-DISCLAIMER-
I played this for a weekend and a friends, who 'acquired' the game early, I am NOT encouraging piracy in any way, I will be buying this legitimately on release.
When Call of Duty 4 was released in November, 2007, no-one could have predicted just how big the game would become. It became the game that all other FPS games, and even some 3rd person shooters (Such as Gears of War) would be compared to, and in my opinion, nothing even came close to taking its place as the best FPS on the current market. This left Treyarch with some mighty big boots to fill when it came to the release of the next game in the call of duty series, Call of Duty 5; World at war.
Unfortunately, they failed to fill those boots, with a mediocre campaign and a forgettable multiplayer, the main draw being its extra mode 'Nazi Zombies'. However while this was going on, CoD 4's servers were still packed full of players, and the game was just as, if not more, popular than before CoD 5's release. News came of Modern Warfare 2 came, fans became excited and so the hype began, and this is the first point i will address.
Does Modern Warfare 2 live up to the hype?
In short, yes, absolutely. Modern Warfare 2 surpasses any and all expectations you may have, it takes CoD 4, strips it down to the framework, and then builds it back up with 10'' thick steel plating. Veteran CoD 4 players will feel right at home in modern warfare 2, as the basic gameplay remains the same, especially online, but I'll start with the campaign.
Call of Duty 4's campaign mode was one of the best FPS campaigns I've ever played, so naturally I came into Modern Warfare 2's campaign expecting more of the same, and thats what I got. From the assault course at the start (called 'The pit' in MW2), to the epic, action-packed sequences dotted throughout, it's what CoD 5
should have been. Now, I'm going to try to keep the review as spoiler-free as I can, so I'm going to try to restrain from going into the story, just know that its
amazing, it has more twists and turns than a roller coaster, and you're gonna' be shocked and surprised more than once throughout your first playthrough. Some of the best moments in the CoD 4 campaign were it's set pieces, and IW definitely knows this, these action packed set pieces are back in MW2, and they're bigger and better than you could ever imagine. We're talking climbing up snowy mountains, hugging the walls as as you inch your way across a ledge. An epic rooftop chase through the streets of Brazil as you clamber over rooftops, jumping gaps and dodging enemies as you rush to get to a chopper thats 30 seconds away to leaving without you. Snowmobile chases, driving boats down waterfalls as you try to outrun a chopper, motherfucking
Space... And thats just the tip of the iceberg.
No game even comes close to the levels of tension and adrenaline you'll feel throughout the whole campaign, there are no 'dry' moments, it's packed the whole way through, and the most intense 5-ish hours I've ever had whilst playing a game. When it finally does come to a close, and its a fucking
epic close, theres a huge cliffhanger, and an even bigger twist.. but you'll find that out yourself after fighting your way through snow, desert, crowded streets, airports, scrapyards, Washington DC, and more.
Now, the part that everyones been wanting to hear about, the Multiplayer.
The multiplayer in CoD 4 was one of its main selling points, millions played it and it became 'the game' to play. You were not geeky if you were a prestige 10 55 on CoD 4, you were awesome. It's one of the only games you can freely talk about in front of people and not feel like a geek for doing so, and as such there were huge hopes for MW2's multiplayer, and all of these hopes and expectations have been met, and then smashed into a million pieces, and once again, the bar has been raised for FPS games released in the next few years.
Again, it takes the winning formula from CoD 4, and expands on in tenfold.
There are 5 primary weapon types in MW2, consisting of Assault rifles (9 weapons in total), Sub machine guns (5 weapons in total), Light Machine Guns(5 Weapons in total), Sniper Rifles(4 weapons in total), and the Riot Shield, which is a total of 24 primary weapons.
Then there are the secondary weapons, consisting of Machine pistols (4 weapons), Shotguns (6 weapons), Handguns (4 weapons), and Launchers (5 weapons), a total of 19 secondary weapons. This means that all in all, MW2 has 43 weapons.. each with it's own set of challenges, attachments (excluding launchers and the riot shield) and camo's, you don't need me to tell you that this is huge.. But I'll do it anyway;
Its huge.
Most weapons can have attachments, such as silencers, acog scopes, holographic sights, thermal scopes, extended magazines, rapid fire, Akimbo (dual wielding), grenade launchers and shotguns, heartbeat sensors, and much more. Creating your perfect weapon layout could take hours, and when you throw in the 16 perks, each with an unlockable 'Pro' version which adds an extra effect, the possibilities are endless. I know a lot of people were wanting customizable players, but honestly, I think not including this was a good idea, it would just be too much customization.
A new addition is the customizable kill streaks, with 15 killstreaks in total this more than triples the amount found in CoD 4, but you wont have access to all of them from the off. Firstly, you must unlock a killstreak, this is done by gaining a certain amount of levels, which will grant you a point to use to unlock a killstreak of your choice. You can have a total of 3 kill streak rewards active at once, and again, each has it's own set of challenges.
As well as kill streaks, you get death streaks, which is a nice addition for those games where you just seem to keep dying. On top of all this customization, you now get a 'call sign' that appears whenever you kill an enemy, or do something (like capturing a point) online. These call signs contain a title, an emblem and our name. The title and emblem are fully customizable, and you'll gain more and more of each as you complete challenges and rank up. An example of unlocking a title or emblem would be calling in 5 airstrikes in a match, this would unlock a title, and an animated emblem showing a plane, or something along those lines. Again, this is a great new addition, and you have a great feeling of accomplishment when you have a really kick-ass callsign, or when you unlock a title that no-one else has.
The maps are varied enough to keep you interested for hours upon hours, and I quickly began choosing my favourites ('Terminal' is awesome), and least favourites. The maps are taken from the campaign, so you'll find yourself noticing areas you've played through before, such as the narrow streets in 'Favela', the frozen, snowy landscape in 'Sub base', and the dry desert in 'Afghan'. The size of the maps varies from fairly large maps such as 'Quarry' and 'Derail', to small maps such as the very Shipment-esque 'Rust'. The gameplay is chaotic and exciting, just as it was in CoD 4, but with the added kill streaks thrown in it becomes a whole different ball game, you'll be sneaking around one minute, then calling in a stealth bomber the next, showering your enemies with bombs, gunfire from choppers, and even a Nuke.
It would take days to fully summarise this game, but this has been my attempt at shortening down all of the good points this game has, I honestly can't think of any negatives, at all, and that's a first for me.
Modern Warfare 2 takes everything that made CoD 4 so popular and multiplies it by a million, and all of you PC gamers planning on 'boycotting' it are going to miss out on one of, if not the best gaming experience I've ever had. If you buy only one game this year, make it MW2, because trust me, you won't regret it.
