Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the follow-up to the wildly successful Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. There was a lot of speculation as to if this game could meet the expectations of the fans in maintaining and hopefully improveing on the game play of the previous title, and within minutes of playing this game it is plainly obvious that Modern Warfare 2 met the expectations and surpassed them as well. The three game modes (Special Ops, Campaign, and Competitive Multiplayer) are each jam packed full of action, challenges, and addictive game play. There were lots of new elements in this game that add to its accessibility, increasing the strategic elements, and increase the rewards for playing. All of this adds up to a game that any fan of shooters will play for hours on end.

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 The campaign mode picks up at the conclusion of its predecessor, and this time there’s a new ultra-violent international terrorist that must be stopped. You play as several different soldiers that are taking part in protecting the world. The missions will take you around the world and  are set in exotic locations. The variety of conflicts you take part in are a nice touch as they range from stealth missions to crowded scenes full of chaos. The action within the game is smooth and exciting with the movement and shooting mechanics that truly demonstrate your skill in this game. The environments are detailed with a very nice design to each one, but on closer inspection some of the environment textures don’t hold up to the far off views. Yet, for all this the game looks even better in action as you plan out attacks and try to find cover from enemy fire. The levels are designed with a sense of flow that adds to the exotic locals that are shown in this game that almost seem to stream together in a well planned schematic. Cover and flanking maneuvers happen very naturally thanks to the level designs, and this is a true blessing as the enemy AI is pretty aggressive making success on some levels all the harder to achieve and increases your personal satisfaction at overcoming such a difficult situation.

 While completing the campaign is very satisfying for the above reasons, it still can leave a bit of a bad taste in your mouth as some of the plots take a very dark turn. You may find yourself wondering if completing the campaign by acheiving some of your objectives wasn’t a bit too far into morally evil grounds. For an example, you infiltrate a terrorist cell in one scene and must act as a terrorist to stay in the cell. The developers tried to keep this from getting to dark, but for many this may just be too much for them to stomach. The game does give you an option to skip this particular level and for those that are adverse to terrorist acts or victims of terrorism I would advise you to just skip this level. The consequences of this mission will ripple through the rest of the game and question your character's moral high ground that is associated with being a hero. All in all after this mission the plot begins to get a bit confusing and makes you feel as if you are no longer in control of the events of the game.

 For those that are looking for campaign-style action without any kind of plot they have Special Ops. These missions are timed excerpts that are drawn from Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare that you can play solo or co-op with a friend. There are a variety of objectives in these missions that allow you to experience all the kinds of play involved in the campaign missions. Some missions will have a friend using a mounted gun from an airborne vehicle while the other player is on the ground, others will have you clearing out large groups of enemies, and others will require stealth movements. These modes can be very fun to play with a friend either online or on split-screen, or just testing your skills solo can be very enjoyable as well. In order to be successful in these missions you will need good communication between teammates since without communication these missions tend to fall apart when players go off on their own. With a good team these missions are really fun to try out.

 If you have no interest in either of these modes don’t worry the competitive multiplayer mode is addictive enough to keep you busy for hours on end. They stick to the addictive multiplayer formula developed in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and amped up the action making it faster and deadlier in order to receive experience points. The experience points increase your level which in turn unlocks new guns, equipment, and skill boosts. You can even design your own custom class to your own playing preferences to improve your ability to play within the game. For those that didn’t like the multiplayer of the predecessor you aren’t likely to enjoy this one, but for those that liked or loved it they will not be disappointed.

 Weapon load-outs are restructured so that weapons that were previously only primary weapons can now be used as secondary weapons. Thus, you can now have an assault rifle and a shotgun equipped at the same time. One option for primary weapon isn’t even a gun; it’s a riot shield that is a good bit fun to use once you get the hang of it. When these shields are used in a team formation it can greatly change the tactics on both side necessary for victory.

The perk system received an improvement allowing the perks you use to be upgraded if you meet the requirements. Upgrading perks can give a new bonus that is extremely useful in matches. The new death streak perks also received a bit of an upgrade that can be very beneficial. One is painkiller in which you have increased health for a short time upon respawning.

 Customizable kill streak rewards are a great addition to this game. There are several new kill streak rewards that were not in the previous game and they are each incredibly fun and beneficial to the matches. You are only able to equip three kill streak rewards at a time, and they each have a certain amount of kills you must achieve in order to receive them. So use your head in selecting your rewards because if you can't acheive a high kill streak you throw away an award slot by never being able to use it.

All of these tweaks add to a much richer experience than in the previous game, and the increase customization ability makes it easier to play the way that each player wants. The action is chaotic as ever and just as rewarding when you are on a streak. There are two new elements found in the title and emblem. These are graphics and titles you earn while performing tasks in multiplayer. They are a minor thing but can be a bit fun to mess with and add a further sense of individuality to your profile. With a large list of game modes multiplayer is the best in the series thus far, and one of the best multiplayer game modes available to the consoles. The plot of the campaign may not be to your liking, but the action and challenge are still very present, and the co-op Special Ops is a nice change for those wanting to just jump into some action. All in all this game is one that any fan of shooters has to play.

Written by: Paul Miller