Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is an FPS in where Russia launches a surprise invasion against the US. It takes place five years after the events of the original Modern Warfare and includes many recurring characters as well as repercussions for what occurred during the prior title. We will play as many characters throughout, on multiple war fronts across the globe as the world is thrown into turmoil. None play any differently from one another and while under our control are completely mute, even if that character was a chatty individual when he was an NPC. What does change however, is the type of war we will be facing, which for the most part ranges into two categories. Those being vital subterfuge missions as a member of the multinational special forces or as an American soldier desperately withstanding a Russian assault.
The Call of Duty series has always been known for their amazing set-pieces spanning from their early WW2 games to their jump into a modern setting. This title really pushes the envelope on the amount of crazy scenarios you’ll experience and still manages to give out a decent story despite it’s over the top nature. Easily one of the most controversial is an undercover terrorist mission in where we gun down a great deal of civilians in an airport. It is so impactful that the title even gives you the option to skip this mission, but at the cost of truly understanding why the Russians are out for blood as they are not stereotypical villains here. Your perspective of good and bad as well as friend and foe will be blurred as it progresses in a rather interesting tale that one wouldn’t expect by taking such a gung-ho heavy title at face value.
As morally gray as the setting may be, you will still be shooting dudes in the face nonstop. There is very little downtime and it does its darnedest to keep your adrenaline up all throughout. You will have quite a sizable selection of guns to try against your foes with only two of them being able to be equipped at any one time. It is rare that you will ever run out of ammo so you’ll mostly be swapping out weapons for the sake of experimentation or flat-out necessity if you need something that is effective against an armored vehicle. Your survival will mostly come down to how fast your reactions are as many of the missions take place in tight spaced urban areas where an enemy can pop out suddenly and death can await at every corner. Luckily you will rarely have to fight alone and will be accompanied by some AI allies that while not possessing the best of aim, will still draw enemy fire which is invaluable.
From time to time, you will be given new gadgets to use that will be gone as soon as they arrived. These range from night-visioned goggles to a computer that can call in precision missiles under your control. They are more of a thing to break up the possible monotony of near nonstop shooting and do not add any tactical element to it since they are short-lived temporal items. It is completely linear and does not offer more than its intended approach to any situation. That doesn’t make what is there any less fun though. The tight and restricted formula that the series has always had allows for better pacing leading up to the next scenario to be thrown your way. Some missions feature stealth sections that while simple are pretty fun and are a welcome break from the full-blown battles.
The gameplay remains much the same as the first Modern Warfare. You have a few grenades to use whenever the need arises, shooting without aiming is still ill-advised, and your ability to sprint is still annoyingly short. The latter becomes pretty darn silly when you are forced to run for an event and your death-defying super soldier has to stop to catch his breath every four seconds. Most of the areas are so condensed that it isn’t that big of an issue, it is mostly a problem for those specific moments. Also returning from the first game is the surface penetration system that allows both you and enemies to shoot through weak surfaces like plywood or sheet metal. I’ve always really liked that feature and makes you think about where you take cover as an office cubicle won’t do much to stop an onslaught of gunfire from turning you into swiss cheese.
After the five or so hour campaign, you can also play either multiplayer or the new Special Ops mode. Let me start with spec ops, it is a mission-based mode that tasks you with different things depending on which you choose. These involve objectives like holding out against a set number of enemy waves or time trials as you race towards the goal in a vehicle to name a few. It involves locations from the campaign as well as the previous game and some exclusive environments to boot. You can bring a friend along to have your back and probably should as it is designed with coop in mind, with some missions simply being locked from solo players. It is a fun mode that can last you quite a bit, especially if you try to get all the stars from playing on their highest difficulty.
Multiplayer is still as fast-paced as ever, still containing the plethora of things to unlock as you level up. It originally released in 2009 so it’s player-base has dwindled, though you shouldn’t have much trouble finding a team death-match lobby if nothing else. At least for the PC, and as of the time of this review. Unfortunately, there are no bots either so you can’t get around it that way and it also makes buying the DLC a complete waste of your cash as they are all multiplayer focused. With all that said, Modern Warfare 2 is definitely an overall improvement over its predecessor and is one heck of a ride from start to finish. In this day and age, it is not the title you should buy for its multiplayer, but the rest of the package has more than enough to keep you playing for many an hour. If you’ve enjoyed the first entry, this is definitely a title you should consider adding to your collection.
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