Review – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

In all honesty, Modern Warfare 2 needs no introduction. The game had been under the press spotlight since it was announced, with every detail that was released being coal for the hype train. There were outrages from PC gamers thanks to the lack of support, controversy about the “No Russian” level and outcries of joy from console owners when the game was released. The game enjoyed disgustingly large day one sales figures, and continues to do so. Modern Warfare 2 is one of the biggest games of the decade.

Does it deserve it, though? Have Infinity Ward truly created the masterpiece that everyone seems to be telling you they have? Is it worth the ridiculously high price point that Activision have set for it? In a shock turn of events, you can find out by hitting the jump.

Modern Warfare 2 builds straight off of the strengths of Call of Duty 4. The feel of the two games are incredibly similar (in terms of pure gameplay), and obviously the story is a direct continuation. Going into Modern Warfare 2, you really can tell that Infinity Ward went for an “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy; the gameplay is as tight as ever, and offers astoundingly satisfying combat alongside an excellent control scheme. I had to make one or two changes on the PC version to suit my liking, but the console versions are absolutely fine in terms of controls.

The visuals are, at best, great. Since I’ve played both the PC and console versions, I’ll discuss them separately. The console versions suffer from a few jaggies here and there, and the water, smoke, and other particle effects are a bit dull, but otherwise the graphics are perfectly serviceable. Not much of a step up from Call of Duty 4 other than model detail, but that’s hardly a bad thing. Call of Duty 4 was a good-looking game by any measure. With Anti-Aliasing turned up and particle effects on full on the PC version, Modern Warfare looks great. Not Crysis-level, but definitely a step up from the console versions. Playing at full HD is obviously another benefit to the PC version’s visuals.

Although the main selling point for some is the multi-player, the single-player section of Modern Warfare 2 is a huge aspect of the game. The story begins with a quick boot camp level, and quickly throws you into the Middle-Eastern location that the Marines are fighting in. You then get thrown into a stealth-combat level set in the snow with Captain MacTavish, the character you played as in Call of Duty 4. The story sends you all around the world, puts you on helicopters and on snowmobiles, has you fight with stealth, power, and in squads, and sends you through many plot twists and turns on the ride.

That’s the thing about Modern Warfare 2, though. There are so many twists in the story that it just isn’t cohesive. Why did this character do this or that? Who was that just then? Why am I doing this? These are some questions you’ll find yourself asking. The story doesn’t seem that complex, and it shouldn’t have been- but it just is. Sometimes it feels like the plot was not written before, but after the levels were put together. In terms of storytelling and engagement, the game has a lot to learn.

What a ride it is, though. A lot of the time I was too busy enjoying myself with the painfully exciting and wonderfully designed levels to worry about the story. This game is like a Bond movie. The story is, in all honesty, a bit crap. But you love it because it’s fun, there are explosions, and it tugs on that bit of your brain that loves pure, over the top action sequences. It almost makes up for the AI’s grenade spam.

Almost. The game isn’t necessarily difficult (on Normal), just incredibly frustrating. When a grenade kills you for the tenth time, you go bananas. It’s only natural. Similarly, some enemies seem to be able to hit you with their shotgun and kill you from a rooftop a mile away before you even see them. This admittedly only happens in a few levels, and once you know they are there you can avoid them, but boy there are a lot of them. Retrying a level over and over to learn the exact enemy positions just isn’t fun. If I wanted that, I’d play Mega Man.

The big draw for most Modern Warfare fans is going to be the multi-player. It’s undoubtedly a great deal of fun, and the constant rewards for everything really keep you playing. The plethora of guns gives you that ‘kid-in-a-candy-shop’ type feeling, and the perks and rewards are just icing on the cake. As with any multi-player shooter, it really depends on the community, though. Thankfully you can now mute people in the lobby, but the awful voice support on the PS3 means that it’s a very solitary experience.

The Xbox version obviously has the biggest community, and good voice support, so playing with friends is much easier and more of a focus. The PC version, thanks to the lack of dedicated servers, can be a rough ride. The lag can be horrible, people cheat without consequence, and, in my experience, since the host has the best ping, he can run amok killing all the laggy players. It’s fine sometimes, and obviously has better controls, but it can be a real trouble sometimes to get it going. The real draw of the multi-player seems to be the perks system, and while I can see how this can get addictive, it really just didn’t sink it’s hooks into me like Call of Duty 4 did.

Modern Warfare 2, upon release, sold more copies than there are zeros on a Zimbabwean Dollar note. It is now bigger than both Jesus and The Beatles. Activision now have enough money to buy a PC that can run Crysis. However, if popularity was based solely on the quality of the game, I don’t think this would be the case. The incoherent story, the occasionally glitchy and broken online play, the frustrating AI, and the frankly broken PC port hold this game back from true greatness. Having said this, however, I feel that this is still a must-have game. Don’t buy it at full price, though. This game is not worth what Activision think it’s worth. Play the game when you can get it for less money, and I guarantee that you’ll have a blast.