Review: Call of Duty (CoD): Modern Warfare 2

Two weeks ago we saw one of the biggest game launches of the year and now our review is in…

Picking up where the original Modern Warfare left off, Warfare 2 sees you taking up the fight for a variety of special task forces against Russian ultra-nationalists. Set 5-years after the end of the first game, pessimists or cynics might at this point be thinking that it’s more of the same, and, well, it is. But it’s so much more.

Taking control of SGT Gary “Roach” Sanderson you start out in the familiar compulsory training missions; you know the drill – grab a pistol shoot some targets and get your ass round the timed assessment at the end. Easy-street doesn’t last long though (thankfully) and your quickly dropped into war-torn hotspots dotted around globe.

The story mode missions take place in several different locations; starting out in Afghanistan, before moving to Kazakhstan, Russia and beyond. Although we’re not going to go into too much detail, suffice to say, the guys at Infinity Ward have put an awesome story mode together.

And whether it’s the sub-zero tundra of deepest Russia or the blazing sun-glare of the Afghan desert, the graphics don’t disappoint; with gloriously rendered characters, buildings and blood spatter all giving a warm and satisfying gamers-glow inside.

It’s not just polish though, there are plenty of additions to Modern Warfare 2 that make the whole experience more enjoyable. Touches like being able to dual-wield pistols and SMGs gave us a disproportionate amount of pleasure, as did the unusually useful AI in the form of Captain Mactavish who kept us alive on more than one occasion.

To break up the all-out warfare that naturally dominates gameplay, IW has put in some fun missions like Skidoo racing or providing air-support for troops on the ground, which work nicely in breaking up the defend/assault/plant a bomb objectives that most missions consist of.

As in the original, XP rules-all online and is the key for all progression through the ranks and to various unlocks. There are various online modes, and classics like Team Deathmatch, and Ground War are present, but there are also a couple of new ‘3rd Person’ options.

Modern Warfare 2 ’s new customisable killstreak feature quite simply kicks-ass, ranging from a simple UAV for 3 kills to the totally insane tactical nuke for those skilled enough to pull off 25 without dying. A new feature of the unlocks is the ability to customise; meaning that in any online game you can have 3 Killstreaks equipped with new rewards being unlocked by ranking up.

There has been an air of discontent amongst some PS3 owners online with suggestions that the lobby system is overly long, but we have to say that compared to the PS3’s somewhat patchy party/invite system on other games, we can’t see what all the brou-ha-ha is about.

Infinity Ward has also slipped in a Special Ops co-op mode that offers up a series of timed challenges, split into 5 missions, based on scenes from the campaign mode. Snowmobile racing down snowy mountain tops, and providing air support from the impenetrable safety of an AC130 are all thrown into the mix and whilst you can play solo, it’s more fun with a friend.

SUMMARY
In conclusion we’d say that the campaign mode is unrelentingly great fun and compelling until the end, although if we had to gripe we’d say that it isn’t the longest around. We completed it in eight and a half hours, and immediately upped the difficulty and started again – if you’re a fan of the single player story mode in general, then it’s a game that you will want to play through again and again, and yes, it does get insanely intense at points.

Likewise with the utterly compelling multitudinous multiplayer options, ranking up is a big incentive to get your hands on the in-game booty that you really want – eating up literally days of our lives. A strong contender for BBT’s Game of the Year, we know that this one will be staying firmly in the PS3 for quite some time.

Overall Score: 9/10

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