over obstacles) mechanics.

The Audio

We mentioned that the voice work is excellent but so are sound effects and game music. Composer Hanz Zimmer’s work (the Batman movies, The Rock, tons of other Hollywood action blockbusters) is easily recognizable from the first time you hear it. Heart pumping at times and subtle when it needs to be. It doesn’t distract at all and adds another palpable layer to the entire experience. This is another great game that you’re doing yourself a disservice with if you don’t have the surround-sound set up.

The Multiplayer

As you’ll find with MW1, the single-player campaign will only take you in the 6-8 hour range to finish on your first playthrough. In addition to that, MW2 serves up what it is going to be best known for: multiplayer. The first game in the series innovated with fully customizable characters that you leveled up and tricked out through experience gained from multiplayer battles to make a fighter that played the way you wanted him to. Needless to say, but the sequel continues this tradition. There are new Killstreak abilities that unlock ammo drops and gunship/predator drone attacks and even Deathstreak abilities that help the accuracy-handicapped among us who fall to (what seems like) every bullet that comes their way.

In all, the multiplayer doesn’t seem to be messed with too much from the last game, and that’s a good thing ‘cause there’s nothing worse than trying to fix a toaster that isn’t broken.

This shower scene is intense for another reason

The Package

An all new Special Ops mode complements the single and multiplayer modes by taking those single player set pieces and adding a timer to them. You’ll be trying to sneak past guards (or taking them out with stealth if you prefer), racing snowmobiles, redoing your training course and all manner of challenges based on locales and moments from the single player campaign. All of this (Special Ops & Multiplayer) is available online and in splitscreen format (4-player splitscreen for multiplayer is an option we rarely see these days, 2-player for Special Ops). Special Ops is a nice addition that will prolong the time that MW2 stays in your console.

There has been some chatter about DLC multiplayer maps coming down the pike at some point and, in true form, Microsoft has proclaimed that it’ll be coming to the Xbox 360 first.

The Bottom Line

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is easily the most hyped game of the year. But after 2 years of development, Infinity Ward has crafted a game that people will want to show off to their friends… and isn’t that the ultimate right answer? The game runs at a crisp 60fps (I only experienced one moment of slowdown during a particularly smokey level), looks great and feels epic. The multiplayer is bound to be one of the most played online this year (and next) and feels like a natural progression from the last game.

The one complaint we could make is that the single player isn’t long enough, but it’s one of those complaints that kind of rings a little hollow: you just don’t want it to stop. It’ll definitely be up there as a nomination for Game Of Year, but this year has seen a multitude of excellent titles, so it’ll be a tight race to the finish for MW2. It reeks of production value and if you don’t mind paying a little extra (!) for it, you will not come away disappointed.

The Good

Amazing visuals and gorgeous scenery, no one environment looks the same
Buttery controls and tons of different weapons
Larger-than-life story full of awesome moments that you will want to play over and over

The Bad

Single player shouldn’t stop… ever. Just keep going and going.