Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review
By Gaetano Prestia
Modern Warfare 2 takes things a step further from the brilliant Call of Duty 4. That title offered an enjoyable single-player component but was ultimately a multiplayer offering, one that still, to this day, has a dedicated and populated following. Where MW2 excels is in its presentation, accessibility and multiplayer balancing, opening the door for FPS and online gaming novices. It’s been one of the most anticipated games this generation and thankfully, that hype hasn’t gone unwarranted. While it may lack an interesting and coherent story for the single-player campaign, the experience is still very much worth the ride.
It’s no surprise that Modern Warfare 2 received criticism before it was even released. The main story is far more “adult” than its predecessor, with developer Infinity Ward holding nothing back to make this as close to a genuine battlefield narrative as possible. With COD4 we got a tame story that revolved around the complex consequences associated with life and death. With MW2, we get a similar approach but in a far more mature manner. There is one part in particular that attempts to propel the story to new heights and while it does so in a violent and controversial way, the rest of the story fails to live up to the suspense and tragic beauty of that instance. It’s as if the developer thought up a moment they knew would cause a stir, and then wrote a story around it.
The story itself takes a backseat to the gameplay and sheer beauty of the environments. You can sit through every one of the cutscenes and still not know what’s going on, purely because most of the characters aren’t memorable at all and the pacing of the story is all over the place. There isn’t a distinctive path for the plot to follow and so it’s easy to get lost in its incoherent direction. Modern Warfare 2 is essentially the Transformers of video-games: an experience very much worth taking if you can look past the dull characters and worthless plot.
The single-player experience can be played one of two ways. You can either stick close to your squad and follow the directions handed out to you perfectly, which in turn will let the game play out nice and smoothly. Or, you can move at your own pace and try to take out hoards of attacking enemies while your war buddies catch up from behind. This will ultimately lead to frequent deaths and frustration, highlighting the game’s inept attempt to hold your hand right throughout the experience. The game might not feel overly linear, but you’re not really encouraged to explore and move around at your own will. That’s a familiar formula for all COD games, although MW2 seems to take things a step further for the worse, having you mostly follow a team leader through an environment, as opposed to giving you the freedom to reach a checkpoint at your own pace.
You can blast through the main campaign in just under five hours on normal difficulty. Add on another hour or so on higher difficulties. As short as the single-player is, it really is a blast all the way through, despite its small shortcomings. The enemy AI has been improved dramatically, really forcing you to take cover and use every piece of ammunition effectively. The friendly AI helps out on the battlefield, with the chatter often directing you to the location of attacking enemies. It’s not the most advanced AI we’ve seen in a game, but it’s an obvious improvement on COD4. As the combat heats up, both the enemy and friendly AI counter each other’s attacks and this ultimately makes the experience rather challenging and incredibly enjoyable.
As good as single-player can be, MW2 shines in multiplayer. The all-new Spec Ops mode can be played alone, but it’s best experienced with a friend. There are several co-op specific challenges and considering the mode is optimized for multiple players, you’d be best to try it out with a mate rather than on your own. It’s a far more fulfilling and rewarding experience that way. It’s broken up into five different tiers with 23 missions, having you earn a rating up to three stars. Some of the areas seem to come directly from the single-player campaign, but the missions themselves are all new and exclusive to the mode. A major downside is that there are no leaderboards, which is disappointing considering how addictive and competitive the mode can get.
The mode on its own is longer than the single-player campaign, and that’s not including the amount of times you’ll retry specific missions to get the perfect three-star rating. There are 69 stars to earn all together and many of the missions are so intense and enjoyable that you’ll want to replay them again even if you’ve already received the highest rating for it. Spec Ops is a unique mode that will surprise many of you. Modern Warfare 2 is sold as an online multiplayer experience, but Spec Ops will take in a lot of your time. It’s the type of game mode that you just won’t be able to put down, and considering its length, it has the potential to grow in popularity to mammoth proportions.
When stepping into the multiplayer experience, it’s obvious right from the get-go that a completely different team to that of the single-player worked on it. The visuals are stunning, with gorgeous smoke and explosion effects and lush, colourful environments. The presentation of multiplayer in MW2 actually trumps that of the one in COD4 single-player, which highlights how much attention and focus was put into this aspect of the title. You’re not going to get some dumbed down multiplayer visuals that are accustomed to most games, but rather visuals that are on par with those in the single-player offering.
The class system from COD4 returns, fused together with some new weapons and perks, as well as the great addition of customizable killstreaks. You can edit which reward you receive for each level of killstreak, with some rewards being incompatible with others. There’s a really good balance between which rewards are compatible with others, so as not to allow you to have several devastating rewards. The entire experience itself is incredibly balanced and flows perfectly, offering you such a high level of content that it’s seemingly impossible to get through it all. While the core experience is still very much like that offered in COD4, MW2 offers a little bit more on the site, helping distance itself from its predecessor and ultimately justifying an upgrade to the sequel.
A lot of the criticisms from COD4 have been ironed out, namely the annoying perks and camping issues associated with the level design. No longer will you have to worry about martyrdom after you take down an enemy, nor will gamers be able to run into an area throwing several grenades at a time. Most of the maps feel a lot more open with less camping spots, making for better strategic planning of aerial attacks. The balance of the whole experience is quite superb, with a fusion of devastating perks and rewards, such as the game-ending nuke after a 25 killstreak, with well-designed maps and less annoying camping and perk issues.
The Final Verdict
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is without a doubt one of the most balanced and enjoyable shooters ever. While the single-player campaign lacks a coherent story and is incredibly short, it’s still great fun to play as the gameplay and presentation are both fantastic. The multiplayer experience is ultimately where it’s at, with MW2 offering the fantastic Spec Ops, as well as an improved multiplayer that maintains many of the great aspects of COD4, while also improving on some annoying aspects. The amount of content included in multiplayer is astonishing and the high level of detail, coupled with the gorgeous visuals, makes MW2 one of the best titles this gen.