Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2 - Review

When Infinity Ward released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare even they could not of expected the mass success of the game, it quickly climbed the most played lists and has since remained there, until now. With the release of Modern Warfare 2 the hype was unbearable and Infinity Ward has a lot to live up to with gamers everywhere expecting something approaching demi-god status.

I cant help but feel that the game was to hyped up, making it almost impossible to live up to the image of the game everyone had in there heads, but if you ignore the hype and just play the game you quickly realise that Infinty Ward has done something amazing again.

While there's no major change in the formula, run, gun and shoot they have polished it until it gleams. Once again Infinity Ward have proved themselves the master of set piece's with some stunning locations, settings and set pieces that will stick in your mind for a long time to come. Storming the Gulag, fighting outside of the white house and sneaking through snow storms are just some of the things the player will experience throughout the rather dissapointingly short campaign mode.

All of these amazing battles show of the game's graphics which are frankly amazing with some brutal animations and mixed with the first person view you get dragged into the game easily, providing you with an intense experience.

This intensity is constant throughout the game, it never lets up and has a level of intensity that very few other games can even come close to matching, though sometimes it just feels to much and you find yourself wishing for just a second or 2 of breathing space that never comes.

Thankfully the pacing is good, one minute your storming a prison and the next your sneaking through a snow storm using a heartbeat sensor to elude enemy patrols, it keeps you on your toes and you never have time to get bored thanks to the short missions, each one never lasts to long so it keeps your attention and you never get bored of one level.

However this translates into an extremely short campaign mode, lasting around 6 hours even on Veteran mode. it's over far to quickly, though due to the games intensity it's understandable as I doubt Infinity Ward could of kept the games flatout pace for a 10 hour campaign.

Thankfully Spec-op's mode gives the game some extra lifespan, there a series of 23 short missions that can be played in 2 player co-op mode, giving it extra appeal. there's a good range of missions from race's, defending a place or assaulting estate house's and sneaking through enemy patrols. there all levels from the singleplayer, just with there objective's changed and there only a few minutes long but it does add some welcome lifespan to a short singleplayer mode.

The story could of been very good in this game, however most people are going to find it hard to follow simply due to it being very disjointed as you constantly jump from character to character. it's incredibly hard to follow whats going on and why it's happening as your dragged from country to country and never getting a chance to get any feeling what so ever towards the game characters. I simply didn't care about the characters around me and the person as i was playing as, there effectively blank slates.

Of course I cant review a Call of Duty game without talking about the multiplayer which made the original Modern Warfare so popular. keeping the original formula, Infinity Ward chose to give us more customisation and choice's, creating a diverse system. You now have access to a vast range of attachments for your guns, ranging from thermal sights to shotgun's that attach to your assault rifle, along with a perk that now allows you to add 2 attachments to an weapon.

Killstreaks have now become customisable and have a large range to choose from, such as sentry guns and harrier airstrikes. It's more over the top and unrealistic than the original and you can certainly argue it's even more unbalanced. The ability to gain a tactical nuke if you get a 25 killstreak was not a good choice as it now encourages kill boosting so they can gain that instant win.

is it original? no. does it change much from Modern Warfare? no.

Is it the most intense action shooter of the year? yes.

Whilst it does not change anything in the shooter genre or add any original idea's of it's own it still provides a thrilling, if short, campaign and one of the finest multiplayers out there.

It's not the perfect game that everyone was so hyped about, but it's still a dam good game.

SCORE'S:

Graphics: 92% Highly detailed graphics and amazing scenes add up to a graphically impressive game

Gameplay: 94% still the smoothest and most polished shooter out there

Lifespan: 88% this can vary, the singleplayer is very short but the multiplayer could keep you hooked for a long time.

Overall: 93% A visually stunning shooter with a fine multiplayer but lacks anything original or any real changes from Modern Warfare 1 and an exceptionally short campaign.

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