VIDEO GAMES REVIEW
Modern Warfare 2 can declare victory
November 14, 2009
Marc Saltzman
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
(out of 4)
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC
$59.99
Rated M
Given the extraordinary anticipation swirling around Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the follow-up to the 13-million-unit-selling military shooter from 2007, living up to the hype might have seemed like an impossible mission.
But Infinity Ward, the savvy California game developer responsible for this explosive sequel, has delivered the goods – and then some.
Modern Warfare 2 once again drops players into a war-torn near future as part of an elite multinational squadron.
The story continues five years after the events of the last game, but you now slip into the boots of Sgt. Gary (Roach) Sanderson, plus you'll also play as other characters throughout this campaign. You'll report to John (Soap) McTavish, your superior officer, as opposed to playing him in the last game.
Your goal is to hunt down and take out Russian terrorist Vladimir Makarov and dismantle his devoted criminal cells peppered all over the globe.
The ensuing close-combat skirmishes take place just about everywhere, from the dusty villages of Afghanistan to the snow-capped mountains of Kazakhstan to the gritty streets of Rio de Janeiro to Washington, D.C., which comes under attack by Russian forces. A controversial (and optional) scene, and one that leaked to the media a few weeks back, involves a terrorist attack on an airport (and the killing of civilians), in which you're working undercover as one of the Russian nationalists.
As with its predecessor, the game is played from an immersive first-person perspective that has you peering down the scope of your weapon to pick off bad guys. There's no shortage of horsepower at your fingertips, be it machine guns, sniper rifles, pistols, grenades, mines and the awesome, earth-shattering Predator missile. With bullets whizzing past your ears, you'll ride snowmobiles, shoot down choppers and, of course, indulge in intense multiplayer matches.
While the campaign is a relatively short six- to eight-hour adventure, many gamers are buying Modern Warfare 2 for its multiplayer offerings, including a new cooperative mode called Spec-Ops, a series of varied missions that keep things fresh. While some of these nearly two dozen objectives can be accomplished solo, they were designed primarily for two gamers – and prove to be a lot wider in scope than the unlockable arcade mode in the first Modern Warfare. A highlight is the AC-130 mission, a co-op only exercise in which one gamer mans a gunship and provides bird's-eye instructions to the second player sneaking across the terrain.
Expanding the gameplay further, and adding to its replayability, Modern Warfare 2 also ships with a host of online competitive modes (for up to 18 players), including mainstays such as "Deathmatch" (everyone out for themselves), "Team Deathmatch," "Capture the Flag" and others, spread across 16 maps. Much of the online buzz surrounding the game involves "killstreaks," customizable rewards for performing a certain number of successive kills. Nine in a row gets you a carpet bomb, for example, while 25 brings in the nukes.
This game is certainly not for everyone: With its stunningly realistic portrayal of modern military violence, its "mature" rating is a no-brainer.
But for any gamer who has ever picked up a realistic virtual weapon, Modern Warfare 2's intriguing story, outstanding production values (including near-photorealistic imagery, plus an excellent musical score and voice talent), and most importantly, thrilling first-person gameplay, all translate into one of the most memorable pieces of interactive entertainment of the year.
Toronto Star