Game review: Call of duty: Modern warfare 2

After what felt like a never ending search to obtaining this game, I finally succumbed to paying more than twenty five quid for a copy of Infinity ward's highly popular sequel to their mammoth hit of a game Modern warfare. And the Royal mail even came through for me, having popped the game through my letter box on Tuesday! Score!! So on initial thoughts, I can say this much: Modern warfare 2 is more of what the first game offered. So if you liked the first game, you'll like this one. If you hated the first, then there's nothing here that is going to win you over. And if you're new to it all - then there's more than enough here to satisfy.

Now, it's probably me just being a little bitch and no hardcore FPS whore, but I feel the difficulty of Modern warfare 2 can feel unfair at times. I got slaughtered like a goat in a Halal butcher shop within the first couple of missions. Even on the easiest setting, the game offers a pretty serious challenge. I'm no master at this game, but I'm no complete idiot when it comes to FPS' neither (my credentials include getting a 100% completion rating on Goldeneye 007) and I was hustling on some of the earlier missions. Actually hustling. A super-so-easy that a duck with a lobotomy could complete this ish mode would have been nice for newbies to CoD like me. You do breeze through the missions once you get the hang of everything. But the learning curve on the games' easiest setting may be an bit of an obstacle for those new to the game. And the training camp missions at the very start do very little to prepare you for the real thing.

The single player experience is pretty amazing. The game does an amazing job of creating tension, and making you feel like you're in the thick of the action. There is always something going on, enemies running rampant, explosions, team mates zipping around - shit's always poppin' in Modern warfare 2. The game serves up some great moments and set pieces that are nothing short of being spectacles. Something that players may find disheartening is that the game is short. It can be completed in around 5 hours in the regular difficulty, and this is if you really suck at the game. The game didn't need to be much longer, because if it were: it'd get boring and feel drawn out. But things do a end a couple of missions too soon. And the ending is pretty crap given the climax leading up to it.

The computer AI isn't the best. Team mates have a habit of standing right in front of you, and running into the line of your fire. But the enemy AI is decent and make hard work. They'll run off, clamber around for cover, shoot the absolute hell out of you if they spot you, lob back grenades you've thrown at them, use flash bangs - they're bitches. But well programmed bitches.

There is a really good story at the heart of Modern warfare 2; but because of how the narrative is put forth - you never really get enthralled in it. It's kind of ironic given how immersive the game is itself - because you never really feel like you're latching onto the story in the same you are with the actual game play. The plot is fed to you via conversations in-between missions. And during these conversations you don't have much to look at other than a digital map and a couple of pictures. Hardly gripping viewing. The game could have done with some blockbuster cut scenes and video footage to command your interest more where the plot is concerned. Especially seeing as this seems to be the vibe the game is going for.

Multiplayer is fun and is where Modern warfare shines. There's lots of stuff to unlock and tweak within the multiplayer to help keep it fresh. The online playing experience in Modern warfare 2 is incredibly similar to Halo 3's. Even down to the menu layout's. So Halo 3 fans who have love for the CoD will find everything to be immediately familiar. Modern warfare 2 has that edge over Halo though, purely because of the the level of unlockables and abilities the mode offers. Kill streaks and class abilities really do change the flow of deathmatches. They can throw the balance off slightly. Especially if you have a hardcore veteran amongst a map of freshies, but they are cool features none-the-less, and even dying several times in a row offers you a streak which is rather nice. These are the only damn streaks I'm able to get when I hop on multiplayer, so I'm grateful for them.

Special ops mode allows for co-op both local and online, and is great fun to play. The mode allows you to play with some of the single player campaigns with a twist - such as killing enemies within a time limit, making your way from point A to B without getting spotted and racking up as many kills within a stage as possible. It's short 'n sweet arcade style fun - and it's a real challenge. Even on the easiest difficulty settings you will find yourself getting killed straight away. Unfortunately, Infinity ward buggered this mode right up the bum-hole by not allowing matchmaking. As with Halo 3's co-op mode, you can only play it with a friend in your Friends list. I can't understand the reasoning behind this. Infinity ward did give a reason, but it was some bullshit excuse that I for one am not buying. Placing such a restriction on the mode was nonsensical and will end up harming the lastability of it in the long run unless Infitity ward release a patch to allow matchmaking. Sometimes you just want to hop online without inviting and all that shit. Plus, not everybody is a social gigolo with 200+ friends in their list who are always online and will all have Modern warfare 2. It makes no sense. As great as the special ops mode is (if you manage to drag a Friend into being invited to playing it) - it would've been really cool to have enabled players to go through the main campaign in co-op: seeing as nearly every single player campaign has you partnered with somebody anyway.

The graphics in Modern warfare 2 range from downright stunning to near mediocre. Some environments look amazing, whilst some others look really basic and lack polish. All-in-all, Modern warfare 2 is a great looking game. But some stages under heavy scrutiny do look a little ragged. Graphic hoes will be glad to know that the graphics stay look snazzy in multiplayer. The graphical flair took a bit of a dive in the first games' multiplayer, but here they're on par with the single player campaign.

Modern warfare 2 is a good game. It doesn't blow me away or amaze me. But I can see what the appeal would be to fans of the first game and FPS lovers in general. I can't say whether I feel the game lives up to the hype or not, because I can't speak for the millions of fans who bought this game. But what I can say is that Modern warfare 2 is a really good game, and this is coming from somebody who has never owned a Call of duty game before.


The good
+ Great graphics
+ Gripping single player action
+ Features the finest multiplayer to grace a first person shooter since Goldeneye 007

The bad
- The single player campaign ends a little prematurely
- No matchmaking for the co-op mode
- A narrative that isn't as strong as it could have been