If you’ve been following Call of Duty at all recently then you’ve already heard, seen and probably played the controversial No Russian level. But even with all the talk and infamy, there’s more to examine with Infinity Ward’s latest offering than ten minutes of fictional terrorist footage. Many continued to play the first Modern Warfare well after its release and has since become one of the most critically acclaimed and top selling games of this generation. And now we have its sequel, Modern Warfare 2, bringing plenty of new content to keep fans coming back. How well does it all manage to be?
Matt’s Thoughts
One more year, one more Call of Duty game. If I didn’t know any better I’d say Activision were becoming a new version of Electronic Arts with how frequently they’re releasing games for the same franchise. Fortunately, unlike recent Need for Speed games, the Call of Duty series still manages to at least be decent even with some installments are clearly inferior to others. I’m glad to say that Modern Warfare 2 is, all things told, one of the better entries, though not everything is blissful here. The campaign is fun but is way too short to fully enjoy, the story is still uninteresting and I really found the No Russian level to be unnecessary. And just like the first Modern Warfare, the online is ultimately both the pinnacle and downfall of the game. On one hand, the amount of content, variety and combinations you have available to use and unlock is quite astounding and the matches can be very fun and tough to stop playing. However, some of the perks and killstreak rewards seem unbalanced and a sizeable chunk of online players still love to camp or cower in the same area. This is unfortunately boosted by design choices for some areas in the maps that seem intended for these annoying players. Even with all that said, when the game is fun and plays out as it should, the experience is quite invigorating.
Greg’s Thoughts
Although I seldom enjoy the Treyarch-developed entries, I’m glad that Infinity Ward at least contribute half of the Call of Duty games. With that in mind, it’s needless to say that Modern Warfare 2 is one of my favorite installments for the franchise. While I doubt the series will ever hit the high mark Call of Duty 2 left on me Modern Warfare 2 is a very admirable effort despite inconsistencies. Matt essentially sums up the online portion. Matches are usually quite fun and addicting but when you’re against a team of people hiding in buildings (whether alone or together) it’s almost sympathetic to just leave the match. As for the campaign, I actually found it to be one of the better single player modes for the series and arguably the best since Call of Duty 2 (thought not nearly as good). The story is also a step above that of 2007’s Modern Warfare even with it being too short-lived to match its potential. Overall, I’d consider this my second or third Call of Duty game and, were it not for the hit/miss online mode, I’d call it better than Halo 3 online.
Michael’s Thoughts
I’m not sure how Greg can consider Halo 3 online great (it was good for a year, but that’s all), but Modern Warfare 2 pretty much blows any other (console) FPS out of the water right now. PC gamers have and continue to brew an absurd, silly storm over not getting dedicated servers and, quite frankly, if console gamers can live without them then anyone else can. I will agree with Greg on the campaign and story, both of which have easily the strongest emotional scenes in a Call of Duty game (that’s not including No Russian). Of course, most people bought and are playing this game for the online mode and even though there’s a large amount of cowards online that’s not a direct issue with the game itself. When matches aren’t dominated by these morons (for lack of a better term) it’s tough to put the controller down and, were it not for vehicle fees, I’d have bought this game from the get-go. Modern Warfare 2 steps up the competition for future first-person shooters and it’ll be interesting to see how Infinity Ward decide to continue improving or revitalizing the series.
