Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

(5 out of 5 stars)

Infinity Ward returns to their marquee series with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Taking place five years after the events in Modern Warfare, the newly formed multinational antiterrorist unit Task Force 141 has been given the charge of dealing with emerging threats in this new world. Its sights are set on Vladimir Makarov, a Russian terrorist and former comrade of ultranationalist Imran Zakhaev, who is wreaking havoc across the globe. You will take on the role of a soldier within Task Force 141 as they hunt down Makarov, as well as soldiers within other units as they deal with the repercussions of the manhunt.

It’s difficult to mention any particulars of the story without giving anything away. There are several twists and turns along the way, as well as the type of shocking moments that made the original so memorable. Your tour of duty as one of several members of the armed forces will send you all over the world, from the slums of Brazil to the frigid wastes of Siberia.

In an effort to be more grand than realistic, many non-combative action elements have been added along with several vehicle-based portions. The vehicle-based segments, some more successful than others, include the snowmobiles as seen in early trailers, the use of predator drones, and a high-speed chase between armed boats in addition to ice-climbing, slides down slopes, and a camera that is in general more reactive to the player’s movements. Everything is done to heighten the sense of tension, keep the momentum up and the player on their toes.

As enjoyable as the campaign is, however, it doesn’t manage to surpass the original. At just under six hours on hardened difficulty, the story wraps up just as it kicks into high gear. That’s a really busy six hours, but a bit more could have done wonders to get at the characters’ motivations and provide reasoning for the settings where the story takes place. It is encouraging that there has been some progress, because things are much improved over World at War – for one, it no longer rains grenades. Despite the controversial “No Russian” level, the game is actually pretty tame and on par with Modern Warfare; it’s much more like a late 1990’s action movie with a touch of modern sensibility. I still had a good time with the campaign and highly recommend playing through it, but unlike the original, I don’t foresee myself playing through it again.

Playing through the story unlocks the new Special Ops mode. Comprised of a five-mission set of time trials that score based on a chosen difficulty level, you will defend areas, hunt fugitives, and take on hordes of militia. Each of the three difficulty levels add a new twist, and better yet, the feature offers cooperative play with a friend, which comes in handy when tackling the tougher objectives. Successfully completing a level will award you with the star of the chosen difficulty level (one to three stars for regular, hardened, and veteran respectively) for up to a total of 69 stars, with new missions becoming unlocked as you progress. The 23 missions will take a while to get through, much less complete on veteran, and offer some great replay value.

Special Ops might occupy you for a while, but the real longevity is in the traditional multiplayer mode. Similar to the campaign, little has changed this time around, but what’s there is even more intense and addictive than before. New to the series, and a huge plus for those with poor Internet connections, is the ability to multiplay via splitscreen and local area networks and still be able to gain experience and rewards. The traditional experience-based system has been carried over from Modern Warfare and is largely the same, just with much more of it.


Killing and completing objectives earn experience that goes towards unlocking new weapons, perks, ranks, emblems, and callsigns. Unlocked emblems appear next to your name while callsigns appear whenever you complete an objective or take someone else down, which consists of a pop-up box displaying a kitschy background and title. Earning new ranks unlocks additional features, the biggest being the popular create-a-class ability. Customization for created classes has also been increased with new weapons and equipment, including additional secondary weapon and equipment choices. Both success and failure now have their own perks with kill and death streaks. Kill streak rewards dominate your enemy with new equipment and abilities at different counts, with some becoming available at three kills and others at nine. While it depends on your style of play, the general rule of thumb is that the perks that require more kills to unlock are the ones you’ll want to use.

Perks have also been beefed up as well, with ‘pro’ versions that are unlocked through use which add abilities in addition to the base perk. Each addition has numerous options that go on and on, with each working together to create a really engrossing system. Infinity Ward somehow made Modern Warfare’s multiplayer even more addictive.