Rating: M for Mature
Genre: FPS (First Person Shooter)
Publisher: Activision/Infinity Ward
Release Date: November, 2009

BUY

*Review does contain some spoilers*

Infinity Ward is a class act and because of that it’s no surprise that gamers have high expectations when the studio releases a title. Moving away from their World War II focus, Infinity Ward choose to bring the battle home in Modern Warfare 2. It has sold incredibly well, but the game is definitely not perfect. Is this an example of hype or does Modern Warfare 2 really live up to the praise?

In Modern Warfare 2, the player controls a few different characters. Gamers will play as Sergeant Gary “Roach” Sanderson, for most of the title. Modern Warfare 2 is set five years after the events in Call of Duty 4. Vladimir Makarov, a Russian Terrorist, begins a campaign against Europe and creates a situation where the Russian government believe that American Terrorists are to blame. Making a situation where Russia attacks America on their soil. Throughout the title, you switch between fighting on American soil and hunting down Makarov.

Modern Warfare 2 is made up of three different modes: a single player campaign, multiplayer and spec-ops. From what I can tell, most gamers feel so strongly about one of these three areas to excuse the other areas for being weak. Many gamers have jumped right into multiplayer and have not touched the single player campaign. The Single Player campaign is shorter than most. Multiplayer uses the unlockable reward system and builds on experience points. Spec-Ops is a co-op mode that consists of independent missions that take place in similar locations to the single player story but are completely new missions.

For this review you have to learn a little bit about me. I am not the strongest shooter gamer in general. But I have always had a fondness for Call of Duty titles. I play them even though I may struggle.  I believe that if you are a hard core multiplayer FPS gamer, then you are going to purchase MW2 and love it. There are some glitches in multiplayer, but FourZeroTwo states that they are working on them. This is a review may be more for people that may not be completely into mutliplayer and want to know if this is a title they should look into.

The first thing I did with MW2 was to jump right into multiplayer. It could be the time of day I was playing, but the matchmaking was way off. I was proud of my few kills, but I definitely got my booty handed to me. There was a huge learning curve for me and not being able to play with other new players was a huge disadvantage and ultimately a turn-off to multiplayer. Even though I am not the best, I do enjoy playing multiplayer. But practicing in order to get better is almost impossible when put with people that are higher ranked than you. I am curious to know what you think of the reward system. It seems that once a player gets a reward for an air-strike (for example) it is easier for that person to stay at the top and continue to earn rewards. Which provides another discouraging slant to multiplayer.

From there, I started playing the single player story. Here’s what I didn’t like about the single player story: I didn’t really understand that the story was following a path until halfway through. Then the story seems to really be about a focal plot point. The weird thing is, when I look back, I realize that the story is carried throughout the game, but in the first half of the title, I was extremely confused. Infinity Ward is known for it’s strong story with strong gameplay, but I felt disappointed that the single player seemed to be so fragmented. Maybe it’s the constant switching from a main player to the point of view of other characters. That’s a novelty the first or second time, after that it seems to create confusion. I do have to say that I LOVED the last half of the story.

The last thing I didn’t like was the airport scene or “No Russian” mission. Maybe it’s all the hype built around it, but I expected to have an emotional reaction to this mission. Everyone on my Twitter seemed to be affected by this mission. Was I emotionally cold? Did I loose my heart somewhere in gaming? While many discussed a choice in participating or not, there really is no choice. You can choose when starting the title to skip that content. But if you go through the content you can either shoot or walk and watch. I tried attacking the Russians and died very quickly. Moral choices in games is something many developers discuss, but to me this mission had no moral choice. I chose not to shoot at the airport visitors, but I couldn’t keep them from getting shot. It just felt very removed for me. Would I have a different reaction if the level was more of a secret? Maybe.

What did I love about MW2?
I loved the second half of the single player story. It really was quite amazing to play a shooter that takes place in a destroyed White House. At one point the shooting takes place in front of a fast food joint. It’s just amazing to think of what a war would be like on our land.

I loved Spec-Ops. Being in a gamer relationship, the more co-op we can play, the more a title will be played. We loved playing the Spec-Ops together and got very competitive. Gamers can pick level of difficulty and earn up to three stars based on how they complete the mission. Once enough stars are earned more missions will unlock. In total there are 23 missions, and 69 stars available for unlock. Spec-ops is something you can play alone, but the fun is definitely in the co-op.

The single player is shorter and doesn’t seem as strong as what I expect from Infinity Ward but it is an enjoyable experience. I believe there is something for all types of gamers in Modern Warfare 2. The amount of replay may vary based on what type of gamer you are, but this is one 2009 title that you can’t miss out on.

**Review copy provided by Activision and does not effect the outcome of this review.**