Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is here, and yes, it's packed with (almost) as many surprises as explosions.
Published: December 1, 2009
It's fair to say that Modern Warfare 2 is the game of 2009, if only in terms of hype. The groundwork laid by Infinity Ward with the first Modern Warfare ensured that a seriously large majority of the some 13+ million people that picked up the first outing would be back for a second tour.
And why not? If you didn't look too deeply into the story and just took the game as an action epic, you were treated to some of the single most memorable moments this generation. The entire sniper sequence from skulking through the grass and taking down targets en synchro to setting up a one-shot/one-kill situation where wind speed and bullet drop have to be factored in to outrunning a crashing helicopter to trying to survive until extraction was an incredible experience.
And then there was the online multiplayer -- still considered by many to be the standard for longevity and sense of reward to this day. The seemingly limitless number of carrots dangled in front of the player to allow them to constantly be leveling something up and urging them to try different weapons and play styles is, frankly, the stuff of genius. Factor in the various perks, some crack-level addictive modes and silky smooth play and you have a recipe for success the likes of which any dev house and publisher would crave.
But is it enough lightning to bottle twice? After all, many games -- many first-person shooters for that matter -- have hit since COD4, many of which have adopted at least some of the most successful aspects of the game (most notably Killzone 2 at the start of the year with its adoption of perks and tiered leveling systems). Last year's World at War was, largely a re-skinned version of Modern Warfare set in World War II. Has the impact of what Infinity Ward wrought been lessened by the ravages of time and the ceaseless incorporation of successful ideas the industry feeds off of?
Absolutely. But not much.
There is, of course, the inescapable feeling of familiarity to Modern Warfare 2. You'll see old characters, relive some very similar situations and the online, for better or worse, isn't terribly evolved from its introduction a few years back. Do any of those things hurt the game, though? Not a bit, provided -- and this is key -- that you at least liked the first game. If you loved it, than congrats, you probably already have a copy and all this review is going to do is make you feel good about your purchase. If you weren't a huge fan of COD4, the follow-up likely won't do much to convert you. It's unquestionably a game made for fans of the original, and in that Modern Warfare 2 delivers one of the most balls-out sets of action online and off on the PlayStation 3.
It's probably best not to speak in anything but the broadest terms about Modern Warfare 2's storyline. It's effectively a Clancy-lite way of linking together some seriously amazing set pieces, some moments of betrayal, some re-introductions of old characters and perhaps one very big (and now famously controversial) sequence designed to unnerve and generate chatter. Almost beat-for-beat, the sequel follows the first game's basic outline, and while it's certainly a path well-worn at this point, the second you have to wade through a crowd while terrorists all around you spray hot death into the masses or outrun a helicopter on a blisteringly fast snowmobile ride or witness the first-hand effects of an EMP pulse on the middle of an aircraft-choked battlefield, no feeling of seeing something this epic before will ruin the "holy shit, that just happened" reactions. The extraction up a zip line via chopper that was first seen in trailers is almost reason alone to pick up a copy. It's that awesome.
And why not? If you didn't look too deeply into the story and just took the game as an action epic, you were treated to some of the single most memorable moments this generation. The entire sniper sequence from skulking through the grass and taking down targets en synchro to setting up a one-shot/one-kill situation where wind speed and bullet drop have to be factored in to outrunning a crashing helicopter to trying to survive until extraction was an incredible experience.
And then there was the online multiplayer -- still considered by many to be the standard for longevity and sense of reward to this day. The seemingly limitless number of carrots dangled in front of the player to allow them to constantly be leveling something up and urging them to try different weapons and play styles is, frankly, the stuff of genius. Factor in the various perks, some crack-level addictive modes and silky smooth play and you have a recipe for success the likes of which any dev house and publisher would crave.
But is it enough lightning to bottle twice? After all, many games -- many first-person shooters for that matter -- have hit since COD4, many of which have adopted at least some of the most successful aspects of the game (most notably Killzone 2 at the start of the year with its adoption of perks and tiered leveling systems). Last year's World at War was, largely a re-skinned version of Modern Warfare set in World War II. Has the impact of what Infinity Ward wrought been lessened by the ravages of time and the ceaseless incorporation of successful ideas the industry feeds off of?
Absolutely. But not much.
There is, of course, the inescapable feeling of familiarity to Modern Warfare 2. You'll see old characters, relive some very similar situations and the online, for better or worse, isn't terribly evolved from its introduction a few years back. Do any of those things hurt the game, though? Not a bit, provided -- and this is key -- that you at least liked the first game. If you loved it, than congrats, you probably already have a copy and all this review is going to do is make you feel good about your purchase. If you weren't a huge fan of COD4, the follow-up likely won't do much to convert you. It's unquestionably a game made for fans of the original, and in that Modern Warfare 2 delivers one of the most balls-out sets of action online and off on the PlayStation 3.
It's probably best not to speak in anything but the broadest terms about Modern Warfare 2's storyline. It's effectively a Clancy-lite way of linking together some seriously amazing set pieces, some moments of betrayal, some re-introductions of old characters and perhaps one very big (and now famously controversial) sequence designed to unnerve and generate chatter. Almost beat-for-beat, the sequel follows the first game's basic outline, and while it's certainly a path well-worn at this point, the second you have to wade through a crowd while terrorists all around you spray hot death into the masses or outrun a helicopter on a blisteringly fast snowmobile ride or witness the first-hand effects of an EMP pulse on the middle of an aircraft-choked battlefield, no feeling of seeing something this epic before will ruin the "holy shit, that just happened" reactions. The extraction up a zip line via chopper that was first seen in trailers is almost reason alone to pick up a copy. It's that awesome.
