Game Review: Modern Warfare 2

I admit I’ve never played a Call of Duty game. Hard-core military shooters were never really my thing. Still, Modern Warfare 2 is the big game of the holiday season, selling over 4.7 million copies on its first day and netting over $550 million for Activision Blizzard Inc. in its first week.

I decided maybe it was time I gave this franchise a try. After all, there must be something cool about it with that many people playing it.

The game takes place five years after the original Modern Warfare game. Throughout the game, you play as five different characters in different areas of the world. In one scene you are in Siberia racing from your enemy on a snowmobile. In the next you are chasing an enemy across roof tops in Rio de Janeiro. This caused some initial confusion for me and may those new to the COD series. Still, the game pieces fit together flawlessly to advance the story.

The biggest downside to the game is that the main storyline is incredibly short. I was able to complete it in two nights of casual gaming – totaling roughly six hours of gameplay. MW2 offers more than just the main storyline, though. In “Special Ops,” one or more players can work through a series of separate missions. I played through a couple that involved defending positions and killing enemy soldiers.

MW2’s main selling point is its multiplayer mode. I logged onto Xbox live to give this a try. Within 10 minutes I died more times than I can count. There are a lot of people that are way better at this game than I am. I’m sure if I had purchased the game rather than renting it I would have dedicated more time to this component, but my wounded ego would not let me log back on after my initial disaster.

The game made headlines before its release for a campaign where you play as an undercover agent in Moscow. In it you assist a terrorist as he walks through an airport killing civilians. The game publisher gives you the option to turn this scenario off before the game starts, but I decided to play through. One of the good parts about this scene is you are never required to fire a shot at civilians yourself; you can simply walk behind the rest of the terrorists as they commit the atrocities. Still, the violence is fairly graphic. People that have been shot crawl across the ground and part of me wanted to just “put them out of their misery.” While the scene is an important part of the game, I was left curious what the result would be if I chose not to play the scenario.

MWF is entertaining, but anyone who purchases it should know what they are getting. This game is in no way suitable for children, as almost every line of diologue contains the f-bomb. It also has a ton of violence (go figure) and an extremely short storyline. However, if you are looking for an advanced version of GoldenEye to play with your friends, the multiplayer is a blast.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

The Good:

• Intense, fast-paced storyline
• Multiplayer allows you to kill your friends

The Bad:

• Actual game is extremely short
• Relies too much on multiplayer component

The Verdict:

RENT IT – If you plan to play it for the story. If you are into the online multiplayer experience, you probably already bought this or should.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 7:12 am and is filed under Dean Distracted. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.