The backdrop
Call of Duty was originally a WWII game series. The first three games in the series were great, and pretty popular too. But how many WWII games can you play before getting bored? For their fourth installment, producer Activision returned to developer Infinity Ward (who made Call of Duty 2, which many consider better than C.O.D. 3) and took an entirely different direction. Instead of World War II, Call of Duty 4 takes place in a fictitious present. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare captivated audiences everywhere with its modern weapons and tactics, startling realism, and crisp gameplay. It quickly became the most successful installment in the series, and one of the most successful first-person shooter games of all time. After alternate developer Treyarch put out a fifth game in the series (again in WWII), Infinity Ward is back with a follow-up to Modern Warfare. This game promises to be even better than the first, and was the most anticipated game of 2009. Brace yourself . . . for Modern Warfare 2
The story
Modern Warfare 2 is a direct sequel to Call of Duty 4, taking place several years after the first Modern Warfare game. After you killed Imran Zakhaev in the first Modern Warfare, the Russian Ultranationalist organization has returned to prominence under the leadership of Zakhaev's associate Vladimir Makarov. Publicizing Zakhaev's death as an act of martyrdom, Makarov has assembled a strong force — strong enough to get the attention of the community-established Task Force 141. That's where you come in to the story. You play as Gary "Roach" Sanderson, a member of Task Force 141. The task force is headed up by "Soap" McTavish from the first Modern Warfare, who has been promoted to Captain. Another important member of the force is Ghost, who hides his identity with a balaclava imprinted with a skull. As part of Task Force 141, you fight through locales such as Russia, a Kazakhstan military base, an Afghanistan desert, and Rio de Janeiro in order to stop Makarov. Without Zakhaev to monitor him, he has become a blood-thirsty, driven opponent. Can you stop him before it's too late?
No more infinite enemies!
Modern Warfare was a great game to play, whether you enjoyed completing "All Ghillied Up" a dozen times, or liked to play online multiplayer ritually. But although it was a great game, it had its flaws (albeit not enough to turn people away from it). With Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward went back to the drawing board. They kept all the best elements of the first game, and re-built the others for a better game experience. The single biggest complaint of Call of Duty 4 was that enemies will continue to appear until you reach a certain point. You couldn't kill all the enemies and then traipse through a level. This made certain levels next to impossible. To much rejoicing, it's been confirmed that the infinitely spawning enemies have been removed. The number of baddies will be limited to the ones that are there initially. But before you start thinking you can just figure out their hiding spots, cap them, and race through every level, or get a strategy guide to tell you where to look for them, forget it. The Artificial Intelligence of the enemies has been greatly improved. The new enemies are much smarter, acting independently of pre-determined actions. They will seek you out, and behave differently every time you play a level, adding a new challenge to the game. Another cool new addition is the ability to dual-wield handguns for guns-blazing shootouts. Infinity Ward also switched to their in-house IW 4.0 game engine, which they say is a generation beyond the engine in Call of Duty 4, so it can handle larger worlds, better visual detail, and more efficient rendering. The length of the campaign will be about the same as the first (about 6-10 hours), but will feature new elements like scaling ice walls or racing snowmobiles. But 10 hours isn't too long in gaming. Luckily, you'll want to play the campaign missions over and over. But, when you need a break, online is where most of the action is. Customizable perks have been added to multiplayer, as well as new arenas. Finally, multiplayer overall is greatly improved, including adding a co-op mode.
Co-op?!
Probably the second-biggest complaint about the first Modern Warfare was the lack of a co-op mode of any sort. Sure, you could shoot up enemies online or even split-screen, but you couldn't team up to take on terrorists. Like the infinite-enemy problem, Infinity Ward listened, and has added a teamwork element to Modern Warfare 2. It's called Special Ops. Special Ops mode can be played solo, but playing with two players either split-screen or online is where it really gets fun. Special Ops provides a wide variety of missions in different locations from the campaign. But, the missions won't be connected to the campaign or each other. They're more like the "Mile High Club" epilogue from the first game. Some examples of missions you can play in co-op are one with a snowmobile race, fending off a wave of 50 enemies at once, or simply fighting your way through a building. With Special Ops, you can finally get the co-op gameplay you've been waiting for.
A little less co-operative
But don't forget, Modern Warfare 2 may be the first Modern Warfare game with co-op, but not the first one with multiplayer. The original Modern Warfare had a great online competitive system (which could alternately be played split-screen). Modern Warfare 2 builds on the success of the competitive multiplayer system of the first, using the same experience points and a reward system for kill streaks. But there are several new features, including weapons and equipment. For example, the perks that you receive for kill streaks have been upgraded, and can even be customized. Another good feature that was necessarily changed from the first, is host migration. Now, if the host quits, instead of booting everyone from the game, a new host is chosen so you can play on. And as for the game types, theyr'e pretty much the same with Free-For-All, Search & Destroy, Demolition, Domination, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag.
Going fast
Modern Warfare 2 provides all the great gameplay elements of Call of Duty 4, but features numerous improvements to make this the best Call of Duty game — and one of the best shooters — ever. Well over 2 million people pre-ordered it, so make sure you don't miss out on a must-have game. Get yours today.
Rating information
Modern Warfare 2 received an ESRB rating of "M" for Mature, with designations of Blood, Drug References, Strong Violence, and Language. No one under the age of 17 may purchase it, and probably shouldn't play it either. It's an awesome game, but graphic depictions of war are a little much for kids to take in. And one more thing: online play isn't rated, and this game supports microphones, so anyone can say anything. Make sure to carefully monitor online use by minors.
