Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

 The expression "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" should have been the tagline to Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2. Let's be honest here. 2007's Call of Duty 4 was literally as far as any developer could possibly go to relight the dim candle of innovation in the first person shooter market. While it did the obvious thing by improving the cinematic quality of the gameplay and in-effect enhance the immersion of the campaign the multiplayer made the biggest change of all.


Infinity Ward's introduction of the perks system and the general levels of Modern Warfare were what ultimately kept it apart from the competition, what took the very promising finetuned FPS gameplay into perfection to begin with. Indeed it is for that very reason Modern Warfare 2 was hyped to begin with. Publications were quick to build claims that Modern Warfare 2 was to be "The most anticipated game of the decade" and video game retailers including America's Gamestop and Britain's Gamestation reported record numbers of pre-ordered copies of the game furthermore.


But even if that hasn't convinced you, simply observe the price tag of your nearest copy of Call of Duty 4. Not only will you be bewildered at the fact many stores still stock new prints for over £25 yet finding a budget re-release on Platinum hits or Xbox Classics is actually impossible. So indeed, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been a much discussed game, arguably eversince the cheeky cliffhanger ending of the original Modern Warfare infact. Debates ranged from the rapidly changing promotional title of the game, new weapons and the much talked about inclusion of a co-op campaign.


So come the eagerly awaited November release in 2009 and Modern Warfare 2 arrives with a new story placed five years subsequent to the first Modern Warfare, the all-important multiplayer and the seeming replacement for arcade mode, Spec Ops. But what has really changed for the better?
Upon the first few minutes of shooting up Modern Warfare 2 you'll notice that the game is now split out into three modes: Single-player, Multiplayer and Spec-Ops. All modes have a completion rate in percentage and represent the solo, competitive and co-operative sectors of Infinity Ward's new shooter. It is also recommended that the single player is to be played first and where we'll start too.


Modern Warfare 2's singleplayer, titled "For The Record", picks up directly after the events of the original Modern Warfare placed five years since the death of Russian ultra-nationalist Imran Zakhaev and his terrorist forces. In that time the former protagonist Soap has become a captain and squad leader of the newly formed Task Force 141. Like Call of Duty 4 much of the game has you moving back and forth between characters of each military force. Although initially you play as PFC turned secret agent Joseph Allen the game has you swapping between the United States military and the Special Forces as two unfaced, voiceless characters; Private James Ramirez and Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson respectively.


Given you enjoyed the story of the previous Call of Duty then you'll be certain to find Modern Warfare 2's drama and plot twists very supplementary to the series. Most of the wow factor behind Modern Warfare 2's singleplayer derives from the number of intense reflex response sequences and action set-pieces very similar to the previous games in the series. Admittedly Infinity Ward have outdone themselves once again in this area thanks in-part to the state-of-the-art IW Tech 4 graphics engine. It turns sections of the game such as unruly mountain climbing of "Cliffhanger" into a truly frosted hell on Earth.


The elements of stealth aswell as espionage are once again reintroduced but are wonderfully accessible still regardless. Though the pace of the levels remains largely consistent and capable of upholding the player's interest even then. If the stealth doesn't suit you there are many run and gun sequences during Modern Warfare 2 including Hollywood quality chases sequences only comparable by the likes of the James Bond films. Speaking of Hollywood, did I mention the score was provided by Hans Zimmer of Dark Knight (2009) fame? Atmosphere really is how the campaign succeeds overall from the breath-taking atmosphere of the United States battlefields to the lurching favelas in Brazil.


Infinity Ward knows how to build singleplayer levels from blueprint to conception. Ofcourse the challenge remains too throughout play too, with four difficulty settings to choose from. This is why it is such a shame that same height of distinction isn't evident in Modern Warfare 2's online play either.Which returns me to the original point, "if it ain't broke don't fix it", while this is evidently apparent in the singleplayer I must mention that the multiplayer has left much more to be desired. Like mentioned earlier, Modern Warfare had an absolutely groundbreaking multiplayer and it built a solid community of fans and support from two particular features: the perks system and levels.


This works in the sense of an RPG in that with continuous play and experience you upgrade to better levels and perks. The worry behind this idea originally was that it would make it impossible to play the game online as a newbie against an army of fully ranked competitors yet Infinity Ward unbelievably made the balance pin-point and precise. The perks were largely passive and beneficial such as sleight of hand (a perk allowing for better aim without iron sight) but not such that it would be overpowered and kill enemies on an instant. With Modern Warfare 2 this changed almost entirely with perks such as commando pro proving as almost always an instant death to anyone without.

Given you can level this perk up yourself relatively easily but it isn't in moderation by any means in comparison to the other perks and ultimately breaks the system. And this wouldn't of been quite as prominent of a problem had it not been for the failure for Infinity Ward to relax other areas in Modern Warfare 2's gameplay such as the killstreaks as a result. The killstreaks allow for a positive gameplay modifier that provides the skilled players extra ways of out-witting their enemies such as the UAV radar, and if they're lucky, helicopter attacks and airstrikes. Modern Warfare 2 extends these awards much heavier than in Call of Duty 4 although, to the point of insanity.


There are now three different forms of continual aircraft support similar to (and even better than) the old helicopter attack of Call of Duty 4 and they can even be all used at the same time! Multiple harrier airstrikes, pavelow attacks and even apache helicopter assaults can be used at the same time which is sheer overkill to any unsuspecting player of Modern Warfare 2. Worse still, the deathstreaks which were put in-place as nudge tools for weaker players have been downgraded with the likes of martyrdom (a grenade emitting deathstreak) being substantially less effective against enemies – especially those with marathon and lightweight who can sprint past it in miniseconds.


But atleast on the flipside, the levels system have been made much more indepth with more challenges. There are also new guns (aswell as unlockable weapon skins) with arguably better weapon balancing and upgrades(although there are some ifs and maybes). The inclusion of unlockable emblems and banner rewards is also a surprising but welcome addition to those into in-game achievements. Although none of this makes up for mess up made otherwise. The new multiplayer maps of Modern Warfare 2 are somewhat of a hit and miss area furthermore.
In general, the maps are suitably designed for all play styles with open sections, closed sections, areas to hide, areas to camp such as with Karachi, Scrapyard and Rundown. They're all suitable for the fifteen plus game modes featured too.


However there is a bias towards sniper maps much in particular as with Afghan, Wasteland, Estate, Highrise and Derail. Although without a doubt the worst map is Rust which feels as if a throw away bonus level being unsuitable for practically all gametypes. Otherwise besides that the only other flaw with Modern Warfare 2's competitive online play is some gameplay rules such as the ten second delay between respawns on Capture the flag which are unnecessary. But it is a major disappointment never the less.
Finally Spec Ops Mode is the only way to play co-op Call of Duty against a computer. It is really a series of endurance and skill based tasks designed to improve your ability to use certain guns and earn achievements and trophies for your respective HD consoles.


There isn't much else to say about this mode otherwise except naturally it isn't what we wanted with many fans echoing the need for a co-op campaign and Infinity Ward failing to recognise the call. A shame. Needless to say Spec Ops mode is a nice time waster, especially as it can be played with convenience with in splitscreen mode locally on the same console. Which also begs the question why couldn't splitscreen play be included for competitive online play aswell like with Halo 3, Resistance 2 or Gears of War 2?


Considering the singleplayer of Modern Warfare 2 is the only mode that truly has been improved after the two years of development following Call of Duty 4 it is a wonder why many actually did jump to the conclusion Modern Warfare 2 actually is "The game of the decade". Infact the original Modern Warfare is probably in better contention with the arcade based on these experiences online. Like mentioned though, there are no monument improvements made to the Call of Duty formula by Infinity Ward this time around and basically the phrase "If it ain't broke" rises to mind again and again during play.


Great had Infinity Ward didn't and simply refined the better concepts of Call of Duty 4 and ironed out the flaws of Modern Warfare's first appearance in 2007, not so great though that they've entirely revamped the killstreaks, deathstreaks and perks for the worse. Regardless, it is still a highly entertaining game and undeniably you will have fun playing it online given the immeasurable numbers of players online and depth of gameplay modes. However it lacks the polish of the single player story and feels bottlenecked as a result.