Modern Warfare 2 Review

Modern Warfare 2 is the epic sequel to Call of Duty 4 (technically making this one Call of Duty 6?). It picks up where the original story left off, and blows you away.

I have to say, this is one of the best games of this generation, for a good reason. They had excellent design and excellent crafting skills when it came to cinematics, story, battles, etc. It's hard to find many flaws in this game, and pretty much any praise it gets, it deserves.

Gameplay: 9.4

This game's campaign is epic in every sense of the word. Their range is massive, from stealth missions, to blow everything up missions. Nearly every one of their missions is very enjoyable, too. They clearly had a range of ideas to implement in terms of gameplay concepts, and they did almost all of them very well. Their special ops mode was a ton of fun, too, and something that's right up my alley.

Their gameplay is pretty straightforward - just point and shoot. But they do it well and make it all pretty entertaining. Some more interactive aspects of cooking grenades or choosing builds/classes in multiplayer were very rewarding.

The biggest complaint I have about gameplay is it's multiplayer. I'm much more of a fan of strategy and skill weighing into a multiplayer fight, as opposed to who sees who first and lands shots, which is what MW2 does. I can understand that, considering it's an army-style game, so I suppose they do all of that very well, but it's just not my cup of tea. I did enjoy being able to pummel people down with a riot shield and walk around blocking bullets the entire match, so at least they catered a bit to people that just like something different.

There's also a big problem with their idea of unlocking weapons to be used in multiplayer. It gives an obvious advantage to those that have been playing the game longer versus somebody just trying it out, and I think that's just a bad idea which can make new gamers feel alienated because they have to work up the ranks to have the same in-game tools to work with as the experienced players. If I didn't get the game right as it came out, I would feel left behind and uninterested after getting owned in multiplayer due to my lack of knowledge and experience, versus my raw skill level.

Presentation: 9.5

Not a whole lot to say about this. Good graphics, animations and sound. It really sucks you in.

Theatrics: 9.8

This game's story is told from the perspective of several characters, and it's your job to make that story happen. You are various US soldiers either working the lines or sent in behind the lines to accomplish special objectives to ultimately defeat the enemy forces.

The cut-scenes, action and story in this game are what drove it for me. It's nice to walk around shooting people but they have some downright epic moments in the story and even during their briefing/loading screens that I really enjoyed. Sometimes it's the small touches that make a good game great, and MW2 is frankly just showing off. They know what they're doing and they do a damn good job of it.

Sometimes it is a bit hard to tell who the characters are and keep them all straight if you haven't ever played Call of Duty 4 before. They kind of bumble back and forth, and you play as a few different characters during the course of the game. It was a little bit confusing to me, the first time around.

Controls: 10.0

Absolutely no problems here. Controls, movement and button layout are all easy to understand.

Replay Value: 9.0

I actually enjoyed the campaign enough to play through twice, played through all of the special ops I could with a friend, and played some multiplayer. For as big as it's online multiplayer is, I frankly didn't enjoy it as much as most for reasons I pointed out (experienced players have a huge advantage in terms of available weaponry, battles are too quick, etc). The depth in creating your own classes at all is what kept me playing for a couple weeks.

My Overall Rating: 9.5