The ultimate shooter?

Modern warfare 2… The most anticipated game of the year and direct sequel to the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, a game than won numerous awards and attention such as: best gameplay, best story, best game of the year (2007), best shooter of 2007 and best graphics of the year (2007). Yes it does seem like big shoes that this sequel needs to fill, but god almighty it fills them out well.

First off the campaign: taking place five years after the events of Call of Duty 4 the campaign focuses on a long-lived tradition of the call of duty series: fighting on more than one front. You’ll fight as Private James Ramirez, a US Army Ranger, repelling a Russian Invasion on the United States eastern coast. The other player character is Sergeant Gary “Roach” Sanderson of the elite multi-national counter-terrorism unit Task Force 141 mostly comprised of US and UK special forces, although you’ll see the odd Canadian and Aussie. Playing as Roach will get you to places such as Brazil, Afghanistan and Russia in search of a crazed Russian Ultra-nationalist terrorist called Makarov, successor to Zakhaev, the primary antagonist from the first game. “Soap” MacTavish, the player character form the first game also returns as Roach’s superior officer.

Task Force 141 - "Get off, your weighing down my helicopter...special forces...think they're all that..."

The campaign itself takes around 8-10 hours to complete on regular difficulty, this seems to be a bit of a step-up compared to the first game, however with a truly compelling story and action such as this, you may find yourself completing most if not all of the campaign in one tasty sitting. Personally I though Call of Duty 4’s story was a huge change in pace compared to the previous Call of Duty games. This was due to the story change from just a few insignificant simple soldiers of world war II fighting their way to the end of the war and a boat trip home to special forces soldiers fighting a fictional covert war with background stories and personal agendas. However the story of Modern Warfare 2 nails it when keeping you so intrigued that you just can’t bear to put down the controller! You need to know what happens next, if you stop playing you may find yourself huddled in the corner of the room in the fetal position.

The game has it’s moments but with the last Modern Warfare, especially in the advertising campaign for it, there were more powerful and realistic warfare interface with the last game. You conducted an assassination mission as a patience sniper and blew away Russians with 105mm shells from an AC-130 spectre gunship. Modern Warfare 2 is action-packed but it doesn’t offer much of a rare experience like the last game, there is a snowmobile chase, climbing frosty mountains and a deadly runaway from a group of angry Brazilian militia who you might of pissed off but it still doesn’t offer as many prospects of play like the previous game.

Snowmobile chase - "better not try any stunts"

The controversies of the game were up on net before the game was even released earning it an age rating of 18, the first in the series to receive an age rating above 15. Including a gruelling, bloody scene in which you can either slaughter innocent civilians or watch them be slaughtered. This scene can be skipped through a pre-playing warning and it isn’t absolutely necessary to play this mission in conjunction with the campaign, however this does show you how evil the antagonist Makarov is and does a good job on getting you to hate him, it also gives you another motive to play through the campaign so passionately: so you can kick his commie ass. But Infinity Ward will stand strong against the inevitable media total shit-storm approaching them simply because this game is going to be one to remember, and if anything this controversial scene will contribute to making this a game to remember.

The presentation of the game is of a high value. The menus are cool, sleek and straight forward. The graphics are truly remarkable, showing off a realistic world to play war in, distant buildings that stand out just as much as one you enter, shadows and lighting so clear smooth that you’ll jump at darkness and clouds overhead. Waging war through a battle-torn Washington D.C. is visually beautiful, you know… for a war. Showing character’s breath, wrinkle in their clothes, detailed uniforms and weapons. Modern warfare 2 takes advantage of the IW 4.0 game engine with increased AI realism with enemies seeking out the player and reacting differently with every play-through. The physics have also realistically changed with grenades now being able to roll down slopes and bouncing off walls and even humorously off other characters, it is funny to hit someone in the face hard enough that the head almost snaps off.

Whitehouse siege - "The only way I ever got close to the whitehouse was blowing it open with a grenade"

The sound is so realistic that you should play with surround sound and duck for cover at the sound of an M4 carbine assault rifle. The score and music of the game produced by composer legend Hans Zimmer is so realistically suiting that it matches the mood of the game and certain scenes that are happening, which overall affects you and your playing mood.

As for the award winning multiplayer of the Call of duty series, especially Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare brought a new era of online shooters. Well Modern Warfare 2 takes that same awesome kick-ass era and makes it even more kick-ass with new and upgradeable perks, a fair and destructive selection of weapons and attachments and multiple maps suited for any kind of playing style. It keeps the same addictive online call of duty game play with even more content loaded into it, having a large AC-130 spectre gunship crosshair pointed at a tiny little soldier on the ground who is clearly doomed and then repeat that 13 times within the next 30 seconds leaves you with a warm satisfied feeling. So yes you can have much better kill streaks than just a UAV, a lot more: Gunship’s, Harriers, Sentry guns and even Nuclear weapons that wipes out everyone and wins the match. It can be hard work but hey, it’s a nuke.

Online Multiplayer - "How do Brazilian miltia get nukes and AC-130's?"

Finally we have the special ops mode, an extra campaign-like mode which can be played co-operatively online or split screen or you go at it alone. It takes parts of the campaign and gives selective tasks and objectives to battle in a short amount of time. It’s good to have different modes and objectives to complete but some of these mini-modes could have been turned into full real modes. For example there are two wave defence modes in special ops, however it would of made a lot of sense just to have a big separate mode designed for wave defence like ‘Nazi Zombies’ from Call of Duty: World at War.

To conclude, this game takes Call of Duty to a whole new level, even though the next game will not be a modern warfare project, with the results of the Modern Warfare series so far, there’s bound to be another Modern Warfare game in the works eventually. Only problem is how can they improve on perfection.

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