[Timgt5]

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, “Lock and Load”, a Review

Released: November 11, 2009
Developer: Infinity Ward
Publisher: Activision
Type: First Person Shooter
Players: Single and Multiplayer platforms
Genre: Modern Day
Platforms: PS3, Xbox PC
Rating: M (Mature)

There are a few publishers out there that have titles that are almost guaranteed mega-hits. Nintendo has Mario, Take Two has Grand Theft Auto, EA has Madden Football. Activision is fortunate to have two such titles, Guitar Hero and Call of Duty.

Background: This is the sixth installment in the series and the sequel to 2007’s Modern Warfare. Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2 is one of the most hyped titles in gaming history, selling almost five million copies in its first week. Is it all that? Read on.

Highs: Excellent Graphics, Major Production Values, Fantastic Audio effects, Excellent Sound Track, fluid game play, Intense Combat, Deep Multiplayer, new spec ops mode

Lows: Single Player Campaign too short for the money

The Plot: COD Modern Warfare 2 picks up five years after its predecessor. This time Russian ultranationalist and illegal weapons dealer Dimetri Makarov is causing a lot of problems, bringing the US and Russia to the brink of open war. The game follows the exploits of Sergeant Gary “Roach” Sanderson a British special ops soldier and Corporal Ramirez of the Army Rangers, in various venues throughout the world. The story unfolds in chapters and for the most part is pretty tight, but some of it feels unclear, it could have used a bit more detail in the writing.

The Game Play: This is a traditional first person shooter. There is a 5 hour single player campaign and a very deep multiplayer campaign (one of the best in the game business) with all the usual modes and a new spec-ops mode, where you and a friend can take on various missions together. It all works extremely well. If you are a novice though this is not the one you want to start with. The level of competition is pretty intense and the single player campaign is pretty challenging. The only fly in this soup is that the single player campaign clocks in at about five hours.

In 2007 Infinity Ward developed one of the smoothest engines in the business. In fact this engine has found its way into a couple of other games and is now in its second generation. The game is incredibly slick and smooth as glass in operation. The control response is spot on and everything moves fluidly. There is a wide range of weapons to be used (although your character can only carry two at a time plus hand grenades) In addition to the shooting based mission structure; there are also battles from various vehicles. All of it is handled near flawlessly.

Graphics and Sound: As expected the graphics in Modern Warfare 2 are fantastic, with lots of detail and highly realistic lighting. The enemy and friend animations are excellent. The game moves at an incredible 60 frames per second, hits you with a fury of action without any frame rate drops whatsoever. The presentation is simply incredible, and there are few games that come even close to the white knuckled war experience this game will give its players.

The sound in the game is also first rate, and if you do not have this hooked up to home theater, you are really missing out on a treat, with ricocheting bullets, structures coming apart under fire, explosions, soldiers barking orders etc. Its all incredibly well presented The sound track is spot on, adding the right level of “action film” style backing to the great effects and visuals. The voice work in the game is good as well; a cast led by veteran actors Lance Hendrickson and David Keith.

Kids Corner: The game is rated M. There is a lot of violence here as can be expected with a war based game so I would keep this away from the little ones. There is also a questionable scene that involves a terrorist attack on an airport. The player has the option to skip this level with no penalty, but I disagree with this being included in the game, just my opinion, its too triggering to too many that fear terrorism. Some may also find the events of the game a little too close to today’s headlines. I would also caution anyone who suffers from PTSD from buying this one as the action depicted is incredibly intense and realistic.

In Summary: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 delivers a stellar combat experience that has few rivals for shear intensity. Infinity Ward has established itself as a premier game developer with this series. The production values are among the best and there are hours and hours of multiplayer to be had. If you are strictly a single player only gamer, it’s not quite enough there for the money, rent it over a weekend.