Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

   Well it finally arrived. While many had hyped this game for months, I came into the experience with very little expectations. Not because I didn't enjoy the first one, but because I hadn't really been in the gaming scene for months. So enough about my personal life, and lets dive into the story.
  
Offline Gameplay 
Modern Warfare 2 is set 5 years after the events of the first game. As you start the campaign, you are treated to a nice cut scene that patches up some of the history between the first and second game. You'll start the game as U.S. Ranger Private First Class Joseph Allen taking orders from Sgt. Foley
(voiced by the great Keith Davis) as you help demonstrate to the new local recruits on basic training.  Much like the first game, the first few minutes of gameplay are spent showing you the game's mechanics. For those of you who played the first game, not much has changed. You'll find that much of buttons do the same thing, in fact I'm pretty sure the entire controller schematics are exactly identical to the first game. After getting familiar with the game and running the pit, you will immediately be thrown into the heat of battle. Without giving too much information, the main players in this game are the Americans and the Russians. While I must admit the plot is pretty far fetched, it did keep me on the edge of my seat wanting more from this Clancy-like story. Throughout the game you'll find yourself controlling and encountering a number of memorable characters, from the mysterious new-comer Ghost to the first  Modern Warfare's primary protagonist Soap MacTavish (Captain Soap MacTavish!). While Soap isn't the only character returning from the first game (there's 1 more major player), he's still as much of a major part of the story like he was in the first Modern Warfare, and this time he has been given a voice! Speaking of  voice over, the work on this game  is terrific and you'll even find yourself running into a very familiar voice from the first game.
 
The gameplay is spectacular, and fans of the first game will find themselves having an easier time with the majority of the game. From breaching schools to sneaking past enemies in the snow, there is a nice mix of gameplay throughout the game. While I do think the game overall was a little easier than the first, there are still a number of places where the player will find themselves throwing  their controllers at the wall. One of my main gripes with the game is that the campaign will probably take you about a 8 to 10 hours to finish on Veteran, and probably a lot less on anything below. It is because of this that I urge many of the non-Gold Xbox Live members to rent this game. Yes, it sounds harsh, but I don't really see much value in this game if you solely plan to play offline. There is a Special Ops mode that I will go into detail later, but some of those missions require you to hook up the controller and find a friend. Overall the Campaign mode is short and sweet, and I hope they plan to release at least 1 DLC that allows you to play some more campaign. 
 
Online
Special Ops 
A great new feature to the game is one that finally offers a co-op way to play the game. While you're not specifically playing through Campaign, you will find your self a doing certain part of a mission from the Campaign mode. There is even certain Horde missions which you will find yourself fighting off waves of enemies. With 23 missions, that might not sound like a lot, but the majority of your frustration will be coming from Juggernauts downing you with 3 bullets on Veteran. Again, you'll be able to choose your difficulty with the hardest being Veteran. There are 3 difficulties, and the easiest one rewards 1 star while the most difficult one will reward you 3. In total you will be able to achieve 69 stars from all the missions.
 
Multiplayer
When I said the majority of your frustration would come from Special Ops..well I wasn't really focusing on the actual Multiplayer. You will definitely find yourself punching holes in your walls more than once. After 2 patches, it seems that the dark ages of Modern Warfare 2 seem to to behind us. Before the patches you would usually find yourself being demolished by the power of the 1887s from a distance of a football field or you would end up on a glitched  FFA when you selected Team Deathmatch. While much of the core gameplay remains the same from the first installment, there are some new features for the better or worse. Party chats have been disabled in all of the game types with the exception of Ground War and Free For All. In theory, this forces every player to actually communicate and possibly 
strategize with each other to work towards achieving a win. However, with every game you will always encounter those without a Mic or those who simply ramble on about what's on their mind. Again, this happens with every game and Modern Warfare 2 is no exception, but not being able to party chat with friends playing another game may be a very big negative for many gamers. Also new to the game are more killstreaks which will still be rewarded as you progress with kills. They start with the standard 3 kills UAV and peak at the all mighty 25 kills Tactical Nuke. The latter being able to end an entire game in the team's favor of whoever had the Nuke. So, say you were stuck on a crappy team but you yourself are a great player, however your team finds themselves down 5000 to 7000. Well all of a sudden you get your hands on a Nuke and unleash the wrath of this nuclear monster. Your team, though down by 2000, is automatically the victor. There is an array of killstreaks which can be unlocked one by one at certain points in the game. A negative aspect to this feature is that players will encounter more players who will camp to build their killstreaks.While veterans of the first Modern Warfare were used to running and gunning through the relatively small maps, the tactics in this game have evolved. With larger maps and an abundance of corners, players will usually find themselves turning a corner and being killed without ever seeing the enemy. Adaptation is a key role in survival, and there is no exception in Modern Warfare 2. Overall, the Multiplayer is pretty solid and you'll find yourself grinding to a higher level in order to get new weapons and perks.  

 
Final Thoughts
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is an amazing game, both offline and online. For those of you expecting drastic changes in the gameplay, well then you might be a little disappointed. However, I believe in a little saying that goes if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Infinity Ward stuck to the formula that produced the classic Modern Warfare, and fans of the first game will certainly not be disappointed.