Modern Warfare 2 Review

Modern Warfare 2 is simply amazing. It takes everything that the first game did right in terms of set pieces and multiplayer and pumps it full of steroids. This steroid pumped game has you chasing down gun merchants in Brazil, defending America from the Russians and even mowing down innocent Russia civilians in an airport. Not only has the story been taken up a notch but so too has the multiplayer with more guns, perks and unlocks to distract you from the real world.

Atmosphere (hans zimmer graphics): The first thing I noticed about MW2 was the atmosphere. This was when I understood that this was no 1.5 version of Modern Warfare and was in fact a far superior game in almost every way. The brilliant atmosphere, especially in the American levels, is made all the better by the amazing work of Hans Zimmer. Hans Zimmer is the musical genius behind such movie soundtracks as The Dark Knight and Gladiator and his signature drum crescendos are prevalent throughout MW2. One of the more memorable scenes for me was walking past a truck that was on fire with embers flicking across my screen and music swelling around me as I looked upon a typical American street being overrun by Russians. Hans Zimmer can not receive all the credit for this tho as the upgraded graphics engine helps convey destruction in a much more realistic way especially when red or green flares are all the lighting that is being used.

Throughout the course of MW2 you play four different characters and all experience the war around them from a different view point. Task Force 141, which consists of Soap from MW and Ghost, are a more behind the scenes type of army, they don’t get involved in huge 1000+ men fire fights and prefer to take a stealth approach. The opposite is true for the US Ranger you play who is frantically running around trying to defend his home from the Russian invasion and this feeling is carried from the start to the second last level. In typical Call of Duty fashion you switch between these two groups almost mission by mission with cut scenes filling in any story gaps between levels. The general story seems slightly less believable than the first Modern Warfare as it swaps ‘Middleeaststan’ for America and Russia with more over the top action similar to that of movies such as The Rock with one section being very similar to the shower scene from The Rock.

Playing through destroyed American didn’t effect me as much as other parts in the game, nor did the airport section. The part that really disturbed me and made me wince was when you stab a soldier (who looks a lot like Robert Bowling) and you look him in the eyes as he realizes what has happened and as he dies. Not saying that the airport section didn’t effect me was a bit of a lie, it in fact did. It made me feel very uneasy after the second room of people that just get massacred and you hear them scream and attempt to crawl away. All of this made worse by the fact that you can’t run ahead of even walk at a normal speed instead you are stuck walking in crouch speed and are almost forced to watch this happen.

The biggest change to the core gameplay of MW2 is that enemies no longer seem to infinitely re-spawn, making Veteran far easier. This could be seen as a good change or a bad change depending on what you like. I personally like it as there are no more ‘No Fighting in the War Room’ situations of getting stuck, but this also makes for a less memorable veteran play through as there are no situations like above. Grenades also roll down hills now although I haven’t seen any examples where this makes or break the game in single or multiplayer but it’s a nice edition I guess. The core game is pretty much the same as the first and there is nothing wrong with that at all as the original was the best FPS up until now.

The biggest addition to the overall game is Spec Ops where you and one other friend conquer a series of challenges similar to Mile High Club from the original. Two is the perfect number for this kind of mode as anymore people would make it difficult to communicate and strategies. With only two people you also drastically reduce the chances of someone being an idiot and running off or shooting you in the face. I have yet to finish all the Spec Ops mission on veteran but to complete the 23 missions will probably take you around five hours which is about the same as the campaign on normal.

The real draw of any Call of Duty game is the multiplayer and the multiplayer in MW2 is quite a draw with more unlocks and a higher level cap to reach. Obviously there are new maps all of which are well balanced offering hiding spots for snipers and good cover for grunts with their M4s and RPDs. These maps feel different from the original Modern Warfare though, they feel more Far Cry 2 like. This is probably due to the upgraded graphics and added light to the majority of levels. Gone are the closed corridors of the old multiplayer maps, now everything is open.

By far the biggest change to multiplayer is the customizable kill streaks which can change the game dramatically. You can now get a Harrier Jump Jet bombing run, an AC 130 and even a tactical nuke, although the chances of getting it are slim and far between. With all these new kill streaks it can sometimes seem like the sky is falling when three players on the enemy team call in a managery of helicopters and Harriers which then add to their kill streak and unlock more terrifying things although this is balanced by the controller of the helicopter or AC130 being vulnerable to a knife in the face.

No matter what console you have Modern Warfare 2 should be purchased tomorrow or put at the top of your Christmas list. It provides at least ten hours just from the campaign and with all the unlocking and prestiging to be done the multiplayer will last you till they close the serves.